APOYAS LA REVITALIZACIÓN CULTURAL-LINGÜÍSTICA TAINA EN LAS ESCUELAS PUBLICAS DE PUERTO RICO? / DO YOU SUPPORT TAINO CULTURAL-LINGUISTIC REVITALIZATION IN PUERTO RICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

As the language of contact between Europeans and the indigenous population, Taíno enriched Spanish vocabulary. More than 2,000 words of the Taino language survived, of which 800 are used in the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico today. The Taino words incorporated into the Spanish language include names of unfamiliar plants, animals, and cultural practices. Taino words are also used in English and other European languages. The extensive Taino vocabulary forms the base for our cultural - linguistic revitalization program.

Indigenous languages carry unique philosophies, histories, ceremonies, and irreplaceable environmental knowledge of biodiversity accumulated over thousands of years. The Taino language constitute both the core and the foundation of our Cultural-Linguistic Immersion Program. Since 2004 our Cultural-Linguistic Program has been drawing from works by linguistic anthropologists and established native language revitalization programs in the United States and Latin American. We have designed a linguistic revitalization program that uses teaching methods and materials that have proven effective in indigenous communities.

The Cultural-Linguistic Immersion Program was first implemented in Maunabo in 2006 with great success. In 2008 we graduated our first 40 students in the Program. This is the first graduating class of its kind in the Caribbean.

We still have a long way to go for our community to be fluent in our native language, but we have taken the first step in that direction; and the results are promising.

Fundamental Base of the Project

The fundamental base of the project is the revitalization of the Indigenous Taino culture and language; thought to be extinct since the 16th century. The centerpiece of the revitalization effort is the Cultural-Linguistic Immersion Program, which reached an enrollment of 508 students in five (5) regional public and private schools. The program is aimed at students between the second and fourth grades.. Over 75 percent of our student population come from low income household (generating income less than $10,000 per year).

To learn more about our Cultural-Linguistic Revitalization program please visit:
http://nuestratierraabundante.weebly.com/school-programs.html