Sky Hopinka wraps up the summer trip to China and discusses topics that have come up regarding WAYK, language revitalization, and decolonization. Sky also wants to say that he is not speaking on behalf of Where Are Your Keys? These are just some of his thoughts about some stuff. Part One of Two…or Three. So… Read more »
In February I received a random email. Qwina said he watched the videos on you tube and vimeo and decided to take WAYK for a spin! He taped the first sessions and sent them to me to look over. I was astounded by Qwina’s ability to wield techniques and work through the USC’s first rides… Read more »
So, owing to our recent work with helping revitalize Ecclesastical Latin at Wyoming Catholic College, Evan and I finally decided to put pen to paper and make a written USC road-map from zero to “Getting to the Party”. It’s been an “oral document” (as anthropologists like to say) up till now. We’ve noticed that even… Read more »
[vimeo 14723748] This video contains the Unangam Tunuu Universal Speed Curriculum, and is a refresher for attendees of the 2010 Unangax Language Camp at the NW Indian College. It contains no subtitles or translations, and is meant to serve as a guide for improving players’ accent and pronunciation. If you’d like to see Unangam Tunuu… Read more »
The “Universal Speed Curriculum” is a way of transcribing the core WAYK conversation, designed to go up to “want/have/give/take” transactional conversation in the target language. We have several examples of this online; the original English version, Estonian, and Spanish. Dustin Rivers has been hard at work, improving the Squamish language Universal Speed Curriculum (USC) with… Read more »
[direct download here] Evan, Willem, and new WAYK game leader Peter, sit down to talk about how the recent Chinuk Wawa conversation night went. This kind of “debrief” conversation plays a critical role in the “constant improvement” cycle of WAYK. 1. Technique “Pairing“/”One-on-one“ Peter leads Rebecca in a game. 2. Technique “Level Fishing” In order… Read more »
48 minutes 47 seconds. [direct download here] If you regularly listen to our podcasts, you know by now how highly we value debriefs, and the tremendous insight and improvement that emerges from them. In this episode, Willem debriefs Dustin’s Squamish Language Night game, for the first time in a few weeks. 1. Technique “the Lotus“… Read more »
[direct download] As prompted by Stefan, a WAYK player from Germany, Evan Gardner and Willem Larsen discuss choosing the ideal signed language for using as a bridge language, in relation to your target spoken language. 1. Technique: “Bridge Language“ Stefan asks: which is more effective, using the WAYK ASL/Pidgin Signed English (PSE), or a local… Read more »
Now we’re talking! WAYK community member Priit emailed us from his home country of Estonia recently, announcing he’s finished an Estonian Universal Speed Curriculum. This brings us to four USC, one in Estonian, one in Chinuk Wawa, one in Squamish Language, and the one Billy James Ulibarri and Walter Duran made in Spanish. Honestly folks:… Read more »
And now, Evan’s follow up: I am so excited for you Jay! Learning your own language from your own elder… A wonderful source of pride for your entire family and especially your grandma! I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard of people looking at books instead of talking to their elders… Read more »
First, if you don’t already know, check out the original Universal Speed Curriculum for some background. Billy James Ulibarri and Walter Duran, two fluency game players introduced to the game at the Sunflower River Farm workshop, just sent us their Spanish translation of the Universal Speed Curriculum. Keeping in mind that you’ll want a Spanish… Read more »
I plan to make a free downloads page somewhere on the site, and to kick it off, I thought I’d post up Evan’s “Universal Speed Curriculum”, a conversational curriculum composed of English questions and answers, between two people. So, how do you use the “USC”? Essentially, you’ll recognize in it the base conversation occurring in… Read more »
