We have completed our first book! On Wednesday the 25th we did have a celebration and invited family, friends, elders, and chief’s and council members. It was a successful turn out and our students did awesome on their Oral Presentations. They were able to introduce themselves in detail, telling everyone who they are, their family, where they come from, a large list if activities, food, weather that they like and activities they did both in the past and present tenses.
 
After the presentations were complete we began the second part of our day, the community feedback meeting. This meeting allowed us to gather some important information, that will help us to improve the Syilx  Langauge House. This information will also be crucial for us to know how we can further support the Communities within the Okanagan Nation. A great success in our eyes. not only because of the good attendance but the discussion was very productive and we stayed right until 3pm. 

On Thursday we started Captikʷł 1. This is super exciting for all of us, because we are able to carry forth with bit more Nsyilxcn substance. We are no longer using simple sentences, we are now learning the legend on coyote and horse. Our new pace is learning 1 story per day. These stores are broken up into 3 sets, plus the 3 sets of vocabulary, and a final review of each story at the end of the day. The Cohort has their work cut out for them, but it at least they only have 2 pages of homework!

 
Nińwis łwikńtsn
(see you later)

This week is all about studying and reviewing for our students. Next week is our final written exam and an Oral exam that will be presented in front of a room full of family, friends, elders, chiefs and council members. The students have been working extra hard this week to get prepared and making sure all their homework is complete. In saying all this, we the Co-Teachers and Staff at the Syilx Language House Association want to put our hands up to the students for all their hard work and dedication to this program. We understand that you have other responsibilities outside of the 2 days per week you spend here. We wish you all the best in your upcoming exams and we know you will all Ace your Oral exams, despite the large crowd.
 

As learners, we feel like we are making history, each one of us. There is a sense of power in the room, as well as courage, dedication, and commitment. Each of us is committed to stay in the room until we become speakers. We will become a language family. Before we started, it looked like student numbers might be too high—a good problem to have—so we chose the larger classroom space, ordered 20 chairs and printed out 20 textbooks. Our starting numbers were twelve adult students, and five co-teachers. We will be joined by one more student after Nsyilxcn 1 is finished in November, making us thirteen students and five teachers, eighteen in total. My role and responsibility is lead teacher, teacher-trainer, and project coordinator. The co-teachers have each finished the first three to five Paul Creek books, putting us about six months of study ahead of the group. We will stay ahead of the students for the first year by studying at a fast pace. By the next school year, the students will catch up to us and we will all be at the same level. One of my favourite teaching roles in the first day is to make sure that everyone has an Nsyilxcn name. Two students did not, so we brainstormed as a group to come up with fitting names. Krista became “person who smiles” which fits her perfectly. I called Andrew McGinnis to confirm the pronunciation of the names and he was happy to hear we were already in the room studying nqilxwcn. He can’t wait to join us, once we have reached at least a solid beginner level. Our experience in the classroom is overwhelmingly positive. We are supportive, encouraging, enthusiastic, and loving. Our teaching practices embrace the best language acquisition techniques and prioritize classroom safety. Our lessons are in full immersion. Each of us feels the tension of language learning, but it is balanced by a feeling of safety and connection to each other.
 
X̌astítkʷ Jolene Michel posted a beautiful FaceBook post last week (Oct. 21, 2015):
 
I'm really happy with life these days. I have had the amazing opportunity to attend the language house in Inchelium this past summer. Currently I have transitioned to the Syilx Language House here in Penticton. I'm very hopeful and super excited about the language and where we are going as learners/beginners. I love the continual push to my learning, with this amazing curriculum. I'm also super grateful for the amazing circle of language family I've met.
 
A great expression I've heard recently is "language doesn't die in healthy communities" [April Charlo from Flathead MT]. The thing I must remind myself is to ignore the negativity that is unfortunately associated with language. To me language is meant to be a positive thing, a way to connect us with not only the land but with each other and ourselves.