i have decided what i want to be when i grow up
a language conservationist. i want to help in the effort to keep dying languages alive. sadly, there's no such thing and i don't know what one would do, so i can't create the job. so that's that.
posted by melilotnfosco | 3:58 PM
15 Comments:
hmm... maybe there's something related to that??
You could try and work here, but it doesn't look like they employ very many people. I think you'd have to become a university professor to any real work in the field.
if there's a job to be done, it's yours to do
who would have thought, once upon a time, that one could have a job planning scavenger hunts or fastening j-lo's shoes or shopping for other people? we live in a capitalist society. you can have a job doing anything.
the alm thing looks super cool, but yeah, i don't think they're hiring :(
I think there's GOT to be something similar. Seems like there would be...chelley, did you learn about anything like this during your linguistics days?
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There totally IS such a thing! I 2nd majored in linguistics and had to take a "Field Methods" class where we had to pull together everything we knew from the courses we had taken (syntax, IPA, phonology, morphology, etc) and learn how to apply it. That is, all thru the second half of the semester we had a guest speaker come in to talk to (all 6 of) us in her native language, Tuareg. Our job was to listen to her talking, transcribe it, and figure out how the language works (grammar, pronunciation patterns, etc.) and we were graded on our record keeping and accuracy in analysis.
We also had a few lessons about how to get research grants for studying a dying language, cuz you gotta live on that money when you live in the middle of the Amazon rainforest or in an African bush village following a nearly extinct tribal group ... you should practice for that by coming with me to Kenya :-)
And yeah I guess that's not really what you had in mind, b/c you can't keep that language alive on your own, much less keep that culture and people-group alive... And you HAVE to go back to university or somewhere when you're done to write up what you've learned somehow or another to contribute to the academic knowledge base and prove to whoever funded you that you were worth it. So that could get boring too.
And I agree with hobbitsister. You can make a job out of anything.
And you can always write, call, fax, or email ALM to find out if they are hiring or not! If they do hire you, you might have to move to Canada :)
Aboriginal Languages of Manitoba Inc.
119 Sutherland Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA
R2W 3C9
Tel: (204) 989-6392
Toll Free: 1-866-429-0606
Fax: (204) 989-6396
E-mail: alm@shawcable.com
um, i switched to speech path, photo, if that tells you anything ;)
Yes! Check this stuff out. Language preservation is HUGE out here- all across Canada actually. There are a ton of universities and cultural groups that are working on it. You'd probably have to get your masters in linguistics along side, or before, your specific research but if it's studying something you love then that shouldn't be a big trial. Your talent and love for linguistics is a gift of God and you should totally see what is out there that could pay you as well as challenge you. What is the deal with Wycliffe? Do you need more schooling for that as well?
how about contacting brad pitt and harry connick jr and ask for a grant to work towards keeping creole alive?
No, chelley, it does not. I majored in psychology for a semester, and I am totally a psychological expert. Or a psycho. Something.
Hobsis, I like that Harry Connick idea! :)
a language conservationist's a person in your neighborhood...
a person Whom you meet each day ;)
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