Tips
This page contains some hints on how to learn a (mostly) unwritten language.
Leaving your Comfort Zone
You might be tempted to seek out written materials, but this complicates the task of understanding spontaneous speech in real life situations. It is better to shift your orientation and face some initial discomfort.
Consider the following table. We encourage you to shift yourself from the left to the right.
| Staying in your comfort zone | Leaving your comfort zone |
|---|---|
| (language = tool) | (language = connection) |
| (maintaining control) | (ceding control) |
| Learning it first then applying what you've learnt, constructing good sentences in your head then saying them | Learning it on the go, opening your mouth and mixing English and Kunwok to communicate |
| Studying written materials by yourself, wanting to capture, organise, label | Sitting with people and talking, wanting to connect |
| Interrogating the materials, getting your head around the grammar | Assimilating the materials, immersing yourself and letting your head work things out for itself |
| Being correct and avoiding embarrassment | Making mistakes and embarrassing yourself a little, realising it doesn't matter |
| Interviewing an informant | Hanging out with a friend |
| Understanding through translation into English, relating it back to your own world | Understanding through interpreting the situation, entering more deeply into the other world |
| Inviting people into your space | Going out respectfully into their space |
| Spending time online | Spending time on-country |
| Focussing on the goal of fluency | Focussing on the day-to-day journey |
Putting yourself out there
Many people assume a two step process: (1) learn the language through intensive study; then (2) apply what you've learnt with people. However, you won't get far with Bininj Kunwok this way. You need to cast yourself out there even if it means adopting a more outgoing personality. Try things, make mistakes, have a laugh... if you're not feeling awkward or embarrassing yourself occasionally, you're not learning. Remember, the language exists for communication and relationships, so make communication and relationships the priority from the start.
--- Sarah Gudschinsky (1967) How to Learn an Unwritten Language, page 4
Finding language guides
Just because someone speaks Kunwok doesn't make them a good teacher. Some people might overwhelm you with information in their enthusiasm to teach you. Start making friends, and see who you can easily relax with over a cup of tea. Remember that language learning is tiring for everyone, so monitor people's level of interest. Sometimes it's easier to focus on learning cultural things, and picking up language alongside that.
Not asking too many questions
It is tempting for westerners to engage in "inquiry learning", interrogating the material, understanding it through questioning. In many Indigenous cultures this is not an effective way of working with local to learn the language. It is also not an effective way to learn to speak a language.
"A [balanda] and a [bininj] sitting down for the first time for language study experience considerable discomfort. Each one realizes that he is confronting a human being in a situation which is abnormal. ... Sustained questioning is probably restricted in all societies to a limited number of settings. In our own we can imagine being questioned by a physician, highway patrolman, income tax controller, census taker, personnel manager, bank mortgage representative, and so on. This list of interrogators points out a significant fact about these settings: that the person opposite us is in some official capacity... in this setting we are passive and vulnerable. This is no less true when the questions are put by those with whom we are otherwise on intimate terms, our parents or our spouses, for example. A university student finds little pleasure in being asked a long series of questions by members of his family about his year away in school. In our society one therefore avoids every semblance of a formal interview... Immediate attention must be given to the elimination of anxieties, for anxieties constitute a substantial obstacle to effective communication. ... The forms it takes are numerous, but its function is always to protect the ego from exposure and vulnerability. A person who feels ill at ease in some situation is one who is not certain if he can handle himself to his own satisfaction. ... Anxieties can also be induced by making the [bininj] believe he is being tested or that he is inferior by comparison with the [balanda]." --- William Samarin (1967) Field Linguistics.
Learning phrases not words
Learning vocabulary out of context is virtually useless, because you don't get clues to the range of meanings of a word. If I memorise that a particular word translates as line in English, does that mean a line drawn in the sand, a queue of people waiting to board a bus, a wire for hanging clothes on, or a metaphorical boundary that should not be crossed? Instead, memorise whole phrases that put a word in context. Then substitute other words into these phrases.
Many people start by replacing English nouns with Kunwok nouns, e.g. "what's that daluk's name?". But speaking the language requires verbs, and you can't learn Kunwok verbs this way. You learn them through substitution:
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Practicing positive self-talk
When your mind offers up to you the thought that "I'm not good at this", replace it with a positive alternative such as "Most worthwhile things are challenging. This is worthwhile."
Keeping a learning journal
Google learning journal and find some guidance that works for you. Keep a regular log of your thoughts and observations, and learn about your preferences and strengths. Consider blogging about this new journey.
Meeting with other learners
Find someone else who wants to learn with you. Meet regularly to share your experiences and ideas. Share any learning resources you create with each other (or on this site).
