Teacher Reviving Language (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Teacher Reviving Language
http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/March/29/news/language.html

By Marcus Blair
TIMES RECORD • MBLAIR at SWTIMES.COM

GORE — Each time Phyllis Yargee hears children speaking Cherokee on the
playground, she knows her difficult job is worth the effort.

Teaching a complex, dying language to children isn’t easy, even among a
student body that is 71 percent American Indian. Most Cherokees are
unable to speak their native language, and even fewer can read or write
the characters of the Cherokee syllabary, Yargee said.

“I think people should know the language because they live in the heart
of the Cherokee Nation,” the Notchietown resident said. “There are now
so few speakers and most of them are elders.”

Yargee spent 14 years working for the Johnson O’Malley program for the
advancement of American Indian students. She helped develop the
Cherokee Challenge Bowl in which young Cherokees test their knowledge
of tribal culture.

Through the experience, she learned basic Cherokee words. Since being
hired last year by Gore Schools and fueled by a desire to keep the
language from dying, Yargee has learned more about her native tongue.

The dialect connects Cherokees to their heritage and helps students of
other races learn about another culture, Yargee said. She believes
stereotypes fall and students are more accepting of others when they
receive a multicultural education.

Yargee teaches 45-minute classes daily to students from kindergarten to
fifth grade. The sessions are steeped in tribal history, government and
customs.

Yargee’s students seem to devour their lessons and are acquiring more of
the language on their own, school officials said. One student
astonished Yargee by learning her name in Cherokee without the help of
a teacher.

The learning also produced some unexpected results, Yargee said.

Students are using Cherokee as a secret language around teachers who
can’t speak it. The conspiratorial aspect of the speech is an unusual
drawing card that piqued the interest of the students, Yargee said.

Superintendent Marvin Thouvenel said the language is never a problem
because the school is ecstatic to see the children enthusiastic about
learning.

“I hear them sometimes when I’m down there at the elementary,” Thouvenel
said. “I like to hear them speak Cherokee and I ask them to. I wish all
of them could do it.”

Yargee is the first Cherokee teacher at Gore Schools to introduce the
written language of the tribe to the elementary students. She developed
the curriculum, which was a monumental task, said Sandy Williams,
federal programs coordinator for the school.

“Phyllis has done a tremendous job. She’s the one who decided to
implement the syllabary and there is no written curriculum for that
from the state,” Williams said.

Yargee is searching for ways to involve parents who can’t help with
homework because they are unable to decipher the lessons of their
children. To help parents get acquainted with the language, Yargee is
developing several tools, including a Cherokee lunch menu designed to
teach adults the names of foods.

The developing language barrier between adults and children may be a
positive sign that shows a revival of the Cherokee dialect that was not
experienced in previous generations, Yargee said.

School officials say they are thankful to have Yargee, a member of the
Cherokee Tribal Council, as a teacher. Yargee has enthusiasm and
knowledge that are irreplaceable in teaching, Williams said.

“When we asked her to come here, we never dreamed we would get her,”
Williams said. “She brings a knowledge and experience to the school
that is a huge asset to us.”