Category Archives: Language learning

Building relationships requires education.

Posted on December 21, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

When it comes to the many challenges that aboriginal peoples face here in Canada, I find I have to strike a balance between identifying those problems and trying to come up with solutions for them.  Spending too much time on … Continue reading →

Posted in Alienation, Culture, First Nations, Fluency, Language learning, Representation of natives | Tagged , | 42 Comments

napatêhkasikan, my pumpkin pie adventure.

Posted on November 4, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

napatêhkasikan cî ahpô wîhkihkasikan? Pie, or cake?  Answering “both” is of course understandable, but I like to think that just as some people are ‘dog’ people while others are ‘cat’ people, some of us will take a pie over a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cree vocabulary, Imperative/command form, Language learning, Plains Cree | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cree kinship terms

Posted on October 24, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

In the Language and Culture Links section of this blog I linked to a Cree Family Unit site that I stumbled across years ago.  As you can see from the URL, it appears to have been developed in Saskatchewan as … Continue reading →

Posted in Cree vocabulary, Culture, Kinship, Language learning, Plains Cree, Word lists | Tagged | 2 Comments

You know a tree by its fruit…I mean, root.

Posted on June 23, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

There are a stunning number (for me) of responses to recent blog posts that I have not yet had time to digest and respond to so I wanted to preface this post with two things: my thanks for the comments … Continue reading →

Posted in Building suffix, Fluency, Language learning, Liquid suffix, Plains Cree, Suffixes, Tool suffix, Wood suffix, Word lists | 2 Comments

Creating a language nest

Posted on June 5, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

I am often seized with this desire to quit my job, and devote myself entirely to developing a language and culture program for my children and others.  Language development is my most passionate hobby.  What often stops me however is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Fluency, Language learning, Plains Cree, Urban Aboriginal | 11 Comments

Forming words in Cree

Posted on May 19, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

This post began as an aside to the last, but ended up fascinating me so much that I figured it would be easier to split it off.  This is not meant to be an exhaustive discussion about word formation in … Continue reading →

Posted in Language learning, Morphemes, Parts of language, Plains Cree, Prefixes | 4 Comments

Getting the kids ready for bed…in Cree!

Posted on May 19, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

In the spirit of the last post, nêhiyawêtân!, I have been trying to be more consistent with my use of Cree at home.  In order to do this, I’m focusing on certain periods of the day to really get the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fluency, Imperative/command form, Language learning, Plains Cree, Pronunciation, Roman Syllabic Orthography, Word lists | 1 Comment

nêhiyawêtân!

Posted on May 18, 2011 by âpihtawikosisân

Before I had children, the plan was that I would be a fluent speaker of Cree so that I could teach it to my children.  How hard could it be?  I already knew some Cree, and I’d learned to speak … Continue reading →

Posted in Fluency, Imperative/command form, Language learning, Plains Cree | 3 Comments