The "Learning To Speak Comanche" Project was developed by the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee, and was presented at the 2005 Annual Comanche General Council meeting and voted to go on the ballot for a referendum vote. It passed and the project was implemented during 2006. A second year has been funded by the Comanche people, and began in the Fall of 2007. The Guidelines for the Project are below:
HOW CAN YOU LEARN TO SPEAK COMANCHE?
The very first thing is to determine whether it is going to be essential for you to learn this language. Without this determination there is no need to proceed. If you do not have the self motivation that "this language is important to me as a Comanche person," you will not be successful. Now, with that said, let’s begin.
Meeku tanv namaka muki svmv oyet6 Nvmv niwvnvzetv.
Since the majority of us are lacking in a sufficient enough Comanche vocabulary to speak the language, the first step is to build that vocabulary so that we can begin to speak.
COMPONENTS TO BECOMING A FLUENT SPEAKER
1. Become literate in "Taa Nvmv Tekwap6."
Since there is a Comanche spelling system, learn the symbols and letters that represent the sounds of the Comanche language.
2. Invest in a recording device that you can play back.
Since there are so few speakers and, with their age and health, our exposure to them speaking Comanche is limited. It is so very important to record the language spoken at every opportunity.
3. Involve the family unit in this process.
The language needs to be re-established into the home once again.
The beginning of the end of our language was when the parents stopped using the language in their home. The babies need to hear these wonderful sounds so they may be equipped to produce those sounds and become native speakers of "Taa Nvmv Tekwap6."
This three step process sounds too simple to be successful.
However, success or failure of the efforts are determined by the individual’s commitment to ownership of the language and a preconceived benefit derived from those efforts (internal motivation). Self motivation and ownership are a strong alliance in this quest to reclaim our language.
PLAN OF ACTION
1. Learn Spelling System. Learning to read and write in Comanche is not as difficult as it may appear. With six to eight hours of orientation on this spelling system and an additional six to eight hours of individual work to practice listening to the sounds of Comanche. And then writing the words as you hear them. Practice reading Comanche should also take place during this time. Components two and three should be in use during this orientation period. You will also be exposed to greetings and responses, kinship terms, colors, numbers and conversational phrases.2. Orientation -- Four Weeks. You have begun to build your Comanche vocabulary. The orientation session would be taken over four weeks, with an hour and a half of weekly orientation sessions. The learners would then use the rest of the week for their practice sessions.
3. Family Oriented. As you have probably realized, this technique of learning the language is family oriented. It is a proven fact that the children’s first teachers are their parents. It is also a proven fact that children learn a language from their first teachers. The earlier children are exposed to a second language the better.
4. Comanche Speakers as Consultants. Speakers of the Comanche language will be utilized as consultants to these language teams. The language teams can select any area of their family life to bring the language into use. In other words, they choose their own curriculum.
5. Consultants Meet with Families Monthly. A consultant will meet with these language teams for an evaluative and consultative session. These sessions could take place monthly depending on the needs of the language teams.
6. Team Selection. Selection of teams will be based on families with children six years old and under in the family. Pregnant women will also be included, even though they have no other children. Having both parents in the home has proven to be more successful in the language learning process, but single parent homes can also be successful and will be considered.
7. Self-Motivation. As has been mentioned, self motivation and ownership is the key to the success or failure of this language learning process. And as the Comanche people have shown by their lack of involvement in trying to learn to speak Comanche, then there is a need for some external motivation. That external motivation would come in the form of compensation for their successful efforts in learning to speak Comanche. All of us have experienced external motivation, working for a good grade in school, doing a good job on the job for the salary you receive. Now external motivation can evolve into internal motivation. A sense of pride in graduation, advanced degrees, promotion on the job. Now the motivation becomes internal, the pride in a job well done or in the accomplishments. Could this be the catalyst that gives us the ownership, the pride that our language will survive within us? I believe this will give the Comanche people the empowerment to speak "Taa Nvmv Tekwap6" once again.
8. Consultant Speaker Selection. The criterion for selection of the fluent speakers will be based on their ability to speak Comanche for a period of five to seven minutes telling of themselves, while speaking only in Comanche. The spelling consultants will demonstrate their ability to hear and write the Comanche language correctly.
The application process for the families and consultants will begin immediately. There will be 15 families in this second year project.
The orientation sessions for learning to read and write Comanche will begin as soon as families have been selected. These sessions would be scheduled for one day a week for an hour and a half for four weeks.
Expected learner outcomes for the four weeks: 15 sets of parents will become proficient in reading and writing Comanche. Both parents and children will become accustomed to hearing Comanche spoken and begin building their vocabulary.
The use of a recording and play back device is vitally important to the success of this project.
Expected learner outcomes: 15 families will learn to use this device both in recording and listening to Comanche spoken. The parents will play back and listen to the sounds of the language, they then will write down what they hear. They in turn will read to their children what they have transcribed. The families will learn to make this part of their daily lives and schedule this time as family time.
The families will be given kinship terms, colors, numbers, greetings and responses, and conversational phrases during the spelling orientation sessions.
Expected learner outcomes: The families will learn to start communicating with each other in Comanche. They will learn to hear the sounds of the language and use the letters that represent those sounds.
The families will also use the infant CDs that the tribal language program has produced. These CDs will have programmed a how-to-use booklet for the parents. These CDs will be played in the presence of the infants so they can hear the sounds of the language.
Expected learner outcome: The parents and children will learn to hear the sounds of the language and will get additional practice reading from the accompanying booklet. The infants will start processing the sounds of the language.
The first consultative/evaluative session will take place after the first month of family language learning. At this time it will be determined how well the families did on the expected learner outcomes previously mentioned. It will also be determined at this time if they are successfully progressing in the learning of the language and using the language in their daily lives, so that they may be compensated for their efforts.
Planning for the following month’s curriculum for each family will take place at this time. These consultative/evaluative sessions will be scheduled following each month’s work at the convenience of each individual family participating in this project.
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You may print the following application* by using the Print function on your taskbar and tell it to print page #4. (*WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS AT THIS TIME)
Application for Learning to Speak Comanche Project
Year Two (2007-2008)
1. A member of the family must be an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. Name:_______________________________________________________
Enrollment Number (CDIB):_______________________
Names and Ages of Children:_____________________________________
As a participant your family will be required to attend all orientation sessions.
As a participant your family will be required to attend all consultative/evaluative sessions.
It is essential that the families endorse and utilize the components to becoming a fluent speaker.
If you agree to these requirements please sign this application.
Name:_______________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________
Phone: ________________________ Cell: _________________________
E-Mail Address: _______________________________________________
Compensation payments will be given each month after the Consultative/Evaluative session.
*For more information e-mail clcpc@comanchelanguage.org.
Please mail this completed application to: CLCPC, 1375 N.E. Cline Road, Elgin OK 73538; or fax to 580-492-5119.