NOTES for The June 30th 2023 In-Person Conversational Garifuna Language Class with Garifuna Language Teacher Milton Guity Sr.
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Copyright 2023 by Teofilo Colon Jr for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved.
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I arrived 45 minutes late for this class.
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Social cultural small talk took place. The rise of Gangs in Honduras was discussed.
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Greetings in the Garifuna Language were discussed. The different ways to say, ‘How are you?’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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You greet an elder roughly a generation older than you differently than you would greet a peer your age or younger than you.
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Responses to ‘How are you?’ like, the different ways to say ‘I am fine’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say various numbers in the Garifuna Language were reviewed again, and we said them.
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How to say, ‘Count from 30 to 50’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘what year were you born?’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘what month were you born?’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘what day were you born?’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say ‘near’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘Do you have money?’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘currency’ (as opposed to money) in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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Various sentences using dates/years in the Garifuna Language were discussed.
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We had a guest in the class today. A New York City Public School teacher learning the Garifuna Language as she encounters many students of Garifuna Heritage in her classroom over the years.
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We talked about the challenges students who don’t speak English face in the Public School system.
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I spoke about an encounter I had with some New York Board of Education employee who contacted me because they were looking for a Garifuna translator to help communicate with a Garifuna child.
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At the time, they were not willing to pay for that service.
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How to say, ‘small child’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘newborn’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘I want to speak Garifuna well’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say, ‘I speak little Garifuna’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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I asked if there was a Garifuna word for Junior? I was told No, but there is a way to express a similar idea in the Garifuna Language and that was discussed. Literally, how to say, ‘his name like his father’ in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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