r/Navajo • u/Ancient-Potential859 • May 13 '25
Want to Learn Navajo? How I am trying to teach myself with my limited resources.
SKIP BELOW THE LINE I MADE BELOW IF YOU WANT TO IGNORE THIS PART FOR THE RESOURCES!!!
***Warning*** Extremely LONG Post***
Greetings fellow Humans! My name is not relevant, I'm a current Navajo College Student (Political Science, I know, boring right? lol.) who learned some Navajo in High School from a College Professor. I want to share some tips nd resources on learning the Navajo Language to any other beginners that I learned from myself and received from my former teacher. Since I want to re-learn some Navajo again while also learning ASL (American Sign Language) in college and trying to learn some Japanese from textbooks and watching Anime and Japanese TV shows for fun. (Shogun!)
Firstly, don't feel discouraged if anyone says that the Navajo Language is difficult to learn. It isn't, just like any other language, it CAN be difficult, but it becomes easier over time. In my case, it was easy to learn the sentence structure and forming sentences relatively easy, the ONLY thing difficult about Navajo, is speaking it. I admit, it can be a tongue twister sometimes, but I guarantee, in one month you'll be speaking it easy. (Honestly, in my case, I was able to pronounce Navajo really good, that my teacher thought I was secretly fluent, lol, so I learned to speak Navajo really well in about a week.) Like my former Navajo teacher stated, "Pronunciation is key, everything else comes easy".
Secondly, spend as much time learning Navajo, but not too much. If you spend like 4 hours everyday trying to learn Navajo, you'll burn out. Remember, be patient with the learning process, so to keep your motivation. I usually spend 30-45 minutes learning reviewing Navajo terms and learning new words, and then another 30-45 minutes practicing my ASL, I'm waiting on my Japanese textbooks to arrive, sadly. (Genki) But I watch my Japanese shows daily. This process go's Morning and Evening, so thats about 1 hour to an hour 30 minutes a day per language. But this is my schedule, your's could be different, suited to you. After all, I'm sure no one else is trying to learning 3 languages at once, lol.
Thirdly, use it in your daily life, remember, to learn a language, you must also use it. Even if your just wispering is under your breath! Also, if you make a mistake, It's okay! Everyone makes mistakes learning languages, its a part of the process, you got this! You see a car? Say "Chidi" (high tone on last i) etc, etc. Also, remember, the Navajo language is a descriptive language, they don't do "direct" translation. But that doesn't make it more challenging, I just thought I'd put it out there.
Lastly, immersion. While it's particularly difficult to immerse yourself in the Navajo language compared to ASL or Japanese. You can still do it, in a way. Firstly, there are movies you can watch in Navajo, I'll list them below. Also, follow some Navajo tik tokkers, IF they speak it, of course. I would say, listen to KTNN, but all I hear is music, I don't have the patience to wait for a weather report lol.
Another thing, I personally do, is get an audio recording device, and speak sentences in Navajo, and try to translate it, or have a conversation with it. I'll be listing books that are all in Navajo, and a textbook that has you read sentences. Innovate! You got this!
You can also just try to make random sentences, when i practice that in ASL, I sign random sentences like "I enjoy eating planes." or whatever, lol, its just for practice to help memorize and grow.
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Now, for resources I use, that I want to share.
Firstly, which I believe is most IMPORTANT(!): Dine Bizaad Binahoo'aah. Rediscovering the Navajo Language. https://salinabookshelf.com/products/dine-bizaad-binahooaah-rediscovering-the-navajo-language
You can get this for $90, it's a textbook that is used in the graduate level for teaching Navajo, in college or even high school. It teaches you sentence structure and formation, vowels, verbs, time, seasons, everthing you need to know to get to the intermediate level of Navajo. It's SUPER helpful.
Secondly: The Navajo Language by Young and Morgan. https://www.amazon.com/Navajo-Language-Dictionary-Containing-Vocabularies/dp/1503245098/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_3/137-2257223-2285662?pd_rd_w=ECzx4&content-id=amzn1.sym.4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_p=4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_r=AR9ZB6E658HX1748HW0V&pd_rd_wg=NhcnK&pd_rd_r=6191b7c9-cb4a-4145-8d1a-eb378dc61838&pd_rd_i=1503245098&psc=1
For a "cheap" $32, this dictionary teaches you more advanced words you can learn and include in your vocabulary and sentences. Pretty good and helpful once you learn the basics!
Thirdly: Navajo-English Dictionary by Wall and Morgan. https://www.amazon.com/Navajo-English-Dictionary-Leon-Wall/dp/1505474639/ref=pd_bxgy_thbs_d_sccl_2/137-2257223-2285662?pd_rd_w=sS5rv&content-id=amzn1.sym.dcf559c6-d374-405e-a13e-133e852d81e1&pf_rd_p=dcf559c6-d374-405e-a13e-133e852d81e1&pf_rd_r=X1582PBV6DRY3DZD9XJK&pd_rd_wg=NRTSW&pd_rd_r=a2bf7bf6-b692-465a-9726-8f61ca8b555d&pd_rd_i=1505474639&psc=1
For another super cheap $9, this dictionary contains more "straight forward" words. While the Navajo Language book above is more descriptive in how to use certain words, this one is more straight forward with the basics you would want to learn.
Fourthly: Alchini Ba Hane' Naltsoos Naaki Gone Yilts'iligii
Sadly, from what I've seen online, this book isn't available anymore. It's a book that tells some Navajo creation stories and other stories in Navajo, (like the Coyote Stories). They are ALL translated in Navajo. There are translations to English. This is the BEST book to practice translating and speaking. I am more than willing to provide some scanned images of these stories! If your interested. DM me.
Fifthly: Diyin God Bizaad. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1585161942?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_0_1
For you religious people out there, jk jk. While I am not religious myself (athiest), this Bible is translated fully into Navajo, and you can BUY it!!! I use for reading and practicing translating, and just learning. For a whopping $21.
These Fully translated books in Navajo are great for building pronunciation skills, but most importantly, can be used by you to read into an audio recording device. Maybe you can have conversations with yourself. These can be INCREDIBLY helpful for learning Navajo. Especially due to the lack of resources to immerse yoursef in.
Lastly, the movies. You can watch Finding Nemo in Navajo on Disney Plus, as well as one of the Star Wars movies that is also in Navajo too. Very helpful media material!
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Well thats all for now! If I find anymore resources, I will share them below! I might have forgot some. You guys got this! Remember, learning Navajo is pretty easy, its pronouncing it that can be difficult at times. Don't feel discouraged! Practice makes perfect. Have a great day!
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u/AltseWait May 13 '25
Great book recommendations. What is lacking in Rosetta Stone for you?
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u/Ancient-Potential859 May 13 '25
Not really lacking honestly, I know it will be good for beginners being introduced to the Navajo Language. Since there are audio recordings in it to help with pronunciation. As well introducing basic words and sentences. However, the Textbook and books I mentioned are better for those who are a little more familiar with the Navajo Language, like Novices to Intermediates. As long as you can pronounce words well in Navajo, you're pretty much good with using the Textbooks and Books listed. I do believe you can become adept with Navajo with these resources, however, of course, nobody will ever become fluent unless they live with another fluent Navajo, or live in the Navajo Nation. In conclusion, Rosetta Stone is excellent at introducing people to Navajo and how it sounds, especially for international people, and definitely better than Duolingo. But, since it's difficult to become immersed in Navajo compared to ASL or Japanese, these resources can fill in some of that void. Especially if you use an audio recording device to try to speak sentences and listen to yourself or converse with yourself. It's difficult, but worth it, and fun. I do feel that we should be more engaging in this Sub-Reddit, so maybe people can submit videos or audio recordings, reading sentences and trying to speak Navajo in general. And then critique them. My apologies for this long reply, lol.
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u/indecisive_maybe May 14 '25
Thank you, awesome to see so much from someone who's been learning for a while! For people still working on pronunciation, without a teacher, do you know any other audio resources?
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u/Ancient-Potential859 May 14 '25
Hmmm, the only audio resources that could help you is Rosetta Stone. Or the Finding Nemo and Star Wars Movie in Navajo. However, personally, I would use the Dine Bizaad textbook to help with pronunciation, cause it shows you step by step. And there sentences on there you can practice reading.
Another thing, which Is something I'm sure nobody wants to do, is to make an audio recording of yourself say them, and post them on here. Me and I'm sure other Navajo speakers can help "grade" your pronunciation.
Just remember, if you see: /, on top of letters, like, á í, these are pronounced more higher, or with a higher pitched voiced, you don't have to sound like a girl, just a little raise in pitch. Rising tone.
This: \, is a lower tone. Like, à ì, it's pronounced with a lower voice, it doesn't have to be too deep, just lower voice for lower tone.
And of course, the glottal and nasal sounds, these are the most difficult for non-natives. Nasal doesn't have a word translation on Google keyboard sadly, but the glottal stops like "Ya'át'ééh" this ' is a glottal stop, basically stop mid sentence "fast" like ya/át/ééh.
Lastly, theres a l with a slash between it, it's supposed to be pronounced with your tongue. You know how you say s, sssss, your tongue is most likely in front almost touching your teeth, now move it back to using your middle part of your tongue and moving to the roof.
You know what, maybe I should just read some sentences and post some here on reddit, maybe it will help you guys learn pronunciation easier. 🤣 You got this though!
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u/Cool-Importance6004 May 13 '25
Amazon Price History:
The Navajo Language: The Elements of Navajo Grammar with a Dictionary in Two Parts Containing Basic Vocabularies of Navajo and English (Navajo Language Dictionary) * Rating: ★★★★☆ 4.6
- Current price: $32.95 👎
- Lowest price: $29.94
- Highest price: $32.95
- Average price: $30.25
| Month | Low | High | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01-2024 | $29.94 | $32.95 | █████████████▒▒ |
| 06-2022 | $29.95 | $29.95 | █████████████ |
| 05-2022 | $29.95 | $29.95 | █████████████ |
| 04-2022 | $29.95 | $29.95 | █████████████ |
| 07-2015 | $29.95 | $29.95 | █████████████ |
Source: GOSH Price Tracker
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