The Center for Social Well Being offers an intensive 6 week Quechua Language course from June 2 nd through July 11 th, 2008 . Quechua, known as the “language of the Tawantin Suyu empire,” is spoken by an estimated 10 million people today in Andean South America. The Huaylas Quechua spoken in the Department of Ancash, where we are based, is one of the most significant for its antiquity. Of the two major families of contemporary Quechua, Huaylas Quechua is classified within the north-central Peruvian group, which extends from the Sierra of Lima all the way to the Huallaga valley region of Huanuco.

Beginning, intermediate and advanced courses are offered that provide concentrated class hours focused on grammar, vocabulary and the development of speaking skills and listening comprehension. The Center for Social Well Being is affiliated with the Regional Academy of Ancash Quechua , an association composed of bilingual school teachers, historians, writers, folklorists, musicians, poets and other professionals dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of the Quechua language. All academy members and bilingual teachers, our team of Quechua instructors provide an academically rigorous program, complemented with an orientation to Quechua creative expressions of local myths, legends, poetry and songs.

The program is structured into 4 hour classroom sessions each morning, and a 2 hour workshop of conversation, songs and poetry every afternoon. Our teachers, who are natives of villages throughout the valley, will guide students to their home communities and the schools where they teach for in-context language practice and skills acquisition. A highlight of the program will be participation of the students at the annual June solstice celebration, a revitalization of Quechua rituals in honor of the spirits of the earth and cosmos, organized by the Regional Academy of Ancash Quechua.

The Center for Social Well Being is located on a rural ranch in the Quechua-speaking community of Cajamarquilla. We recommend that students lodge here for at least the initial 3 weeks of the program to fully engage in rural activities where there are plenty of opportunities to practice Quechua conversation with workers on the ranch and with local neighbors. Optional excursions to places of interest such as archaeological sites, glacial lakes, hotsprings and impressive mountain passes are also offered.

Course themes

WEEK:

1. Introduction: pronouns, nouns, adjectives, verbs; vocabulary
2. Questions : inquiry/response
3. Relationships : family; humans and nature
4. Time : diurnal/nocturnal, Andean calendar
5. Space : toponyms, spatial concepts
6. Ritual : paying respect to the earth; communal ceremonies; fiestas

Schedule

Bibliography of Huaylas Quechua

Carranza Romero, Francisco
2003 Diccionario Quechua Ancashino-Castellano . Madrid: Vervuert.

Chávez Reyes, Amancio
2003 La toponimia en la zona andina de Ancash. Con especial referencia sobre el topónimo “shiqui .” Lima: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

Menacho López, Leonel y J.H. Cooper
1998 Guía de lenguaje Quechua para docentes. Quechua del Callejón de Huaylas . Huaraz: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.

Parker, Gary J.
•  Grámatica Quechua Ancash-Huailas . Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos y el Ministerio de Educación.

Parker, Gary J. y Amancio Chávez
•  Diccionario Quechua Ancash-Huailas . Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos y el Ministerio de Educación.

Requena Mena, Solio Amador
•  Quechua Manual. Huaraz: Qichay Yachay Ediciones.

Swisshelm, Germán
1972 Diccionario del Quechua de Huaraz . Huaraz: Estudios Culturales Benedictinos, No. 2.

Yauri Montero, Marco
2000 Leyendas Ancashinas. Lima: Lerma Gómez EIRL. [19 61]