N|uu-ki Hunters - a LH/WAYK inspired manual (draft)

[Ariel Appel]

Hey guys.

First, thank you very very much on your assistance so far. It's been a winding road, but I'm feeling pretty reassured about where it seems to go.

I'm finishing my internship in the southern Kalahari, with the #Khomani San community, and my work with their indigenous language has come to a certain point where I would like some feedback, if possible.

Due to the reality I encountered (me being inexperienced in LH, severe lack of speaking elders, and general community issues) I only managed a few sessions so far. These were very successful (fun, lively and objectively reached the goal of teaching the bite-sized pieces they were made for) - but more informal than formal. My desire to train local hunters didn't meet with enough local initiative (an issue by itself), and so I was forced to look for an alternative solution to ensure that the work I began wouldn't go to complete waste.

What I'm coming up with is a small manual (printable booklet) that should give the basics of LH specifically adapted to N|uu. It can also act as a language study book, but if properly utilized should enable future prospectors to create their own hunts and LH sessions.

Would you mind reviewing it and seeing if you have comments, ideas, etc...?

Thanks,

Ariel

[Jay Bazuzi]

That's really cool, Arial.

-J

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[Paul Nitz]

Ariel,

The specifics in this booklet really make it valuable.  This will be a great resource for someone carrying it further.  The contextualization that Language Hunting brings to the learning process is one of its great strengths.  

Paul

[Willem Larsen]

Ariel,

I can see you put loads of work into this book - it looks really great. Beautiful!

I think where you're going with this ( i.e., a manual of written scripts and translations with example hunts) is the most effective direction, considering your constraints - lack of access to live play or video over high-speed internet.

Having said that, I'd like you to know where we're at in the broader LH community -

We're just on the cusp of adding a huge element to Language Hunting to make it simpler and more clear - namely a game board and free play cards that give stronger direction to play for first-time players. 

What we've realized over this past summer, experimenting with Irish and Spanish, is that we need to use a target language to learn language hunting, rather than using language hunting to learn a target language. 

Make sense? 

This funny flip in perspective might seem arbitrary, but it has made all the difference in the world. So we're moving away from written scripts and "speed curriculums", and toward example videos of how one might dive into a language and start hunting.  

However, again, I like what you've done, not just because it's well put together and a good fit for your circumstances, but also because it gives enough information that a language hunter visiting the #Khomani San could prepare with this document and at least have a roughed-out plan for some hunts right away, passing on more skills to the local community.

When you regain access to high-speed internet, let's skype and talk about your experiences with trying to self-start games with no video support. I'd love to look for feedback that could help us improve the learning curve of players in your situation.

yrs,

Willem

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[Ariel Appel]

Hey Willem!

Thank you so much for the much needed supporting words back in the time of my stay there.

I've been back for a while and still processing the experience.

I'd love to discuss sometime and share whatever I can.

Meanwhile - here's the last edit of the booklet.

I sent the guys in the Kalahari a few copies and still need to call and see what they make of them.

Ariel

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[Joel Thomas]

Wow, hats off! Thanks for sharing this, it'll be really useful to me as I try and do the same for Turkish.

[Anna Van Sant]

This is great! I love how you've developed everything around the scenario of hunting (a solid activity), squeezing out every bit of language it could give you. I've been thinking myself how to work on "What are you doing" or "How do you do..." and using the animals is a great idea. It reminds me of the children's book From Head to Toe which I used with my students in France. They loved acting it out!