Question:
I am interested in learning the languages Inuktitut and Micmac... What kind
of resources are available on the web or in libraries? Where can I meet
somebody who is a native speaker? Do you speak one of these two languages?
I am curious and would love to learn a bit about its grammar and its sounds.
I have studied a number of languages including Finnish, Dutch, Chinese,
French, German, Esperanto, so I am ready to tackle a new and different
language like Micmac or Inuktitut.
Answer:
If nothing else works out, for Inuktitut you might contact the
Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska
Fairbanks, in Fairbanks Alaska. They have course work and other
materials on Inupiaq, which is the dialect of Inuit spoken in
Alaska and is very similar to Inuktitut (a Canadian dialect of
Inuit).
I don't speak Inupiaq, but most of my neighbors do and I hear it
spoken on a daily basis. Inuit is more sing-song that other
related languages (Yupik and Unangam), but for English speakers
like me it is _exceedingly_ difficult to even hear the small
differences much less try to make the different sounds! Someone
like yourself, with a fondness for languages and the talent to
learn them, might find it an absolutely fascinating language (as
opposed to totally frustrating, which is what most of us get out
of trying to learn it!).
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