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How You Can Help
Ten Things You Can Do To Help Revitalize The Lakota Language
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Speak Lakota in every situation, especially with your family and friends. Try to talk Lakota to those people who don't speak but do understand the language. Talk Lakota with everybody: in the streets, on the telephone, at work, at home. If the other person understands you, keep talking Lakota even if you are getting responses in English.
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Be respectful to people, who speak a different language, but insist that they pay the same respect to your speaking Lakota.
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Encourage those members of your family who are not fluent in Lakota to learn the language. Talk to them slowly and occasionally explain some words or their use.
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Whenever someone struggles to talk Lakota, encourage that person by responding positively, even if they make mistakes.
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Do NOT over-focus on mistakes in other peoples' Lakota speaking, because it is extremely discouraging for learners. Teach by example, by your use of the proper Lakota.
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Respect the dialectical and local differences in Lakota. With it you respect the richness of the language.
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Support Lakota media - radio stations, newspapers etc. Insist on your right to use Lakota, because it is your nation's native language.
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Request that the local schools of your community offer Lakota classes as part of the curriculum. Successful language programs should have at least four 40-minute lessons per week.
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If your children or grandchildren learn Lakota at school, help them with their homework, ask them simple questions in Lakota, and encourage them by positive evaluation of their progress. Do not focus on what you think their language teacher may not be doing well in class, this would devalue the teacher's authority in the eyes of your children and have negative impact on their motivation to learn Lakota. No teacher is ever perfect, but most teachers do the best they can.
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Speak to your children and grandchildren only in Lakota. Children's brain is capable of learning two or more languages simultaneously. But you have to be consistent and keep speaking in Lakota only, do not switch to English. Your children will have enough exposure to English in school, through the TV and everywhere else. Remember that growing up bilingually, or knowing two or more languages is an advantage. Children who are bilingual often have better grades, they are more adaptable to different social environments, and they easily solve complicated social situations. Moreover, knowing two languages enables people to see the world with the eyes of two cultures.
Doing the things above takes little effort, but it can help a lot in bringing the Lakota language back. The Lakota people need to unite in this struggle.
Written by Lakota Language Consortium.
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