GULLAH CONNECTIONS at Harvard University

Рет қаралды 3,405

Күн бұрын

Harvard instructor Sunn M'Cheaux teaching Gullah to Ivy League students
by Alissa Holmes
Fri, March 29th 2024
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) - From The Lowcountry to The Ivy Leagues! This Gullah Connections story shares how the Gullah language is breaking barriers in higher education and the man behind it all, Sunn M'Cheaux, a Harvard University Instructor.
"As long as we think that linguistic rules don’t apply to us and we're just making it up as we go or its just baby talk, we'll always look down on our language," M'Cheaux said.
M'cheaux has been teaching Gullah to students at Harvard for seven years. It's a task that many questioned, but this Charleston native took on the task with pride.
"Up to that point many people were saying that the language was 'un-teachable,'" he remarked.
So how do you teach a language that doesn't have many instructional materials to students far away from the culture and people who passed it down for centuries?
"It's like when you're trying to communicate with a child that's new into the world, doesn’t have a vocabulary, they don’t know everything that they would need to know to have your frame of reference to every individual word," M'Cheaux explained.
He says it starts with community.
"So, you 'teach' in a sense by creating a context. Like a community or social context so that I know what you mean when you say that thing without you having to explain," he continued.
For example:
"If I say 'a dog got four legs, but can’t walk but one way,' what I'm communicating there is, a dog has four legs, but can only walk in one direction. So, no matter how many options you may have, at some point you're going to have to pick one and coordinate all of those efforts into making that one thing happen," M'Cheaux said.
Gullah is mixture of English and a number of different African languages. Created by enslaved Africans in the Lowcountry and other areas of the Gullah Geechee Corridor.
"They had to figure out the language in a hurry, under duress, and in that sense still preserving a piece of who you were before you got there, but also finding something new because all of them didn’t speak the same language," he explained.
M'Cheaux says absent of formal training books, Gullah has the same linguistic principles.
"'Ad gon' is going to be your past tense. 'Da go' is going to be your continuous. 'A go' is going to be your present. And if you are going to do something, what would it be? 'Dat's wha dey ga do!' The 'ga' is going to be your future."
M'Cheaux is making sure the journey of the language is going past the grounds of Harvard. He uses social media to take his lessons worldwide and the Holy City with him.
SOURCE: abcnews4.com/n...

Пікірлер: 53

@The_Gawd_Papa 4 ай бұрын

*This guy stays dropping jewels.*

@purpleness64 4 ай бұрын

For real

@josefsvec5236 4 ай бұрын

I might be a relatively recent viewer, but I can tell by the way you school people on the internet and now that you got the honor to appear on TV, that you gonna make a massive difference in the years to come. Thank you for your teachings and for not being afraid to call out bullshit on the internet no matter what side it come from ! People like you who support critical thinking and openness to learning are the cornerstones for a better world and I am glad I get to share this timeline with you ! ❤

@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts 4 ай бұрын

Sunn, it is so wonderful to see you teaching the Gullah language in an Ivy League setting while simultaneously teaching us here worldwide. Thank you, Sir. ❤😘

@blueoverman-cox6437 4 ай бұрын

Shout out to Goose Creek and Bonneau! Miss you family! 🫶🏿💙

@AskTheAdjutant 4 ай бұрын

Shoutout to Pawley’s Island, South Carolina!

@roberttolbert7002 4 ай бұрын

"That word is made up!" "All words are made up."

@Nerobyrne 4 ай бұрын

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" "Nah bro sorry I actually don't, can you explain it?" That tends to be the end of the conversation 😂

@roberttolbert7002 4 ай бұрын

@Nerobyrne Bro? You mean brother. But not your real brother. I am a person you barely know on a website. Word change meaning and what the word is in a second language. What do you call a new animal that has been just discovered. It has no name. Made up!

@DeloisBailey-yf2zy 4 ай бұрын

Grand rise my king

@Joyful_Smiles 4 ай бұрын

Your passion and love for your culture is exemplary.

@zinacheers8126 4 ай бұрын

I'm so proud to be a gullah geechee gal from Beaufort, SC.❤😊

@bebespeaks7827 4 ай бұрын

Gullah Gullah Island! Tankee tankee!

@jeannieecker6549 4 ай бұрын

Wow Sunn Sir how you slayyyying it😍💖... I mean what an opportunity for you, your classes and your social media.. I cant imagine how exciting this was for you.. Soo very proud of you 💯😎💞✌️🏆🎬🎙️

@skunky1-1 4 ай бұрын

Oh my god it makes so much more sense to me now. I understand WHY gullah developed. The cultural differences between me as a white boy to gullah is stark but im glad to continue to learn and broaden my horizons.

@ladaunyag.4486 4 ай бұрын

AWESOME!! Keep it going Sunn!! God Bless!!

@thatsdaniellelol 4 ай бұрын

Dang this is dope asf I’m gonna learn this! Thank You for teaching this..crazy that I’m just now realizing that you teach this since I’ve been on your channel for so long but I’m glad I know now. It’s added to my list of languages I’m gonna learn.

@rahbeeuh 4 ай бұрын

Wait, I'm actually early? Well, I'll be 😅 anyway, glad to see you've been featured here 🎉

@rahbeeuh 4 ай бұрын

Wait, I'm early? Well I'll be 😅 glad to see ya featured and educating 🫶🏾

@deborahseaman8470 4 ай бұрын

❤ This man is a gift and a true treasure to the history of the world!! He speaks truth and nothing but truth!!❤❤ Listen when he speaks, you will become a better person!

@kristiwinkle5686 4 ай бұрын

I wish I had a way to take your classes. It's so interesting and I would love to learn!

@oniciamuller 4 ай бұрын

This video was a hood starting point to understand what and how you are teaching. Makes me feel like we need something official for St Maarten / Dutch Caribbean English

@teresaabrown8077 4 ай бұрын

Great 👍 Great 👍 Bring IT. Teach. Professor!! I enjoy what you Bring to the Table❤ The World Needs to Know about This 100% Gracias Mi Amigo 🍷 🍷 Si.

@seadawg93 4 ай бұрын

Awesome! ❤

@Ophiuchus13SignAstrologyTarot 4 ай бұрын

🎉🎉🎉💛💛💛

@SheisB515 4 ай бұрын

Love it 🖤

@Angbwillinspireu 4 ай бұрын

Congratulations! Beautiful ❤. Preservation & education 💯💪🏾📚

@chantristrammell6088 4 ай бұрын

Learning a piece of history and making me proud to be who I am and how people who look like me speak should be something I'm proud of.

@heathertea2704 4 ай бұрын

Nice. 🥰

@sandraodell610 4 ай бұрын

Thank you.

@kandyedwards1376 4 ай бұрын

He's so dope

@tammygamble8313 4 ай бұрын

Great interview 👏🏾👏🏾

@lovesyah4618 4 ай бұрын

GULLAH GEECHIE GAL 😁 SOUTH CAROLINA ❤

@underthedice1231 4 ай бұрын

Wait! HOLD UP! We can follow some of your classes online? Where? Edit: I'm already a super fan of what little we got here. Edit 2: Not that what we got here is "little" as in not enough or disappointing.

@AuntieDeeDee 4 ай бұрын

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

@damientom 4 ай бұрын

❤🖤❤🖤❤

@nahoo7748 4 ай бұрын

I wanna learn Gullah

@lovesyah4618 4 ай бұрын

@nahoo7748, Wha yoo da say? Translates to What are you saying? Gullah Geechie sister here from SC. Come to the Gullah festival in Beaufort SC May 25 th or Heritage days festival 🎉😊 first weekend in November

@nahoo7748 4 ай бұрын

@@lovesyah4618 bet

@churro6160 4 ай бұрын

can't be America without a lawyer commercial 😂

@jejelaurent9495 4 ай бұрын

Just like haitian creole mix with french,spanish,portuguese, english, tainos and Igbo language.

@IndomitableAde 4 ай бұрын

It's em-Cho?? I been thinking it was mih-Sho this whole time! 🤦🏾‍♀️

@sunnmcheaux 4 ай бұрын

It's absolutely NOT "em-Cho." lol You were thinking correctly this whole time.

@IndomitableAde 4 ай бұрын

@@sunnmcheaux despite having heard you say your own name (in the YPU video), I lent credence to the person with the microphone. 🙄 Did she even ask you how to say it before the segment started?

@sunnmcheaux 4 ай бұрын

Yep.

@IndomitableAde 4 ай бұрын

@@sunnmcheaux and still said it wrong? Smh.

@TevinC814 4 ай бұрын

That’s definitely a Caribbean accent

@sunnmcheaux 4 ай бұрын

Nope, it's a Black US American, Gullah/Geechee accent. The Caribbean just happens to be more well-known for speech features that exist in the diaspora outside of the Caribbean.

@adiaj9228 4 ай бұрын

As a born, bred, ga dead Bahamian... I have to say, that the rhythm and tone are very similar. Even some of the words. I went to SC and was shock... this needs to be investigated more, especially if you are a student of history and are aware of the Saltwater Railroad. The similarities are not that coincidental..