How to Learn Yolngu Matha words - Resources

How to Learn Matha Words

There are several features which make Yol\u Matha easier to learn than many other languages:

many of the sentences in ordinary conversation don't need a verb, so the structure of some basic sentences is very simple
there are no prefixes in Yol\u Matha, and only a few quite simple suffixes, so there are only a few complications in word structures
once you learn the sound system, pronunciation is not hard to learn because words are pronounced exactly as they are written, and
the stress is on the first syllable in every word in the language.

Everyone learns differently. What might be a good technique for someone else might not work for you. Here are some suggestions for you to try:

The importance of vocabulary
90% of the time you spend learning the language should be spent on learning vocabulary. When you have difficulty saying what you want to say, or have difficulty understanding something, most of the time it is not a problem of grammar, it is a problem of vocabulary: there is a word which you don't know or have forgotten, or which is on the tip of your tongue but won't come out. The solution is to spend nearly all your study time learning your vocabulary.

Tip 1. Using 'flash cards' to learn the vocabulary
The art of learning vocabulary is to move Yol\u Matha words from your short term memory into your long term memory. This is done by constantly testing yourself on your vocabulary items. If you have these written out on small cards, they are handy to carry around, and handy to use for the regular cycle of memorising and rehearsal which is required to activate the short term memory. Through constant self-testing of the individual items, some move quickly into the memory and the ones which don't, stay in your pile of cards for constant revision until they are learnt.

Keep a supply of cards. Every time you find a new word to learn, print the Yol\u Matha word on one side, and write the English equivalent on the other. Rehearse these cards constantly. About twenty cards at a time is a good number. Some words are learnt quickly (these cards are put to one side), and others may take a week to sink in.

Tip 2. How to use the cards
Each time you test yourself, place to one side the words which you can remember immediately. Words which you forget, memorise them quickly (short term memory) and place them again on the bottom of the pile you hold in your hand. Keep going through the cards, and before long the ones which you forgot a moment ago but have spent a moment or two memorising, will reappear at the top of the pile. If you remember them the second time around, that is the first stage in full memorisation of the word. If you forget it the second time, memorise the word again, and place the card at the bottom of the pile. Within a minute or so, it will work its way up to the top of the pile again.

Each time you set out to do a few minutes of vocab work, you will start with twenty cards, and keep working through them, putting the ones you instantly recall to one side, and working only with those which are proving troublesome. Within a few minutes, you will have only a few cards left. These are the ones which are proving hardest. Keep rehearsing them until you are reduced to a single one, and finally shuffle them back into the pack and put them aside until you have another few minutes to start the process again.

Tip 3. The importance of daily practice
Spending five minutes five times a day is the best way to learn vocab. Keep adding new cards, and keep throwing out the cards of words which you have learnt thoroughly. It is always best to overlearn Yol\u words. If you only have a limited grasp on them, you will soon forget them, or they will take so long to come to the surface when you try to recall them, that the job of making a sentence gets hopelessly bogged down.

Tip 4. Overlearn your words, not your grammar
In conclusion, don't worry about the grammar until you have a big vocabulary. The grammar is relatively simple. Concentrate on your vocabulary, and overlearn your words.