Day 30 - Kaqchikel Lessons

There are twenty-three Mayan languages still present in Guatemala. The language spoken varies by region. Most Mayan children grow up speaking the indigenous language of their region and only learn Spanish when it is thrust upon them for the first time in kindergarten. This is one of the main reasons that the Mayan Families Foundation started their preschool program. Indigenous Mayans are more likely to drop out of school than non-indigenous students because public schools are taught solely in Spanish and often Mayan students have to repeat their first few years because they do not understand the language. In Mayan Families preschools the children can be introduced to Spanish by teachers who speak their indigenous language and this prepares them for kindergarten and beyond.

Kaqchikel is the Mayan language spoken in Panajachel.

I’ve always jumped at the opportunity to learn new things. Even if those things are a hefty undertaking and essentially impossible to complete.

So even though my Spanish still could use quite a bit of work, I have started taking informal Kaqchikel lessons with several of my new friends.

My main maestra is a baker at the hostel/cake shop where I stayed during my first week here. She has spoken Kaqchikel all of her life and started learning Spanish when she was nine years old. She is only sixteen, but she works and lives in La Zanahoria Chic a two hour truck ride away from her home town near San Andres. She excitedly tells me that she can go home for one day every three or four weeks.

Another teacher of mine is just twelve years old and his Spanish is only about as good as mine. He and his younger brother are staying at Mayan Families temporarily after both of their parents passed away. He is very smart, but is not currently in school. He will probably start working once they find a place to live unless he can get full sponsorship through Mayan Families to go to school.

Both of my teachers are children living adult lives. They have to think about where to live, how to earn money, and how to support themselves and their families. But they are happy kids who like to talk and have fun. They laugh at my horrible pronunciation and my desire to learn a language that most Guatemalans study hard to forget. I wish that there was more that I could do for kids like these.

But for now all I can do is spread the word of how to help and spread the wonderful words that I am learning from them.

Matyox was the first word they taught me. In Kaqchikel, it means “Thank you”.