So you want to help your child learn Navajo? The best thing you can do is start reading books. Many parents today are using books to teach their child another language, even as non-native speakers! So why not do it with our Navajo language? We live in a time where we have growing resources like…
I have mentioned many times that now is a perfect time to start reading Navajo to your kids. Why? Because there are more resources than there were just 5/10 years ago. Yes, it’s not much when compared to other languages like Cantonese and Spanish but we should take advantage to start with what we do…
Did you know that there are Children’s books that are written in both Navajo and English? And it’s growing because our community knows the importance of language revitalization. And with the threat of our language slowly disappearing with each generation, we need as much help as we can get. If this was 10-15 years ago,…
If you’ve read my “Why I love flashcards to teach Navajo?” then you’ll see how easy and effective flashcards can be to teach your child Navajo. Flashcards offer many benefits but it’s too easy to get caught up in the same basic routine – holding up a flashcard and calling out the word. Then watch…
There’s some debate about flashcards in the education world. I’ve read articles that say flashcards are good and highly effective and others that say to stay away from flashcards. I think there are pros and cons in many things and I agree that flashcards are one of them, but here’s why I love them to…
Yá’át’ééh Ghaaji! October (Ghaaji) means the beginning of fun holidays and festivities and the Fall season! And kids will be looking forward to all the holidays coming up. This means it’s a perfect opportunity to start teaching Navajo vocabulary! Which kid doesn’t love autumn, cooler weather, and dressing up for Halloween? (I’m not a kid…
A Game that became a hit! My desire to learn Navajo began in the classroom. I always wanted to learn my language but I never did anything about it. That changed when I became a youth leader for an afterschool program focused on Native American youth. Some of the students were enrolled in a Navajo…
Teaching kids to learn another language (when you don’t know it at all) seems scary and challenging on the surface. I was there too. I thought I couldn’t do it and I didn’t know where exactly to start. I wasn’t around fluent family members every day and I was scared to ask, feeling like I…
As a parent who grew up not knowing my native language, I know how unfortunate it feels to not speak the language of my parents and grandparents. Our language, Dine Bizaad, unfortunately, wasn’t passed down to the majority of our generation. And sadly, at one point in history, we weren’t even allowed to speak our…
I’ve mentioned before that when I started out, there weren’t a lot of readily available resources out there for the Navajo Language. But there are some good resources you can use right now. How many of these resources have you heard of or come across? I’m going to share top 5 resources for Navajo Language…