The January 2024 through March 2024 Conversational Garifuna Language Course Session done over the Internet has been completed.
The next course, (March 2024 through May 2024) Internet Conversational Garifuna Language Session will begin on Wednesday, March 20th 2024
Copyright 2024 by Teofilo Colon Jr for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved.
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North America and Central America – The last class of the January 2024 through March 2024 Conversational Garifuna Language Class was on Wednesday, March 6th 2024.
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This past 8 week session was eventful and lots of information about the Garifuna Language and Garifuna Culture was shared.
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Taught by Arufudahati (“Teacher” in the Garifuna Language) Milton Güity from Corozal, Honduras, this session consisted of lessons in Garifuna Vocabulary, Grammar and Sentence Construction.
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Rooted in lessons from the seminal Garifuna Language Book by Salvador Suazo, “Let Us Talk In Garifuna” the classes take place on the Zoom video conference application.
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There are roughly a dozen students in the class. The students are based in New York City, Upstate New York, Texas, California, Honduras, Germany and Canada.
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Classes began with small talk, with students asking how to say certain phrases or sentences in the Garifuna Language if they didn’t already know. Each Student in the class then formally greet each other and talk in the Garifuna Language.
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Students in the class are also in a Whatsapp group, where questions/translations are also asked/shared there. Notifications about upcoming classes are shared in the group.
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Notes from past and future classes are shared in the Whatsapp group and its in the group where students help each other as they serve as a reference and help newer students to catch up on past lessons.
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I will give you a general sense of what was covered over the past 8 weeks. More detailed notes will be shared with future posts on individual classes.
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This session began with talk in the Garifuna Language about what was done during the Christmas and New Year’s Holiday. Garifuna Vocabulary for Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day was shared.
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Different ways to talk about the weather, family and Holiday activities in the Garifuna Language were shared. Counting from 1 to 100 in the Garifuna Language took place.
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How to say First (as in First Place), Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Eighteenth in the Garifuna Language were shared.
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How to say Twins in the Garifuna Language.
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How to say is or are in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say to be in the Garifuna Language.
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How to say various adjectives and verbs in the Garifuna Language.
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How to express in the Garifuna Language that someone has passed away was discussed.
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How to express height and distance in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to express possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, you all, theirs) in the Garifuna Language was discussed.
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How to say various ailments (stomachache, headache) and diseases (Parkinson’s, diabetes, diarrhea, Vertigo,) in the Garifuna Language were discussed.
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Lessons build on top of each other. The sentences spoken in class are the result of lessons shared in past lessons and reinforced when conversations take place.
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The latest Eight Week Conversational Garifuna Language Classes will begin on Wednesday, March 20th 2024. Classes are every Wednesday beginning at 7pm. The course costs $70 and you must call Mr. Milton Guity Sr to sign up.
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