ONGOING DEVELOPMENT AND PROJECT PURPOSE
mâci-nêhiyawêtân (Let’s start speaking Cree!) is intended to fill a long-standing gap in access to nêhiyawêwin/Cree language learning to learners who for various reasons cannot avail themselves of limited, and expensive, post-secondary programs, or in-person language learning opportunities.
Currently available are three modules out of a planned twelve. As funding becomes available, more modules will be created and added.
PREREQUISITES
No prior knowledge of nêhiyawêwin/Cree is required.
WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
The main focus of this course is language reclamation for those learners whose traditional language is nêhiyawêwin/Cree, as well as other Indigenous people who may want to learn a different Indigenous language. Non-Indigenous learners are also encouraged to take this course as part of their journey towards reconciliation, to support Indigenous friends and relatives, or to satisfy linguistic curiosity.
This course can be used holistically for individual learning, or can be worked through in group settings. Many of the materials are levelled for teenagers to adults, but young children with guidance from older learners, can also benefit.
The materials are also intended to be used by nêhiyawêwin language instructors at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels, as well as parent learners who wish to use nêhiyawêwin in the home. If any of these resources are useful to you individually, please take what you need to support your ongoing efforts!
COURSE DESCRIPTION
mâci-nêhiyawêwin/beginner Cree is online, asynchronous (at your own pace), and available to the public free-of-cost. This is an introductory-level language course for nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree Y dialect), as spoken and written in Alberta and Saskatchewan
Learners will be introduced to the basics of nêhiyawêwin through scaffolded, in-depth grammar and vocabulary content, and will be able to comprehend and construct simple sentences in the Cree Standard Alphabet (CSA). Using a blend of immersive and instructional videos, translation, analysis, creative sentence exercises, and language labs, learners will have opportunities at every stage to practice and expand their skills and evaluate their work with answer keys and guided practices. As an asynchronous course, learners can access materials at any time, and complete the course according to their own schedule and at their own pace from anywhere there is internet access.
HOW TO WORK THROUGH THIS COURSE
Each module represents about three hours of instruction and exercises, though some modules are longer than others. The full twelve-module course will be equivalent to a semester-long program.
The materials are meant to be progressed through in the order they are presented. You can check off lessons as you move through them to keep track of content you have already covered. Unfortunately there is no way to un-check those sections marked as complete – that’s just how this course template works.
If you encounter content you are already proficient in, feel free to skip it! Re-do sections as many times as you’d like. All of the content will remain available to you at all times, while I have designed this course to build on previous lessons, you can navigate through the content in any way you wish.