Bienvenido (welcome) to the final part of my logbook! Let’s platicar (discuss) a little bit about language. The main languages spoken in the community I live in, Palestina de Los Altos, are Mam and Spanish. Mam is the Indigenous, Mayan language spoken here. Around 77% of our community is Mam, and for many of them, Mam is their native language (the first language they learned). There are between 22 to 25 Indigenous languages still spoken in Guatemala. That doesn’t even include all of the different dialects (dialects are specific forms of a language spoken in specific regions)... pretty chillero (Guatemalan slang for cool). if you ask me! One of my site-mates (another volunteer who lives in the same community as me) and I have just started Mam classes. This is how you say thank you in Mam: “Chjonte.” We can practice on our call together!
