
By Muriel Ammon
“I stopped teaching people the language, and started teaching people how to use the language.” -Zalmai Zahir, Lushootseed language teacher and specialist on Language Nesting
‘Language nesting’ is an immersive method used in language revitalization to create new speakers and support language use. One such nest, demonstrated by Zalmai Zahir, dedicates a place in the home where the Indigenous language will always be spoken. No English! This is a fabulous tool for individuals, pairs, or small groups to employ. As in the cases of Zahir and inspired colleagues such as Connor Yiamkis and Matthew Vestuto of the Pit River and Barbareño/Ventureño Chumash communities respectively, this nesting grew to include large classes of community language learners. Zahir reports over three hundred self-identified Lushootseed speakers, marking a complete turnaround for the language. He believes the actual number of speakers is closer to one thousand. The Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival (AICLS) connects Master Apprentice teams to language learning methods and resources. In my apprenticeship, we were able to Zoom with Zahir and Chumash language activist Matthew Vestuto who has adopted Zahir’s method. These experts graciously helped our teams set up language nests in our own homes. The practice was so blissful for me and I experienced a great deal of growth. The process is ‘come as you are.’ As a beginning speaker learning from my dad, I was shy to speak. The language nest method gave me autonomy over my language use. All this to say, I’m over the moon that Zalmai could share a bit here with all of us.
Zalmai Zahir, or as you may know him, ?əswəli or Zeke, is a longtime teacher of Lushootseed. At eleven years old, Zalmai became involved in the language, spending time with his stepfather. He had wonderful opportunities to attend language classes on the Muckleshoot reservation. In 1983, he got to know Vi Hilbert (1918-2008), who taught alongside Dr. Thom Hess at the University of Washington. They became good friends, and continued their work together long after he graduated as a civil engineer. They devised educational materials including text books, with which Zahir taught the language in community classes. From 1989-2010, he taught the language through a grammatical lens. “They were fun classes and I got them to be good speakers,” he reflects. And yet, a pattern of forgetfulness kept emerging. People were not using the language outside of class. And like any other skill, without use it would begin to fade. Zahir recalls, “I was burned out by 2010. I was tired of teaching, ‘What’s this? That’s a fork. What’s this? That’s a spoon.’” He knew they needed to speak outside of class, but how?
Seeking a change, he enrolled in a Theoretical Linguistics PhD program at the University of Oregon. The connections he made and the work he completed through this program became the basis of his new, wildly successful language teaching method: Language nesting in the home. Zahir’s work is influenced by other language activists working with immersion, including Potawotami expert Lindsey Marean. Two sets of language form the base of your nest: Basic descriptions of daily activities done in your room of choice combined with conversation questions. Incorporate this language in bite-sized chunks, and speak a few minutes a day. Get comfortable with a few activities and a couple conversation questions. Then get cozy – give up English, in that one room. Now you have a place where you can always speak your language.
I would be remiss to speak of language nests without mentioning ‘Aha Pūnana Leo. This school, established in 1983 to perpetuate Hawaiian language, is perhaps the most well-known language nest. This school, this cultural movement, has been extremely successful in supporting students’ holistic development as Native Hawaiians, entirely through their language. They are a beacon of support for Indigenous communities setting up language nests of their own. Among the movement are Mashpee Wampanoag Mukayushak Weekuw, Cochiti Pueblo’s Keres Children’s Learning Center, the Ojibwe Language Institute’s Waadookodaading, and recently California’ own Hupa Language Immersion Nest. Zahir notes that each Indigenous language community experiencing exponential regrowth of speakers is using a language nest. “It’s not ‘should there be a language nest.’ Language nests must happen.” Rather than a language nest for children, this nest is for the language.
Zahir’s first attempt to teach using this method took place in 2011. He had been teaching a class on how to use Lushootseed in the kitchen, over video conference calls. It was the early days of technology, when you needed an extra attachment and your calls were always being dropped. Despite these inefficiencies, Zahir’s class flourished. “I’d never had a class grow in size like that,” Zahir commented. From the comfort of their own homes, and kitchens, students learned language they could use outside of class. After this introduction, Zahir described language nesting and asked his students if that was something they’d be interested in trying. They gave a resounding yes. They doubled their meetings from one hour a week to two. Zahir decided, “If I’m going to teach them how to nest in the kitchen, then I have to nest in the kitchen.” To this day, his kitchen remains an active language nest. In fact, during our interview, he was going back and forth from the kitchen, cooking lunch. So I heard quite a bit of Lushootseed over the phone. Thanks Zahir!
Illustrating the success of this model, Zahir recounts several tales of his old students. “One of my favorites, I would ask her, ‘How do you fry potatoes?’ She would respond with lots of ‘uh’s and ‘umm’s. I’d say good, do it again. It would be a little bit better. It was really challenging for her to recall cooking potatoes. Our classes ended for the summer. We reconvened in the fall. So I ask her, ‘How do you fry potatoes?’ She starts telling me, then a third of the way through she stops. She got bored at the simplicity, then started adding all this other language.” Another, his step-father’s great niece, started her nest in the bathroom. “She took to it right away,” Zahir smiles. Simply by watching her, another of her family members wanted to join in. Even another, who had been averse to the process, waited a long time, then came to the group with such ardor, “Why did you never make me learn this? I could be like her now!” But force has never been a part of Zahir’s approach. Even as he mentors me into getting back into language, refurbishing my nest and reincorporating conversation into my life, he tells me, “Start with these two questions. Just see how it goes, don’t force it.”
Zahir explains that part of the reason this method works so well, is that speakers are engaging in real communication through their languages. It’s also about setting achievable goals. Start speaking five minutes a day. Then ten, then fifteen. Work your way up to an hour. “When you get to an hour, that’s primary. That’s a primary language you are speaking,” he explains. After that, expand to two or three hours a day. Don’t stop with the nest. Find more projects to translate, on sports, singing, dancing, telling stories. See how many people you can talk to in a day.
How can I start a language nest in my home?
1. Pick a place.
Choose one room in your home, which you wish to dedicate as space to speak only your language. Popular choices are the bathroom or the kitchen, as these are highly frequented areas with set routines.
2. Start with one activity.
Pick one activity, for instance, washing your hands. Every time you wash your hands, you are going to say out loud, in your language, what you are doing. In preparation, write out 5-10 simple sentences. Find a way to translate them. Make yourself a poster, to read from and as a reminder to speak your language.
Ex: Washing Hands
- I pick up the soap.
- I rub my hands.
- I set down the soap.
- I turn on the faucet.
- I rinse my hands.
- I turn off the faucet.
- I dry my hands.
3. Build up your repertoire of activities.
When you are comfortable, add another domain. Then another. Then another.
4. Conversation.
One goal is to increase how much time you spend speaking your language. The second is to see how many people you can speak to in your language. Conversation is similarly scaffolded to support speakers at any level. Start with one question. You can absolutely have a cheat sheet. Keep it as long as you need.
Q: Where did you go today?
A: I went to ___.
5. Declare your nest.
Once you feel comfortable with a few activities and have confidence in some conversational speech, make the switch. No more English in your nest, speak only your language.
This is your invitation to join in, from the beginning. Let’s set up a language nest at home! I’ll be posting updates here: https://youtube.com/shorts/b9uTZOrQPE8?feature=share
For more information, check out the Puyallup Tribal Language Page: https://www.puyalluptriballanguage.org/nest/