How to Keep Your Language Alive: A Commonsense Approach to One-on-One Language Learning

by Leanne Hinton

Amid worldwide accounts of dying languages, author Leanne Hinton and a group of dedicated language activists are doing something about they have created a master-apprentice language program, a one-on-one approach that has been remarkably successful in ensuring new speakers will take the place of those, often elderly, who are fluent in an endangered language. How to Keep Your Language Alive  is a manual for students of all languages, from Yurok to Yiddish, Washoe to Welsh; complete with exercises that can—can and should—be done in the most ordinary of settings, written with great simplicity and directness by a member of the linguistics faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, Indigenous

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Cathy Wheaton]

wonderful book! Highly recommended for fluent Cree speakers who wish to pass along speaking skills to others

[Arielle W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for my language class. Really enjoyed reading. Wish I had the ability to learn language like this from a "master."

[Elli Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really inspiring and provides lots of practical information that can be applied in any language-learning journey.

[NormaJean · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sister and I participate in a California language revival team. There are many students to one master.

She gave me this book earlier this year. I grabbed it off the shelf yesterday and I'm so glad I did. I am newly motivated and excited to continue with our language learning.

It is giving me ideas to implement with an ESL situation I am leading for a Ukrainian refugee.

[Asl4u · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is amazing and I bought two more copies for other people i know and recommended to a teacher-
overall excellent book -is continuing to be a reference as I progress

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has a lot of great ideas for language activities and how to set up an immersive language environment.