Do you know how to speak Cherokee, but cannot read and write the language? Do your children have difficulty grasping the language? Are you new to the Cherokee language and looking for a quick and effective way to learn? Simply Cherokee: Let’s Learn Cherokee Syllabary is the first building block in Simply Cherokee’s catalogue of tools for learning to read, write, and speak the Cherokee language. Inside these pages you will find the fastest—and most effective!—way to learn the Cherokee Syllabary. Each syllabary has a simple story containing a word with the syllbary’s unique sound. After completing the workbook, you will remember the story and the key word whenever you see a syllabary. Cherokee Syllabary is designed for fast assimilation. And when you are done, just move on to the next book. You’ll be fluent as simply as that!
SIMPLY CHEROKEE: Let's Learn CHEROKEE
SYLLABARYBy Marc W. CaseAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Marc W. Case
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4772-4158-5Contents
Introduction............................3Trace the Syllabary.....................5Review One..............................16Review Two..............................30Review Three............................44Review Four.............................58Review Five.............................72Review Six..............................86Review Seven............................100Review Eight............................114Review Nine.............................122About The Author........................125
Introduction
Introduction
Learning syllabary is the foundation of speaking, reading, and writing the Cherokee language fluently. The Cherokee syllabary is comprised of eighty-four characters, each character representing a vowel or a syllable.
This study associates each syllabary character with a simple story that contains a key word that triggers a unique sound, the syllabary's sound. Upon completing these lessons, when you see a syllabary character you will instantly recall its story and then impulsively say the appropriate sound. In the next book, "Simply Numbers" you will learn to put several sounds together, resulting in reading written Cherokee words. After that, Simply Cherokee lessons will cover complete sentences and everyday phrases.
Son of a Cherokee mother and an Apache father, I was raised by my mother's clan and spoke fluent Cherokee growing up. But it was not my family or my heritage that was the spark for this book. It was Japanese.
As a post-graduate, I relocated to Houston, where I served other veterans as a Veteran Service Representative at the Department of Veteran Affairs for seven years. While there a work opportunity presented itself to go to Japan; I jumped on it.
Prior to the trip I wanted to explore reading and writing Japanese and discovered the book: Learn to Read and Write Japanese in a Weekend by Author Unknown. Skeptical, I bought it and began reading the book on a Friday evening. By Monday morning I was reading Japanese and could write katagana and hiragana with confidence. Of course it wasn't magic; it was word association. I learned how to associate each Japanese character to something I already knew.
As a Cherokee speaker, I noticed many similarities between Cherokee and Japanese. Upon my return from Japan, I searched for a similar book that could teach Cherokee syllabary in a weekend. There was none. Like many Cherokees, I could speak the language but could not read nor write. This deficit in the Cherokee will mean the extinction of our word. Writing and reading is just as important as speaking. New Cherokee language speakers need an easy and fast way of learning syllabary if the language is to survive the next decade. This Study of the Cherokee Syllabary is just that: easy, fast, and effective.
Cherokee Sounds
Cherokee has 6 vowel sounds:
"a" as in awful; "e" as in egg; "i" as in indian; "o" as in oval; "u" as in food "v" as in under
Several syllabary sounds do not exist or are challenging for English speakers to say. Don't worry, I'll keep it simple and let you know when they come up. There will be a note identifying when a sound is slightly altered.
Let's begin by tracing each of the 84 Cherokee syllabary characters.
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Excerpted from SIMPLY CHEROKEE: Let's Learn CHEROKEEby Marc W. Case Copyright © 2012 by Marc W. Case. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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