This summer I was privileged to speak again for a Rvwang American youth audience on how and why to value and use their heritage language. I built on the 2023 talk with some content and analogies from Kim Potowski and M. Paul Lewis and Gary Simons. In an unexpected turn of events, my flight back to Portland was cancelled and so I got an extra day in Fort Worth, and was asked to speak two more times for kids at the Rvwang church VBS. (Unfortunately, those were not recorded.) So I got more practice in refining the message and incorporating it in my own story. If you would like to listen, see the video at the link below, and also the embedded PDF.
"Dvci karu / Language benefits", at the Rvwang Youth Conference 2024 in Fort Worth, TX, 7/4/2024
Quiz questions for afterwards:
1. Can you name the 4 sustainable levels of the language mountain hike?
(history, identity, orality, literacy)
2. What is the app for typing Rvwang on your phone?
(Keyman)
3. If you can use many languages, what are you?
(multilingual)
4. What is one image for someone between two cultures?
(a bat or a bridge)
5. Name two ideas for a family language plan.
(decide who, where, and when to use what language; if your parent or sibling speaks English, pretend not to understand, or give a guess in the home language; try to keep using the home language; put up signs at home; plan family language activities; ask about your family history; take quiet time alone to practice; listen to stories of other heritage language learners)
