Category: Blog Post

Christmas is coming, and the mind turns to … PRESENTS! Let Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe (the Compassionate Bear Family, a.k.a. the Berenstain Bears) help you with your Lakota language study with a story about jealousy (Wónawizi) over a gift.

THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER

When Brother gets a brand new three-speed racer, Sister’s envious feelings are personified in her dreams by a little green version of
 herself. This Green Eyed Monster convinces Sister to sneak brother’s new bike out for a ride but when she does, Sister realizes too late that it’s too big for her and she can’t control it. Fortunately,
 Brother and Papa rescue Sister before Brother’s bike can crash, then together they help chase the Green Eyed Monster away by jazzing up Brother’s old bike and giving it to Sister.

Each Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe episode comes with free extras for download: a complete script in Lakota, a vocabulary sheet with English translations, and comprehension questions (in Lakota) to check your understanding of the action.

Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe is a co-production of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Lakota Language Consortium, Berenstain Enterprises and Nelvana Limited. Episodes were first broadcast in 2011 on Prairie Public Television.

 

November winds are blowing! Let Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe (the Compassionate Bear Family, a.k.a. the Berenstain Bears) help you with your Lakota language study on these long cold evenings.

COUNT THEIR BLESSINGS

Brother and Sister often complain that their friends have more things than they do. Mama and Papa tell them they should be thankful for all
 the things they do have. When a big thunderstorm rages outside and the power goes out, the cubs are reminded of how fortunate they are to have loving parents and a cozy home to live in. It’s a good time to
 count their blessings.

Each Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe episode comes with free extras for download: a complete script in Lakota, a vocabulary sheet with English translations, and comprehension questions (in Lakota) to check your understanding of the action.

Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe is a co-production of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Lakota Language Consortium, Berenstain Enterprises and Nelvana Limited. Episodes were first broadcast in 2011 on Prairie Public Television.

It’s Election Day, and we’re all thinking about our most important priorities. Let Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe (the Compassionate Bear Family, a.k.a. the Berenstain Bears) help you with your Lakota language study with a story about discovering value.

TROUBLE WITH MONEY

When Mama and Papa refuse to buy Brother and Sister trendy, overly expensive sport shirts, the cubs decide to earn the money themselves. However the cubs go overboard and get so caught up in everything from lemonade stands to dog walking services that they leave themselves no time for their friends. It’s only when they finally reach their goal that Brother and Sister realize the price tag has 
turned out to a lot bigger than they thought. Their blind pursuit of material things has cost them their friends.

Each Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe episode comes with free extras for download: a complete script in Lakota, a vocabulary sheet with English translations, and comprehension questions (in Lakota) to check your understanding of the action.

Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe is a co-production of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Lakota Language Consortium, Berenstain Enterprises and Nelvana Limited. Episodes were first broadcast in 2011 on Prairie Public Television.

 

The time is almost here – the Lakota Audio Series: A Practical Conversational Course Vol. 1 will begin shipping on November 3rd.

This is the first time a standalone set of instructional CDs will be available for language learners to study conversational Lakota on their own.

Greetings and polite kinship questions are just the simpler side of what you will be able to learn from this Audio Series. It gets a lot more in-depth the further you go – for instance, talking about cars, about going to a dance, who heard someone say something, the ordinary commands of a day in the life, telling each other what to do, are all in this 10-hour sequence of lessons.

Catch this example:

 

(From Unit 9)

 Whether studying in your bedroom or on your daily commute, you will be immersed in Lakota language in a way that creates a deep intuitive grasp of the language and establishes a strong base for fluency.

Meet Your Instructors

 

BEN BLACK BEAR, JR., is a leading expert on Lakota language. He is the founder of the Lakota studies Program at Siŋté Glešká University and currently heads the Lakota studies Program at St. Francis Mission School in St. Francis, SD. He is Sičháŋǧu Lakȟóta.

IRIS EAGLE CHASING is a Lakota language teacher at Takini School in Howes, SD, on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. A grandmother and dedicated language activist, she has recorded female-voice Lakota speech for the New Lakota dictionary-Online Audio project.

Check it out at the LLC Bookstore and order yours today!

 

 

It’s getting dark early and what is there to do inside the house? Let Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe (the Compassionate Bear Family, a.k.a. the Berenstain Bears) help you with your Lakota language study while you watch some cartoons.

TOO MUCH TV

When Mama puts a ban on television watching for one whole week, the cubs initially go into hysterics. As the week unfolds, Brother, Sister and Papa too, find that their interests extend well beyond the television set. They grow to realize just how entertaining the great
outdoors and other “simple” pleasures can be.

Each Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe episode comes with free extras for download: a complete script in Lakota, a vocabulary sheet with English translations, and comprehension questions (in Lakota) to check your understanding of the action.

Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe is a co-production of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Lakota Language Consortium, Berenstain Enterprises and Nelvana Limited. Episodes were first broadcast in 2011 on Prairie Public Television.

It’s amazing where you can find a ghost, if you’re brave enough to look. Let Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe (the Compassionate Bear Family, a.k.a. the Berenstain Bears) help you with your Lakota language study in this spooky family adventure.

THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE

When the Bear Family vacations in an old lighthouse rendered obsolete by modern technology, they discover that it’s rumored to be haunted. Although the cubs encounter mysterious sights and sounds, they’re anything but spooked. In fact Brother and Sister actively pursue the clues to the point where they not only reveal the ’ghost’ but come up with a way to give new life to the old lighthouse as well as the old lighthouse keeper.

Each Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe episode comes with free extras for download: a complete script in Lakota, a vocabulary sheet with English translations, and comprehension questions (in Lakota) to check your understanding of the action.

Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe is a co-production of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Lakota Language Consortium, Berenstain Enterprises and Nelvana Limited. Episodes were first broadcast in 2011 on Prairie Public Television.

The Lakota-Dakota Language Summit had a celebratory end with the LLC award ceremony for learning achievements. The ceremony was very respectful and a special honoring song was sung.

The schools’ honors were based on comparison of learning assessment test scores from Fall 2013 and Spring 2014. Recognition was given for highest achievement and best improvement in the test scores.

Elementary schools

Most Improved — Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Early Elementary (Cheyenne River)

Highest Achieved — Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Early Elementary (Cheyenne River)

 

Junior High schools

Most Improved — Rock Creek Grant School (Standing Rock)

Highest Achieved — Red Shirt School (Hermosa, SD, Shannon County)

 

High Schools

Most Improved – Red Cloud High School (Pine Ridge)

Highest Achieved — Red Cloud High School (Pine Ridge)

 

Ben Black Bear, Jr. was the MC, and he emphasized for the audience how important it is to recognize the good work being done in Lakota Country to teach the Lakota language.

Teaching is so often unsung, invisible work – and yet it is front line of the language revitalization movement. LLC wants this to change!  We hope that these awards turn attention around towards honoring students, teachers and schools for bringing the language back.

Wóphila to everyone who worked so hard to make the 7th Annual Lakota-Dakota Language Summit so memorable and exciting!

Tusweca Tiospaye, the Lakota-Dakota Language Summit’s organizers, added a special workshop to do any language warrior proud: an intense, 16-hour marathon of language study, in the class Lakota/Dakota Language for Beginners. The class was developed and planned by Sunshine Archambault Carlow and Nacole Walker of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Education Department. Sunshine is the Education Manager and Nacole is the Language Education Coordinator for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

This breakout session saw roughly twenty people commit to two days of learning of the basics of Lakota/Dakota, including pronunciation and how to use a Lakota/Dakota dictionary for self-study.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Education Department loaned the participants dictionaries for practice.

Sunshine Archambault Carlow and Nacole Walker did warrior duty, leading the class over two eight-hour days and modeling the best in second-language instruction.

Teachers from around Lakota Country, who weren’t able to take the full class, nevertheless sat in to audit parts of it as a refresher. Many told LLC booth staff that Nacole and Sunshine’s presentation gave them lots of ideas for their own work.

By all accounts this was a fantastic course, a highly valuable workshop that generated tons of positive feedback and buzz.  Kudos to the workshop staff and participants!

More in Part III!

It was a bustling weekend at the 7^th annual Lakota-Dakota Language Summit in Rapid City, SD, October 10-12! The location had moved to the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn, to be near the Black Hills Powwow going on in the Civic Center next door. The convergence of the two events meant that the Summit had more than 1,000 visitors flowing through the halls.

LLC’s booth display was once again a hive of buzzing excitement – hundreds of visitors stopped by to scope out the new NLD-Pro desktop dictionary and the Lakota Audio Series, and pick up fun takeaways like “Language Warrior” t-shirts, bumper stickers and pens.

We had the honor of meeting teachers from all over Lakota country, as well as Tribal leaders, spiritual leaders, people from tribes in Canada and Montana, and even Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills.

The new “Language Warrior” theme really struck a powerful note for attendees.

The booth banners, the t-shirts and bumper stickers were popular with young and old.

T-shirts and bumper stickers can be ordered here if you want to show your own Language Warrior pride!

More in Part II!

Our last post introduced you to the NLD-Pro, an interactive version of the New Lakota Dictionary that can be downloaded to your computer’s desktop. (Bye-bye, wi-fi!) Here is another new product coming from LLC this Fall, that takes Lakota language study into new realms.

Lakota Audio Series

This is a 10-CD set that provides more than 10 hours of instruction in conversational Lakota – using the same lesson structures and repetition and review techniques found in popular self-instruction systems like Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone. It is provided for those self-study learners who want to practice the language while driving, and want to hear Lakota used for ordinary social situations.

 “Will you dance with me?”

is one of the dialogue phrases.

 

 

The Audio Series lessons provide dialogues, pronunciation and vocabulary guides, and even explanation and demonstration of those Lakota things that sound impossible at first — the stative verb and the ablaut.

The Series is spoken by fluent first-language elders Ben Black Bear, Jr. and Iris Eagle Chasing. Ms. Eagle Chasing is a Lakota language teacher at Takini School in Howes, SD (Cheyenne River) and Mr. Black Bear is the Director of Lakota Studies at St. Francis Mission School in St. Francis, SD (Rosebud). You might recognize Mr. Black Bear’s voice from the Lakȟótiya Wóglaka Po! Speak Lakota! Audio CDs, and as the voice of Papa Bear in the Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe (Lakota Berenstain Bears) cartoon series.

The Audio Series is available now for pre-order, and shipping is slate to begin in November.