Re: Ojibwe language-learning materials available.
Mary.Ojibway (20676mkb@msu.edu)
Thu, 26 May 1994 15:05:00 EDT
Jon-Thank you for the explanation. It is very helpful. I don't know how
dialect specific anyone learning Ojibway/Odawa want to be BUT my teacher
recorded a great tape of her telling a few stories that young learner would be
familiar with. She tells the tale of 1. How the butterfly came to be 2. How
the birch tree got it black bark marks 3. the story of the Gingerbread Man and
finally 4. the 3 little pigs. The stories are all in the "Manitoulin Isand
speak" with an English version in a small accompanying booklet if you insist
on using a translation. It is fun just to hear the lilt of the language at
normal speed versus our halting (I'm being kind) conversation in class. She,
too, has included some vocabulary (with the English spoken after) words about
food related things. No grammar is explained on the tap or in the booklet as I
recall. If anyone is interested in her tape I could ask her if she could make
more copies. She was selling them for just $5.00. Let me know if you are
interested. Such tapes can only be used as tools in learning the language. We
will all have to spend time around native speakers and really jump in with
both feet if we hope to ever get beyond the beginner stage.
Kate Oj.