Beginning Cherokee

I taught my four children to read and speak Cherokee with this book. For years it was the only Cherokee resource we had, and we treasured it. Many people today take Native American language courses for granted, but there was a time, not so long ago, when all native languages were headed for extinction. Many still are. This book paved the way for others, and the author should be recognized for her pioneering work.

This is the best primer on both spoken and written Cherokee. There have been other attempts to write language instruction in Cherokee; all the others that I have seen are too complex...attempting to teach too much, too fast. Cherokee is so unlike English, in terms of grammar and syntax, that learning the language is difficult; however, the difficulty is minimized by starting slowly and building vocabulary first. The optional accompanying cassettes should be a big help. One caveat: this book teaches the dialect common in Oklahoma. Eastern Cherokee is slightly different, but if you learn the western dialect, folks in North Carolina will be able to understand you.

I began learning Cherokee with this book over a decade ago. Growing up in Illinois, I didn't have a Cherokee community around that I could learn from. Over the years this book has became absolutely invaluable to me. I have read almost all the Cherokee language books written, and this is definitely one of the best. When I finally did get to Oklahoma to work on my Master's, I was actually able to talk to Cherokees in Cherokee largely through the rules of grammar, sentence structure, etc. that this book taught me. I also learned the syllabary through this book. Well worth a look.

we use this book in my intro to cherokee class. i especially like the fact that it integrates the syllabary, as we do not yet do that in my class. however, it could use more exercises to check comprehension.