Lakota Language Forum

Hau mitakuyepi! Joseba emačiyapelo nahaŋ Bilbao (Spaiŋ) emataŋhaŋ yelo. Some months ago I found a topic with a link to the AISRI Lakota language textbook series for Red Cloud School here in the forum. I have been accessing the texts via internet but lately the link is broken. It is a real pity because I find that these texts are quite useful to learn Lakota in a very easy way. Someone knows if there is another valid link to them or if can they be obtained in any way? Perhaps they have been published and they can be ordered. Any information about it is welcomed. Thanks. Tókša akhé!

Carpallo wrote:Hau mitakuyepi! Joseba emačiyapelo nahaŋ Bilbao (Spaiŋ) emataŋhaŋ yelo. Some months ago I found a topic with a link to the AISRI Lakota language textbook series for Red Cloud School here in the forum. I have been accessing the texts via internet but lately the link is broken. It is a real pity because I find that these texts are quite useful to learn Lakota in a very easy way. Someone knows if there is another valid link to them or if can they be obtained in any way? Perhaps they have been published and they can be ordered. Any information about it is welcomed. Thanks. Tókša akhé!

These books are filled with errors. The LLC books are better.

Thank you Kevin for your help! I have the first book of the LLC and also the book by Albert White Hat "Reading and writing the lakota language". What do you think about the latter? This was the first book about Lakota that I bought. Perhaps the ortography does not match the NLD but I find it quite usefull. The first book of the LLC seems to be intended for children. What is your opinion about the rest? Which is in your opinion the best way to learn Lakota? Thank you very much for your concern.
Best regards.

Carpallo wrote:...and also the book by Albert White Hat "Reading and writing the lakota language". What do you think about the latter? This was the first book about Lakota that I bought. Perhaps the ortography does not match the NLD but I find it quite usefull.

--Hi Carpallo!
I'll try to answer your question about Albert White Hat's book. The usefulness of a language teaching material is determined by how far a learner advances in language acquisition after reading and working with a book. If you consider that you advanced quite far after reading "Reading and writing..." - so be it, you can read and write Lakota here in the forum .
If you ask me, I read AWH's book after learning by CULP (Colorado University Lakhota Project) materials, so "Reading and writing.." did not help me in learning.
Personally, I think that AWH's book is an informal introduction into Lakota language, that's all.

Hau Kostya! Thank you very much for your post. You said you learn lakota by using CULP materials. Did you attend classes at the Colorado University or did you adquire some printed materials? Unfortunately I am unable to attend classes there but if the materials worth the while it would be a good idea to obtain them. What is your opinion about the lakota books by LLC, "Lakȟotiya Wóglaka Po"? Is there some useful texbooks or grammars?
Thank you very much. Best regards

Carpallo, Grammar sketch in the New Lakota Dictionary that you've got is the best description of Lakota Grammar. Of course the L1-L2 textbooks are for kids, they are not fully optimal for adults. CULP materials are actually the 20 first lessons of Lakota with a dictionary of 1000 most usable and frequent Lakota verbs. In fact, NLD-Online, that has almost 20,000 entries, is much more advanced tool. Besides, it is online, it recognizes all the conjugation verb forms, the words in it are clickable etc. The texts in the Forum are powered by NLDI - New Lakota Dictionary-Instant (or Inline) - if you doubleclick or mouse-select any word (English or Lakota, including conjugations), you'll get the dictionary entry for it.
The Interactive Textbook amounts to, perhaps, first volume of the CULPt textbooks. The other topics of the Forum cover other vocabulary and grammar issues, sometimes very advanced ones. Of course this is unordered heap of topics and the carefully written textbook for adults with grammar - morphology, syntax, together with excercises, mp3s and all that would be great - it is in the LLC's agenda, but not for the nearest future - the L4, L5, etc. textbooks for school are under way, this is more important for language revitalization.

I guess that for us, adults the best way to become fluent in Lakota is a combination of permanent practising of Lakota speaking with fluent speakers, ideally, immersion - when you only hear Lakota speech and talk Lakota --to the best of your ability - and learning grammar in a "grownup way" - from professional linguists or their textbooks.
If we cannot learn in a perfect way, we should learn as much perfect as possible - for example, reading the texts written by native fluent speakers, or reading grammar sketches, and asking questions in a forum .

Thank you again for your useful help, Kostya. I am just a beginner in the lakota language and it is difficult to get the proper materials in order to learn the language correctly. Obviously the best method is to live among lakhota people but it is almost imposible. Do you know if the third book of the LLC is a book intended for adults? Have you ever heard something about the book "550 Dakota verbs"? Could it be a useful book?
Thanks for your time and your concern. Best regards

Hi Carpallo,

The third book and the third audio CD are intended for older children, and they are also great for adults. I, as an adult, started learning with the LLC book 1 and 2 anyway since they come with audio CDs, and thus you learn the correct pronunciation from the beginning. Book 3 is far more thrilling of course, and with much more vocabulary and useful phrases. Compared with 1 and 2, it is a huge step forward, but with 1 and 2 you get the basics,

As for the "550 Verbs" - this is merely a list of conjugation patterns. You will find all the verbs in the New Lakota Dictionary - together with the necessary conjugation forms to write the complete conjugation pattern yourself, and with many example sentences. Together with the grammar part of the dictionary, it surpasses the "550 Verbs" by far. I guess there are much fewer irregular verbs in Lakota than there are in English, so there is actually no need for 550 conjugation patterns.

Hope this helps.
Tókša akhé!
Jana

Carpallo wrote:Thank you again for your useful help, Kostya. I am just a beginner in the lakota language and it is difficult to get the proper materials in order to learn the language correctly. Obviously the best method is to live among lakhota people but it is almost imposible. Do you know if the third book of the LLC is a book intended for adults? Have you ever heard something about the book "550 Dakota verbs"? Could it be a useful book?
Thanks for your time and your concern. Best regards

The third book is great, I can't wait to see the fourth. They are very good for adults who are learning as well.

Hau mitakuyepi! Thank you very much for your help. Vielen Dank für deine Hilfe, Jana. I have only the first book and the audio CD of the LLC but I will get the rest of them as soon as posible. It's a pity that Lakota people don't use their own language everyday but it happens also in Ireland with the english. I know that it's not the place to talk about other things than the Lakota language itself but someone knows some web, book or whatever in which we can learn about the actual status of the Lakota people nowdays? There are a lot of books about history, myths, society, etc... but which is the situation of the Lakota society? How do they live? Which are their problems? The only book I've found about it is one about the struggle for the black hills. Thank you very much again. Best regards

Šičʼéši,

This is getting off-topic - have a look at the forum rules. I send you a PM with some links.

Tókša akhé!
Jana