Teacher preserves the language (fwd link)

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Teacher preserves the language

Posted By Jennifer Ashawasegai
Posted 2 days ago

Morning announcements at Wasauksing Kinomaugewgamik start with a prayer done by
two students in Ojibwa and in English.

Afterward, in the school's kindergarten class, Hector Copegog is holding up
large cards displaying different pictures to members of his small but eager
kindergarten class

The children lean forward in their chairs, elbows propped on the table, and
shout out corresponding Anishinabemowin words.

"Nbaa!" one boy exclaims, and the rest follow suit when they see their teacher's
smile. Copegog was showing them a picture of a bed. Next, he has a picture of a
bear, and asks "Wenesh maaba?" (What's that?).

"Mukwa!" the five-year-olds enthusiastically shout, almost in unison. They all
know that one.

Copegog says he does his best to speak only Anishinabemowin in the classroom. He
says simple everyday words for the younger ones, and then progressively adds
more vocabulary for students in older grades, so students can eventually speak
entire sentences.

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