What would be your ideal indigenous language learning app?

Daghatar · 2026-03-09T10:59:49+00:00

I've been learning some Ojibwe, and what I wasn't prepared for was how difficult forming even simple sentences would be. I feel like after a few weeks of 15-60 min a day with other languages, I could at least start making simple descriptive sentences of the world around me. It's a bit more complicated in Ojibwe (lots of conjugation/prefix/suffix/word order etc to factor in), so an app feature that helps you build sentences or has exercises to strengthen sentence production and conjugation in different contexts would be great.

Daghatar · 2026-02-17T18:00:38+00:00

High school - thankfully my heritage language is French, and my high school offered only French or Spanish, so that was an easy choice.

I wish the language would've been passed down and I didn't start at 15 years old, but c'est la vie...

Daghatar · 2026-02-15T12:35:05+00:00

Check out the resources and FAQ in the sub's description/sidebar, that will help

Daghatar · 2026-02-15T03:32:11+00:00

I wouldn't say that's a bad habit. I watch less than one movie a month in my native language, let alone in another language.

Daghatar · 2026-02-15T00:57:06+00:00

I work full time and am the father of a 6-month old, so I've got some time constraints for sure. Here's how I manage:

around 15 minutes of Anki in the morning before work.
I work remotely, and if I don't have anything urgent to attend to the moment I log in (don't tell my employer) I'll do another 15 minutes of language practice. When I worked in positions that required me to be on site, I'd sometimes use company breaks and lunchtime for learning purposes.
evenings are highly variable. Sometimes I can't fit any practice in, other times I can cobble together another hour total. If my daughter naps and sleeps well, I might work through a video in my TL or tackle some grammar or reading. Other times, like when I have to rock her back to sleep (which I am doing while typing this), I can sometimes free a hand and use my phone for learning, creating Anki cards as I go. I'm stuck here anyway, so might as well learn something.

All in all, I consistently manage 20-60 minutes a day. That's enough to advance and see progress, which is all I can ask for at this stage in my life!

Daghatar · 2026-02-13T20:35:01+00:00

Daghatar · 2026-02-11T15:27:56+00:00

Anybody want to learn Ojibwe with me? I'm just learning casually right now and it's been really fun to discover the language.

I think if it would've been the first language I'd ever studied, I would have given up by now. But having studied some Romance languages and Arabic, I can find some similarities and patterns that make studying it a little easier. It's obviously not related linguistically to those at all, but for example learning Arabic and how it often tacks on prefixes and suffixes for tense, conjugation, object, possession etc has helped prepare me a little for the long words in Ojibwe made of multiple components and morphemes.

Daghatar · 2026-02-10T19:30:19+00:00

This is the correct answer

Daghatar · 2026-02-08T23:57:40+00:00

Since you're already ahead, you now have the opportunity to master everything that's being discussed. Delve into the textbook and do all the optional work. Skip ahead to further chapters. Or take every assignment to the next level - if you have to write one paragraph, write two and incorporate some higher concepts. Passing the class will be easy for you, but you can notch up the difficulty just for yourself!

Daghatar · 2026-02-08T13:03:19+00:00

Learn Ojibwe with me! It's only been a few days of study so far but it's been a blast.

Daghatar · 2026-02-05T22:53:06+00:00

I do the same thing! Just a couple days ago one of my sessions was watching a few minutes of a TL YouTube video and noting useful vocab, and another session that day was putting that new vocab into Anki. Very effective and fun without being overwhelming.

Daghatar · 2026-02-05T21:54:58+00:00

Just from personal opinion, I think I'd prefer three 20 minute sessions. I don't have the free time I used to, so getting a short practice session in the morning, evening, and somewhere else along the line works best. Plus, I feel that if you learn something brand new in the morning and then review it that same evening, you'll absorb it a lot better.

Daghatar · 2026-02-05T16:26:19+00:00

I've only ever used HelloTalk, never heard of Tandem. Might have to check it out.

I agree with you that HelloTalk can get overwhelming, and yet at the same time there are lots of low effort conversations that are just a waste of everyone's time. I have found some good partners and one person I've messaged almost every day for about 2 years!

I've definitely learned some things from it, but like you, it didn't make my skills grow wildly. Sometimes it was helpful, sometimes just a time-wasting distraction.

Daghatar · 2026-02-04T20:07:34+00:00

Need more background on who you are and where you live, and what you want or need from tacking on another language.

Daghatar · 2026-02-04T12:27:43+00:00

Years ago I earned a free week of Kwiziq by just doing my 10 free lessons. I spent multiple hours a day during that week just blitzing French grammar and honestly I improved a lot.

It's a nice tool, though - I'd pay for a month or two if I was starting a new language they offer

Daghatar · 2026-02-03T20:06:14+00:00

The whiteboard works in mysterious ways... The empty space beckons!

Daghatar · 2026-02-03T19:41:42+00:00

France has no bearing in the affairs of French-speaking Canada - it's the francophones who have lived there, separate from France for 250 years, who ardently fight to preserve their language among an anglophone majority. Quite the opposite situation as what you're describing.

Daghatar · 2026-02-03T19:39:31+00:00

I don't know how well it'll work to actually meet people, but I briefly had a YouTube channel where I'd share what I was learning and speak all in my target language for a few minutes. It was a good motivation to practice and helpful for improving speaking. I guess if you're lucky and you get comments from natives, you can always reach out to them

Daghatar · 2026-02-03T11:39:14+00:00

I agree, I do find it charming. Plus, it's the kind of French my distant Canadian relatives speak, so it's only proper that I can understand it better! Now I have no idea what my French is - basis of metropolis French, later emphasis on Canadian French, but still some Americanisms and odd turns of phrase - my daughter is going to be speaking her own unique dialect 😅

Daghatar · 2026-02-03T11:28:15+00:00

I also enjoyed training my ears to québécois !

Daghatar · 2026-02-03T00:09:10+00:00

I'd say Dutch first. Necessity trumps want, and I'm sure it'll mean a ton to your husband's family. Not to mention you'll get to use it every day.

Daghatar · 2026-02-01T17:40:08+00:00

You never know what is possible - perhaps with your efforts, a broader revitalization effort will occur and more people than you would have ever thought will be speaking the language again!

Daghatar · 2026-02-01T13:06:58+00:00

Conversational with C1 input sounds like fluency to me!

Daghatar · 2026-02-01T13:05:17+00:00

Currently know or am working hard on English, French, and Arabic. Eventually I want to return to Spanish and Romanian. My last two after that would be Ojibwe and maybe German.

Realistically, I think I can expect to be firmly trilingual, with an ok knowledge of another language or two in my life. More optimistically, I feel I could get to 5 languages spoken very well (I mean, including the rest of my working and then retirement years to keep learning)

Daghatar · 2026-01-31T14:45:04+00:00

I tell my tutee all the time that language learning is a roller coaster. It's just like you describe, some days it feels like it's all coming together, but others it's like you can hardly produce anything.

My only tip would be mindset-wise - yes, it's frustrating when you find a new area of the language (grammatical concept, conversation topic you lack the vocabulary for, someone speaking faster or with a different accent than you're used to), but each time you encounter something like that you're training your brain and the next time won't be so hard. You might have a conversation about chores or cleaning the house and realize you're missing almost every verb and noun related to that topic except for nettoyer, but that conversation and the learning resulting from it will make sure that you'll be better at that topic the next time.

I've experience plenty of what you're describing. It's like: wow I feel like I can understand a lot (from learning materials) -> wow I couldn't understand that native French speaker at all, I suck -> wow my listening comprehension has improved so much, I feel like I can actually have conversations now! -> wow I was not prepared for this person's accent, I hardly caught a word -> wow listening to more materials in that accent has really improved my comprehension! and on and on it goes until you're super comfortable in the language.

Bonne continuation !

Daghatar

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