This workshop is open to all CoLang participants: members of indigenous communities, researchers, language activists and educators. Participants will receive an introduction to South Bolivian Quechua (quh), a variety of one of the largest indigenous language families in the Americas. This workshop is a required introduction to the Practicum on South Bolivian Quechua but participants may choose to sign up for just this week. 

In addition to an overview of this language in its larger context, we will touch on intellectual property issues, controversies and resolutions over standardized writing, and share a sample of first language teaching initiatives we have observed or assisted with in local schools and communities. We will cultivate an attitude of humility and curiosity around the language and its many speakers.

Participants will engage directly on days 2-4 with riddles, stories and personal anecdotes that the presenters have gleaned from recent interviews. Presenters have already transcribed, glossed and translated these materials to Spanish and English. Together we will practice ayni (reciprocal work exchange) with the speech communities who shared their verbal art by pooling our creativity to convert these materials into proposals for producing books, videos, skits and other language revitalization activities to return to the communities of origin.

Requirements: familiarity with Spanish or a Quechua language is helpful but not necessary

What to bring:

• Laptop, pen and paper
• Optional: audio/video recording devices, preferably with WAV and HD recording capacity (we’ll bring our own Zoom Q4Handy video recorder for in-class sketches)

Suggested prior workshops:

• Documenting conversation 
• Animating traditional stories as pedagogical tools for language reclamation

Facilitation Team
Susan Kalt, Carlos Flores Quispe & Gaby Vargas Melgarejo