Dakota language immersion

[phil cash cash]

Beth,
Your language program sounds like it is playing a vital role for the
communities you work with, especially among the young children.   Thanks for
sharing with us further on your efforts and I am sure you have a number 
of ILAT
admirers/supporters now.  
What is interesting about the video clips of the children speaking Dakota is
the naturalness of their speech interaction.  Most often, children in 
language
advocacy filming or documentation are depicted via a structured teach=learner
scenario often responding as "learners" to questions or directed responses. 
Here, it appears as if the children are active participants in a  relaxed
conversation!   This we can celebrate with you. 
Phil
UofA
Quoting Beth Brown :

> Thanks for posting this, Phil! Those children in the video clips are
> my little language students in the Wicoie Nandagikendan Urban
> Language Immersion Program here in Minneapolis. For those that
> haven't heard of us, here is some background information about our
> program:
> The Wicoie Nandagikendan Early Childhood Urban Immersion Project
> provides a 3-hour-a-day early childhood language immersion experience
> that builds on the integral connections between culture, literacy,
> and educational attainment. The project partners with existing
> programs to provide fluent speakers and language curriculum.
>
> Wicoie Nandagikendan began in January 2006 with a grant from ANA.
> Because the future of native languages is in the children, it is
> crucial to expose children to these languages at a young age. When
> the language (Dakota or Ojibwe) is not spoken in the home, due to
> generations of language loss, schools and day care facilities offer
> an alternative opportunity to expose children to their heritage
> languages in a supportive, non-threatening environment.
>
> Wicoie currently facilitates two Ojibwe immersion classrooms, and one
> Dakota immersion classroom. The Ojibwe sites are located at Four
> Directions Family Center (ages 2-5) and at Anishinabe Academy (ages
> 4-5), a public Native American magnet school in Minneapolis. The
> Dakota classroom (ages 4-5) is also located at Anishinabe Academy.
> Each class meets for about 3 hours each day, Monday through Friday,
> and class sizes range from 10-25 students. In the fall, the program
> will be adding an after-school immersion option for children in
> grades K-2.
>
> The classes are held in separate rooms of each daycare facility or
> school from the regular classrooms. In each immersion classroom,
> teachers speak only Dakota or Ojibwe (depending on the class).
> Because there is not always an overlap between childcare
> professionals and fluent speakers, each classroom has a licensed
> childcare professional or teacher in the room at all times, though he
> or she may not speak the language. An auxiliary program exists to
> help these caregivers and parents further instruction in the language.
>
> For more information, contact me, Beth Brown, at brow0857 at umn.edu,
> 612-624-8217.
>
> Wopida!
>
> On Jun 11, 2008, at 9:04 PM, phil cash cash wrote:
>
>> Greetings everybody,
>>
>> Although very brief (less than a minute), several video clips were  
>> just posted
>> to YouTube on Dakota language immersion from Minneapolis, MN.  The  
>> children are
>> seen and heard conversing in the Dakota language!  Very inspiring!
>>
>> The clips are entitled: "Caga Sni" AND "Wiciyanna kais Hoksidan?"
>>
>> You can view them here at my YouTube clips page:
>> http://www.youtube.com/weyiiletpu
>>
>> Phil Cash Cash
>> UofA ILAT


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