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- Is the Navajo course accurate?
Is the Navajo course accurate?
I was really excited coming back to Duolingo for the first time in probably a year to see that Navajo had been added as a language. I started on it right away, but I've since seen a few mentions from a while back of the course having spelling and grammatical errors. Have these been fixed now, and if not, how severe are the mistakes? I don't really want to devote my time to learning as much of the language as I possibly can on Duolingo if I'm going to be learning it incorrectly.
5 Comments
As a native speaker, it is far from perfect. As for grammar and spelling, I have seen much better. I must say that from what I have seen, there are unnatural sounding sentences. What I mean by this is that the sentences have quite a lot of English influence to how it is structured and not only that but there are just things you don't ask in Navajo; that's due to our differences considering we are an Athabaskan people with different ideals, ways of thinking - cultural differences to put it in one word.
I am in support of any organized effort to teach the language I am blessed to know as a mixed Navajo. But, I am also willing to point out when something is below my expectations. As a former tutor of the Navajo Language, I would not want my students to utilize a tool I deem insufficient or lacking in any shape or form. I have a few books that I highly recommend and a couple of them come with audio CDs. Are they perfect? No. I don't believe any coursebook is but that is not to say that they are not useful - they very much are! If you are serious about learning Navajo to a high degree, I can lead you to a few resources (books) that I approve of anyone learning Navajo to use.
These are my thoughts as a native speaker of the language that won WWII. I hope it was at least of some assistance.
Thanks for the info. So far the frustrating thing for me with Navajo is that it's been very difficult to find audio with transcriptions. I find it's a lot easier to get used to a language when I can read the words I'm listening too. Any suggestions for this type of content? Some day I'll invest more time and money into learning Navajo, but for now it's just a hobby I've been dabbling in, so I don't have much money for expensive course materials.
I have a YT channel where I talk about the language and do livestreams. In fact, I am doing one tonight in 15 minutes. If you’re interested - https://youtu.be/AbazxXy3X4U
Hey. I am interested in learning Navajo to a high degree (and correctly). I’m hoping that you’ll see this message and could maybe direct me towards some of those books and resources.
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I would love to learn about some of these books and resources! Can you share this information?
