Recently a close friend of mine, who is a descendant of one of the original cultures of the Americas and native speaker of the Yucatec Mayan language, asked me to help him save his language from evaporating from the pueblo ambiance, as he put it in Spanish. While his plea certainly provided the inspiration necessary for producing such an instructional guide for learning to speak the Yucatec Maya language; living in the Pueblo of Chicxulub over the past seven years has provided the perspective necessary for presenting the lifestyle of a culture that is disappearing as rapidly as its speech community. After several authentic language lessons with “in chichan uitsin” (my little brother), and language guide Don Tristeza, followed-up by hundreds of hours studying and practicing his language in my own time, I now find myself in a position to respond to this seemingly overwhelming, yet undeniable request.
Though the number of speakers of Mayan languages numbers in the millions, and there are supposedly at least 800,000 speakers of the Yucatec Mayan variety, current trends towards greater cultural convergence on the face of a shrinking world map that encroaches on the agrarian pueblos that seem to get closer-and-closer to the city with every son or daughter that exchanges the cultural conventions of the pueblo for the undeniable profits of modernization.
As a result of my unique positioning in the pueblo as both a formally-trained Anthropologist and Linguist, and an active participant in “in kaaj”, I am now motivated to advance my mission of not only learning of the Yucatec Mayan language, but also intent on helping to advance the revitalization and fortalizacion of this endangered language when there is something that I can do both formally and informally.
New Denizen Publishing, el editorial en Casa de Toj2, ha producido el libro Experience Yucatan: En busca de los pueblos yucatecos con Don Hector, que dirige lectores por la peninsula yucateca mientras repasando los básicos de español, con un introducción a la lengua maya de la region, incluyendo pistas para viajeros, actividades sobre lenguaje y cultura, y mas que 500 grabaciones vinculadas por dos hablantes nativos de maya.
To Preserve a Language At-risk of Disappearing, Teach the Kids!
Además, New Denizen Publishing ha publicado tres libros para colorear con actividades en lengua maya para niños, y un juego de mesa para todas las edades que se enfoca en el vocabulario maya para acompañarte cuando vayas a la milpa, al cosechar y procesar el maíz para ofrecer en tu altar en Janal Pixan.
Download Free Copies of our Activity Coloring Books
Ko’ox Kool – Vamos a la Milpa – Let’s get Corny
