The WAYKcast

> "So going to work with Niiĝuĝim Tunuu made it clear that this is possible, because from my own experience, even though I had been in Pojoaque working with this mentor of mine for several years, I had only made a little bit of progress in terms of being able to take Tewa and use it the way I wanted to. And so I was learning a lot of words, using a dictionary, but never having a real, true sense of, like, why things are said this way or what the structure is or how to change it in different situations. Like, this is possible, we just need the tools to be in immersion. And we need the resources as well. Sometimes it’s hard to get those two things together at the same time.” —Samuel Catanach

### Show Notes:

For this episode, Sky Hopinka is joined by [Samuel Catanach](https://whereareyourkeys.org/our-team/samuel-catanach/). Samuel is from Pueblo of Pojoaque, where he is a learner of Tewa, his heritage language. He joined the WAYK team for the [2016 Summer Language Intensive in Atka, Alaska](https://whereareyourkeys.org/announcing-wayks-summer-2016-intensive-atka-alaska/).

Samuel discusses his experiences working with languages in a variety of communities, including his own. He talks with Sky about his summer with WAYK in Alaska, his semester facilitating a language class for students from the Gila River Indian Community, and his personal history learning Tewa. Samuel has used his experiences with each community to inform his approach with the next community, including teaching Gila River students Niiĝuĝim Tunuu lessons as a demonstration and requesting Tewa translations for the “hunting phrases” in his hunting book. He also shares some of the perspective he’s gained by working with communities outside of his own.

Samuel is interested in a holistic approach to learning languages and he is eager to connect his background in museum studies to his passion for language by considering how traditional objects from a museum collection can be used to take language lessons to the next level. He recently discovered that his pottery teacher is a fluent speaker of Tewa: “The other night we found out that he is a fluent speaker and that was a huge, important revelation…I’m going to take advantage of this as much as I can from here on out and do Tewa with him until he gets pissed off or something.” Sky and Samuel talk about the necessary connection between language and cultural revitalization, and the vulnerability of languages (“the reason the language is so fragile is because it’s so intangible”).

(If you haven’t read Samuel’s blog post about putting endangered languages on a “shelf,” it really is terrific. If you enjoyed this podcast, you would probably like it! [Find it here.](https://whereareyourkeys.org/the-danger-of-putting-endangered-languages-on-a-shelf/))

Samuel is passionate about immersion as a tool for learning language, but points out that complete immersion might not always be the best way to draw people in at first. He talks about using Techniques to make sure that people stay engaged with the learning process, and so that he can avoid translation (or “killing fairies”) whenever possible. “I need to move away a little bit…not away from the concept of immersion, but take a step back and think of, like, not everything has to be in pure immersion, because the point is to get the ball rolling, not learn everything in it’s purest form, because that hasn’t been happening for so long that it’s not a big deal if I kill some fairies to get other people on board with what I’m doing.”

After sharing some advice for people traveling to another community for language work, he talks about two Techniques: How fascinating!, which Sam sees as critical for teaching, and Full Sentences, which is “a pretty big part of the immersion experience and process.”

Let us know what you think of this episode of the WAYKcast! Send any questions to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or [tweet at us with the hashtag](https://twitter.com/playwayk) #WAYKcastquestion. We’ll do our best to address questions in future episodes of the WAYKcast.

### WAYK Techniques Mentioned:

- [Sorry Charlie](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#sorrycharlie)

- [Full](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#full)

- [Return to Superior](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#returntosuperior)

- [How Fascinating](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#howfascinating)

- [Travels with Charlie](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#travelswithcharlie)

- [Killing Fairies](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#killingfairies)

- [Set Up](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#setup)

- Look How Easy You’re Making It

- [Full Sentences](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#fullsentences)

Check out the [WAYK Techniques Glossary](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/) for more!

### Links Mentioned:

* Samuel’s community: [Pueblo of Pojoaque](http://pojoaque.org/)

* Museums mentioned: [Poeh Cultural Center & Museum](http://poehcenter.org/), [National Museum of the American Indian](https://americanindian.si.edu/), [Indian Arts Research Center](https://sarweb.org/iarc/about-the-iarc/) at the [School for Advanced Research](https://sarweb.org/)

To learn more about hunting books, [read Robyn’s post here](https://whereareyourkeys.org/how-to-use-a-hunting-book/).

To learn more about WAYK's giant color-coded calendar, [read Erin's post here](https://whereareyourkeys.org/keep-calm-and-calendar-on/)

### Follow Us:

* [The WAYK Website](https://whereareyourkeys.org/)

* [Subscribe on Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-waykcast/id1389938619)

* [Twitter](https://twitter.com/playwayk)

* [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/playwayk/?hl=en)

New episodes in Season 1 of the WAYKcast are coming in January 2019, when we’ll be releasing new episodes every other Tuesday.

Sky Hopinka and Samuel Catanach talk about Sam's experiences working with languages in a variety of communities, including his own.

> “When you’re talking about community...that’s why we have language in the first place, is community. You know, language builds community and community builds language. If you can provide a space for people to forget that they’re learning, to have fun and be OK with making mistakes and learning from one another, I think that it really changes the approach and changes the relationship that people have with language.” —Jason Slanga

### Show Notes:

In this episode of the WAYKcast we welcome our first guest, [Jason Slanga](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/our-team/jason-slanga/). Jason is a Latin speaker who works with SALVI (The North American Institute of Living Latin Studies) and co-hosts the Quomodo Dicitur? Podcast. Jason and Sky met up in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Jason and Sky talk about the spoken Latin community and WAYK, the baggage that surrounds language learning in the United States (for many people “it was something that was hard, it was something that seemed impossible”), and some of the baggage that accompanies Latin specifically. In his time as a high school Latin teacher in Baltimore county, Jason focused on creating an equitable classroom where all kids can be successful, promoted on student-directed learning, and advocated for a paradigm shift in testing culture where learners are empowered to be active participants in their own education.

Jason talks about the how teaching language can be misunderstood: “Teaching language is challenging because people don’t understand it in the same way that they understand how somebody teaching Science or English or History or Math operates, which is that those are all content areas, whereas language is the vehicle by which we teach those subjects. It is in many ways sort of a subject unto itself.” The key to Jason’s implementation of WAYK and other methods was “giving students the keys and letting them drive the car.”

Jason and Sky talk about the Quomodo Dicitur? Podcast (“A Weekly Podcast About Anything”), which Jason hosts with Justin Slocum Bailey and Gus Grissom. They try to keep their language at an intermediate level and talk about a variety of topics—heros, baseball, Pliny, philosophy—to make sure their podcast is accessible. Jason sees the podcast as a way to bring a piece of the Rusticatio porch to the internet and hopes it is a catalyst for Latin media in general.

Sky asks Jason for his “Technique of the Week.” One of Jason’s favorite Techniques is plus/deltas because it’s about the human piece of the language learning experience. Jason’s advice: “Listening to your students will make you a better teacher.”

Let us know what you think of this episode of the WAYKcast! Send any questions to [[email protected]](http://mailto:[email protected]) or [tweet at us](https://twitter.com/playwayk) with the hashtag #WAYKcastquestion. We’ll do our best to address questions in future episodes of the WAYKcast.

Follow Jason [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/argusmagister?lang=en) and [check out his website here](http://jasonslanga.net/).

### WAYK Techniques Mentioned:

- [Set Up](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#setup)

- Plus/Deltas

Check out the [WAYK Techniques Glossary](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary) for more!

###Links Mentioned:

* [SALVI](http://latin.org/wordpress/) (Septentrionale Americanum Latinitatis Vivae Institutum, or the North American Institute of Living Latin Studies)

* SALVI’s events include [Biduua Latinua](http://latin.org/wordpress/bidua-latina/) (Latin weekends) as well as the original [Rusticatio summer programs](http://latin.org/wordpress/rusticatio-2/).

* [The Quomodo Dicitur? Podcast ](https://quomododicitur.com)

If you haven’t seen Sky’s video about the 2014 Pedagogy Rusticatio with WAYK, [check it out here](https://vimeo.com/119402010). You’ll hear from Evan, Jason, and Justin Slocum Bailey.

### Follow Us (I did put it in the show notes, Sky!):

* [The WAYK Website](https://whereareyourkeys.org/)

* [Subscribe on Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-waykcast/id1389938619)

* [Twitter](https://twitter.com/playwayk)

* [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/playwayk/?hl=en)

New episodes in Season 1 of the WAYKcast are coming in January 2019, when we’ll be releasing new episodes every other Tuesday.

Sky Hopinka and Jason Slanga talk about putting students in the driver's seat using WAYK.

### Show Notes:

In this episode, Sky “surprises” Evan and Susanna with a Technique of the Week. It’s the mother of all WAYK Techniques, [TQ: Technique](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#technique)!

Evan explains that TQ: Technique is all about “the idea that technique or method exists” for teaching and learning languages. Then Evan, Sky, and Susanna talk about the three Techniques they teach new WAYK learners before their first lesson. Evan explains that “we are the craftsman of our own tools.” If a strategy doesn’t exist for the situation we’re in, we get to make new Techniques to address the issues that come up when learning and teaching.

How many WAYK Techniques are there? On the WAYK website, you can find a glossary with 100 starter Techniques, but in development there are almost 400 Techniques. Sky talks about how that number might be overwhelming, but you remember the TQs that you need and that you tend to use. Evan says “the key is that you’re thinking in techniques” (you’re focused on *how* you’re delivering a lesson more than *what* you’re going to teach; with good strategies, any content is teachable). Susanna points out that WAYK techniques are like a language (“not only do you not have to learn them all at once, but you can’t learn them all at once”).

Why do Techniques have such quirky names? WAYK Techniques should be memorable and accessible. Techniques can be changed or adapted to meet the needs of a community, and sometimes Techniques with outdated names or ideas need to be updated, so they can stay accessible. For example, TQ: Travels with Charlie needs to be changed because the references (Larry King and Charlie Rose)are no longer appropriate (Sky: “Is there anyone else who’s on the radio or TV whose name is Charlie?”).

Have you created a Technique? Do you have ideas about updates to Travels with Charlie? Let us know what you think of this episode of the WAYKcast! Send any questions to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or [tweet at us](https://twitter.com/playwayk) with the hashtag #WAYKcastquestion. We’ll do our best to address questions in future episodes of the WAYKcast.

### WAYK Techniques Mentioned (so many!):

- [Technique](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#technique)

- [Copycat](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#copycat)

- [Limit](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#limit)

- [Obviously](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#obviously)

- [Mumble](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#mumble)

- [Slow Down](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#slower)

- [Speak Up](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#louder)

- Two Words Same Sentence

- [Pull Me Through It](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#pullmethroughit)

- UN Interpreter

- Needs Gap

- [Lunatic Fringe](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#lunaticfringe)/Alutiiq Fringe

- [Travels with Charlie](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#travelswithcharlie)

- [Craigslist/List](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#craigslist)

You might like [Anna’s post on the WAYK website](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/master-teachers-and-techniques/) about identifying techniques her mentors were using during her student teaching experience.

Check out the [WAYK Techniques Glossary](http://https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/) for more!

### Follow Us:

* [The WAYK Website](https://whereareyourkeys.org/)

* [Subscribe on Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-waykcast/id1389938619)

* [Twitter](https://twitter.com/playwayk)

* [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/playwayk/?hl=en)

New episodes in Season 1 of the WAYKcast are coming in January 2019, when we’ll be releasing new episodes every other Tuesday.

Sky Hopinka, Evan Gardner, and Susanna Ciotti talk about the one WAYK Technique to rule them all, TQ: Technique.

### Show Notes:

In this episode, Sky, Evan, and Susanna discuss WAYK Summer Language Intensives, how they've grown and changed, and what sort of tools are in place to help facilitate a healthy and productive immersion environment, and what the purpose of the summer is—it’s not immersion in the target language, but it is immersion in revitalization.

The question of the week is, "Why does WAYK bring interns from outside of a community"? They discuss the merits of collaboration, safety nets, bringing non-Indigenous interns, questions of who can learn the language, and how often it's easier to do other people's dishes than your own.

The Technique of the week is TQ: Go There First. We talk about what it means to "Overdo It" with out being annoying, and how there's a fine line between entertainment and education.

Let us know what you think of the WAYKcast! Send any questions to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or [tweet at us](https://twitter.com/playwayk) with the hashtag #WAYKcastquestion. We’ll do our best to address questions in future episodes of the WAYKcast.

### WAYK Techniques Mentioned:

* TQ: Go There First

* [TQ: How Fascinating](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#howfascinating)

* [TQ: Obviously](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#obviously!)

* TQ: Overdo It

* TQ: Other People's Dishes

* Check out the [WAYK Techniques Glossary](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/) for more!

### Follow Us:

* [The WAYK Website](https://whereareyourkeys.org/)

* [Subscribe on Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-waykcast/id1389938619)

* [Twitter](https://twitter.com/playwayk)

* [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/playwayk/?hl=en)

The first season of the WAYKcast will run through the winter of 2018 and we’ll be releasing new episodes every other Tuesday.

Sky Hopinka, Evan Gardner, and Susanna Ciotti talk about the WAYK Summer Language Intensive: what it looks like, what purpose it serves, and who usually joins the team.

### Show Notes:

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of WAYK’s new podcast: the WAYKcast! It’s been many years since the last WAYK podcast (2011!) and lots has happened that we’re excited to share. The new WAYKcast is intended to be a resource for anyone interested in learning more about Where Are Your Keys as a language learning/teaching/revitalization method. Beyond that, we hope that provides an opportunity to discuss common questions about language revitalization as well as a space for connecting with the wider WAYK community.

In this first episode, Sky checks in with Evan and Susanna about where in the world the WAYK team is. Evan shares about learning the word “itinerant” and Sky’s makes an assessment that Evan and Susanna are “bad at emails.” The question of the week is “Why go to different communities?" Why does WAYK travel to communities instead of bringing people to a central WAYK location for training? In answering, Evan and Susanna talk about the value of traveling to communities and engaging in long-term relationships and on-site projects.

Sky chooses a “Technique of the Week” which is Technique: Party Boat. After a brief overview of what WAYK Techniques are, Evan delves further into TQ: Party Boat and the importance of creating momentum for a language project/program/movement, even if it feels artificial at first.

Let us know what you think of the WAYKcast’s launch! Send any questions to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or [tweet at us](https://twitter.com/playwayk) with the hashtag #WAYKcastquestion. We’ll do our best to address questions in future episodes of the WAYKcast.

### WAYK Techniques Mentioned:

* TQ: Party Boat

* [TQ: Get the Party Started](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/#letsgetthispartystarted)

* Check out the [WAYK Techniques Glossary](https://whereareyourkeys.org/technique-glossary/) for more!

### Follow Us:

* [The WAYK Website](https://whereareyourkeys.org/)

* [Subscribe on Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-waykcast/id1389938619)

* [Twitter](https://twitter.com/playwayk)

* [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/playwayk/?hl=en)

The first season of the WAYKcast will run through the winter of 2018 and we’ll be releasing new episodes every other Tuesday.

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of WAYK’s new podcast: the WAYKcast! The WAYKcast provides a resource for WAYK’s language learning/teaching/revitalization strategies, an opportunity to discuss big questions about language revitalization, and a space for connecting with the wider WAYK community.