I spent 4 weeks in Guatemala to learn THIS Mayan language

I thought I was just learning a language, but I got so much more.. thanks to Gáspar, Imelda, Axuwaan, Jasy, Carol, Aracely, and everyone else that made this experience possible 🤲 I'll be back next year!
The Tz'utujil language is a Mayan language spoken by some 70,000 people in southwest Guatemala, specifically around Lake Atitlán and its surrounding areas. The Academia de Lenguas Mayas is a Guatemalan organization founded in 1990 that regulates the use and teaching of Guatemala's 22 Mayan languages. I'm so honored to have gotten private classes and learn so much about the Tz'utujil language, culture, and cosmology.
*some disclaimers: I'm not an expert on Indigenous languages or history, I'm simply a person that wanted to get to know a side of Guatemala that was suppressed for so many years. If you try to learn an Indigenous language, make sure it's alongside actual Indigenous people and benefits their communities, not taking away from it. :)
00:00 what is Tz'utujil?
2:40 The Guatemalan Civil War (Conflicto Armado)
3:58 How I got started in Tz'utujil
4:30 Learning letters I can't pronounce (yet)
8:32 practicing Tz'utujil at the market (k'ayibal)
10:37 Learning place names and new verbs!
15:55 I GOT INVITED TO A BABY SHOWER IN TZ'UTUJIL
17:45 Tz'utujil word order is crazy!
20:26 Hanging out with Axuwaan (Johan)
22:07 How they create new words in Tz'utujil
23:21 Wise words from Axuwaan
23:40 She learned to write it after 20+ years of speaking
24:14 Jasy explains the expressiveness of Tz'utujil
26:22 My last class and closing thoughts...
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📚 My language learning resources and templates:
elyssespeaks.gumroad.com/
☕️ buy me a coffee (if you are so inclined!)
ko-fi.com/elyssespeaks
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💌 social media:
📷 instagram:
/ elyssedavega
🐥 twitter:
/ elyssedavega
🎵 spotify w/ english, german, spanish, and portuguese playlists
open.spotify.com/user/elysse....
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💌 about me: my name is Elysse, I'm 22 years old from the southern U.S. I've been learning languages for about 8 years, and I speak English (native), Spanish (C2), German (B2/C1), Portuguese (B2), French (B1/B2), American Sign Language (advanced), and Turkish (A1). I'm interested in learning Hebrew, Chinese, Georgian, and maybe Náhuatl as well :)
#polyglot #guatemala #indigenouslanguages

[@SP-dp2ig]

I won't lie, I have seen the video two times already and there is nothing that I don't love about it. Elysse I can tell you have put your whole heart in this video. From the amazing history backround to this beautiful indeginous language and your respect to the locals and their tradition this video is a masterpiece. Definately in the top5 I have ever seen on yt. It was like a world class documentary. Good job elysse!! So happy for you❤️ keep it up 🙏

[@elyssespeaks]

thank you so much 🥺 comments like this mean everything!

[@Ellary_Rosewood]

I really hope that more people learn indigenous and endangered languages. Even languages that are spoken by a small population, as well as dead languages. There is something so special about diving into the history and cultures that are so often overlooked or forgotten about. ❤

[@elyssespeaks]

Couldn’t have said it better! As long as it’s done in a way that includes, respects and benefits Indigenous communities I wish everyone would try it

[@jackiepetrosky4611]

Very true! The IB curriculum for English as a secondary language has included endangered languages as a unit under "identity".

[@helveticabestfont12345]

im learning maori atm

[@StephenYuan]

This video is a nice bit of cultural anthropology on a region I've never been to but read about. Very nice. You are a good traveler who engages with locals, and has an eye for finding cool things to show.

[@elyssespeaks]

this is such a sweet comment! i’m glad you were able to learn more about Guate and its people :) i hope you get to see it yourself someday

[@makizdat]

This was fascinating on so many levels -- culturally, linguistically, as a vlog, and so on. And just so well done. You have a real knack at interacting with people on a friendly and empathetic basis. Thank you for this!

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

❤❤👍👍

[@Kevin-dt8rk]

Creo que no podría expresar lo importante que me parece ser este vídeo, de verdad tu trabajo me inspira tanto 🥺

[@elyssespeaks]

😭 Muchisimas gracias!! Trabajé meses en este video entonces me da mucho gusto ver que les guste

[@saorsatk]

I really love this video I used to teach welding in an Indigenous community in Central Australia while trying to learn the local language, Warlpiri. Something I learnt there is that for Warlpiri people, having a strong language and cultural identity is empowering in ways that affect things that seem unrelated, like employment and health outcomes. (In fact this was the original spark that got me interested in linguistics). I would imagine that Tz'utujil and Warlpiri people live very different lives, but at the same time may have much in common too - and similarly, keeping the Tz'utujil language going would mean much more than just preserving those linguistic oddities that us language nerds like. So keep up the good work!

[@elyssespeaks]

of course! and yes, a lot of Indigenous languages and cultures have a wild amount in common even if they’re worlds apart :0

[@ilysbarillot6175]

I don't understand why this video doesn't have more views, your videos are amazing, your explanations are clear, and your editing is perfect! I could watch this for hours, thanks for sharing so much about languages!

[@elyssespeaks]

Wow, thank you 🥹 yeah haha it's pretty different from the videos I usually make so I had a suspicion it would flop. i'm so glad you loved it!

[@williamzarate3402]

Amiga I like your videos!!! I speak Ki'che, being bilingual (I speak Ki'che and spanish since I was a child) it helped me a lot to learn the English language. When I came to New York in the late 80's I couldn't speak any english..Amiga I really admire your love for the guatemalan culture and I admire the effort you make to learn the Maya language. Utz kin'wilo, Utz kin'tao........K'atan in Ki'che means Hot or caliente

[@elyssespeaks]

Thanks for the wonderful comment ❤️ i’m sorry you had to leave your country but I’m glad you’ve made a wonderful life for yourself! Congrats on speaking 3 languages too :)

[@quain5063]

Subscribed for a while but first time commenting: Thrilled to see things like this as a linguist and anthropologist! I've done fieldwork in Phurépecha and Fijian, and I myself speak several non-standard ~Chinese~ varieties as well. Those minority languages are dying and we gotta do what we gotta do - even one more speaker/learner is an improvement before it goes dormant. Mayan languages are so cool and unique in the linguistic landscape! They're not like anything else with the ejectives (ones followed by '), personal prefixes, VOS and many more. As you said in the video, language IS culture itself, and I'm fascinated by the Tz'utujiil viewpoints (with a normal k) as well. Indigenous knowledge is so overlooked, and very glad your video can serve as another documentation of how Tz'utujiil people think about the world. Love the editing and really hope you come back there again to continue your journey in Tz'utujiil!

[@elyssespeaks]

thanks so much for your comment Quain!! i hadn’t thought about my video as a larger testament to Tz’utujil people and culture, but now that i look it up there’s not so much content about it in English on KZbin. i’m happy i could contribute!! i’m glad you enjoyed the video

[@highkingmargo]

You’re the coolest person my age I know❤️

[@elyssespeaks]

🥺 you’re the sweetest!! thanks for the comment

[@sylvieolsson3537]

Thanks for filming your experience in Guatemala :) So cool to see the culture in this area of the world ❤ 🌎

[@elyssespeaks]

thanks for watching it!! i’m glad u enjoyed

[@albornozgabriela]

Que buen video!!! Me encanta el contexto histórico que le das, con una base indígena grande, Guatemala debería sentirse orgulloso de sus hermosas raíces y de sus lenguas. Gracias por compartir!

[@elyssespeaks]

esa fue mi intención :”) es un país lleno de culturas!

[@murphypine5772]

I work in a middle school where 60% + is from western Guatemala. I’ve tried so hard to learn but we have kids that only speak dialect and trying to connect is super hard. If these guys will take on a student remote then I’m in. Not sure if you still have contact with them but if you do and you can find that out then you’re helping open a huge door between our non English kids and another adult.

[@fuacatarun2run931]

Love your videos they are amazing. As a Guatemalan I am very proud of you keep the good work.

[@wiinguru1475]

i was also thinking what mayan language from guatemala to learn, your video was just what i wanted to see.

[@jamestandy8594]

As a historical linguist who works on K'iche'an languages this is fun to see! I agree with your take that Kaqchikel and Tz'utujil are really close - a lot of the words and greetings you use in this video are identical to the K'iche' and Kaqchikel equivalents. I'd probably put them about as close as Norwegian and Swedish. In my experience the biggest hurdle is keeping track of transitive and intransitive verbs - the transitive/intransitive divide is the source of a lot of the complications you were talking about with person marking and the different infinitive suffixes. The subject markers on intransitive verbs end up marking objects of transitive verbs, and stuff like that. Sometimes I think of transitive and intransitive verbs as two completely different categories, rather than one single category "verbs" like in English and Spanish.

[@exiledhobbit1441]

Quisiera aprender Kaqchikel. Usted dice que es muy similar al Tz'utujil. Que bueno!

[@julia3983able]

Wow thanks for taking us along this journey Feels like a documentary 👍

[@elyssespeaks]

I guess it is a documentary in some ways! Thanks for checking it out :)

[@youtubizer743]

I am so proud of you ❤ this was such a moving and interesting piece and I love the documentary style. It carries a big mission as well of helping to keep indigenous languages alive. Thoroughly inspired

[@elyssespeaks]

Love u seester ❤️ thanks for watching it

[@salami7677]

Such a beautiful video, reminds me of why I love culture and languages and PEOPLE and being human lol ❤

[@elyssespeaks]

EXACTLY that was my biggest takeaway 🥺 it’s such a universal experience to be human even if we’re all from different places

[@obayaahmed4048]

cinematic masterpiece

[@elyssespeaks]

Thanks so much :)

[@marioquiceno2992]

I loved this video 💙

[@elyssespeaks]

i’m glad to hear it!!

[@gwchk7]

que interesante! muchas gracias Elysse!

[@danielsr.6710]

Thank you. It was very interesting.

[@elyssespeaks]

I hope you got to learn something new :) thanks!

[@denipac]

This was amazing 👏

[@elyssespeaks]

thanks for watching it!

[@RhapsodyinLingo]

What an experience watching your documentary - and that's only a glimpse into the incredible experience you must've had!

[@soundlyawake]

come on editing!!! love this 🙌🏼

[@elyssespeaks]

thanks Nicola 😭❤️

[@MysticHeather]

So I’m a language enthusiast myself and have spent probably about three years of my life learning conLangs, Klingon being the one I have studied the most in-depth and Klingon (tlhIngan Hol) intentionally tried to be as unusual as possible and Marc Okrand most likely took some inspiration from this language. the word order is object verb subject, glottal stops are absolutely necessary when speaking and are considered a letter in themselves, some of the hard consonant pronunciations especially with clicking type sounds. Also as someone married to an indigenous Mexican person I love that you’re doing this, we’d love to learn his native tongue but have no resources for it.

[@elyssespeaks]

I wish there were more resources for Indigenous languages :( I wish the Mexican government (and all governments really) thought of it as more of a priority.

[@MysticHeather]

@@elyssespeaks absolutely! It should be a priority

[@grocnrollgrocnroll5465]

Elysse, I think you are doing a wonderful thing! I have Mayan in my family history and I’ve learned just a tiny bit of Yucatec Mayan so I really appreciate what you’re doing. I also think that you’re probably a blessing to those people with whom you interacted. You go, girl!

[@pablenitosuchi2042]

Interesante video Guatemala significa lugar de muchos árboles. Sigue adelante Eres una chica inteligente.

[@elyssespeaks]

❤️🇬🇹

[@quicktempa]

This is so interesting

[@elyssespeaks]

I tried to include just the most interesting stuff, I had to cut out so much more of the experience 😭 glad you think so!

[@quicktempa]

@@elyssespeaks If you ever drop a less interesting longer tape with more boring footage, I would watch.

[@thehiddenone00]

Wonderful video, Elysse! It's so nice to see some of the time you lived in this beautiful country. I learned many things, and I loved the edition and how well assembled the whole video is. I think everything is so well done. The continuity, the timing of your lessons mixed with your commentaries and the little vlog parts. Everything makes it completely entertaining and comprehensible. You inspire me, just as so many other people. I hope some day I could live an experience such as this. I love your videos! ✨

[@elyssespeaks]

😭 THANK YOU SO MUCH i’m glad you enjoyed it!!

[@alissedanielle]

after watching this video i really feel inspired 😭❤ it was such a good video, the editing, the vlog/documentary style, i loved it all, esp on how you got a lot of pov from the people themselves. this is what I really love about language learning, not only learning the actual language but in making a connection with the people. to me that's what its all about, opening up your world to people different from ourselves. personally its something out of my comfort zone, but im slowly trying to get myself out there. lolol im rambling but long story short such an awesome video, and motivates me to continue on my language journey myself ❤

[@tayanareckziegel]

Não consigo mensurar o quanto esse vídeo é enriquecedor! O pouco que conheci sobre a história, o local, a língua e as pessoas me deixou verdadeiramente encantada. Admiro muito você e sua dedicação em compartilhar suas experiências de modo tão genuíno, gratidão! 💚

[@elyssespeaks]

Eu que agradeço!! 🥹 obrigada por assistir o vídeo todo, isso aí é a verdadeira dedicação 👌

[@Mayaqu1ch3]

Hola amor felicidades por tu aprendisaje en mi país

[@elyssespeaks]

❤️

[@luisandresllanesbaeza5783]

Wow 😱🤯it's very different from the Maya of Mexico

[@elyssespeaks]

there are multiple Mayan languages in MX as well, yes they’re all distinct and lovely!

[@jaironalexanderaranaestrad7347]

Hi Elysse😙 Greetings from Guatemala City. Saludos desde Ciudad de Guatemala

[@ryanpangilinan5803]

Super cool! Definitely would love to try and learn a Mayan language myself one day. I'm particularly interested in Ch'orti as I heard it is in ways, the closest living one to the classical mayan language.

[@Kamaleeon05]

Im Guatemala i speak Spanish but you my admiration cause it seems that difficult but you learned my admired to you

[@eliska3714]

Elysse, thank you for the video, it's amazing. I loved hearing the background about the language (the area where it's spoken and history and more) and seeing you learning it was just so heartwarming and inspiring. I love seeing you communicating with the locals, in Tz'utujil or in Spanish, it's so interesting to hear both from them and from you. And seeing you learn and struggle with the language... I don't want to keep saying how I love seeing those things but I do. This really is the content I love watching and I could watch hours of this. You inspire me so much with every video you make and this one is really special. So thanks again! (Also, I love you speaking Spanish so freaking much, you sound amazing and are a queen)

[@LarissaDeoge.]

muito interessante, amei!

[@Edgar_L]

Soy guatemalteco y hablo kiche, en Solola tenemos algunos idiomas como tzutujil, kiche, kakchikel

[@elyssespeaks]

que bello ❤️

[@Alwaysawarewolf]

Love ur personality

[@elyssespeaks]

:) that’s very sweet!! thank you ~

[@chadbailey7038]

Oh my gosh Elysse! I just got thru seeing Wakanda Forever last night, and I think this is EXACTLY the language the blue characters (Taolucan)were speaking the whole film! That’s so cool. Please try to go see it, you’ll get a kick out of that 🙌🏾!

[@elyssespeaks]

In the movie it’s Yucatec Maya, but they’re related!! I’ll be sure to see it:)

[@chadbailey7038]

I find your video so interesting now that I’ve seen the film! I hope you share your thoughts after you’ve watched it 👍🏾

[@BonnieVoyage]

Wowww i'm going to Guatemala next year! So cool/random to see you doing a video on it :D

[@castrocastro3526]

Wow i really admire you. I was born in Sololá and I speak kaqchiquel, k’iche’ and Tz’utujil are very similar.

[@dianaruth12]

A lot of places in the americas including guatemala lost their indigenous names after colonization. My tribe lost a lot of place names due to colonization across the great lakes region (Im Ojibwe)

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

Great video ❤❤

[@elyssespeaks]

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@horacioesparza-sanche331]

Q inteligentísima eres …guauuu…felicidades.

[@_gabiicortes]

i loved this vídeo!!!

[@katherineelisabeth4387]

Elysse, this is truly a piece of art that you've put together. Thank you for sharing your experience with us and shedding light on this indigenous community. I hope you continue to make videos like this, regardless of how well they perform in an algorithm, because you are doing something really special here.

[@skj0811]

Dieses Video ist wirklich toll gemacht. Von dieser Sprache hatte ich noch nie etwas gehört und ich hab durch dein Video einiges gelernt. Danke dafür :)

[@elyssespeaks]

Das freut mich sehr! danke :)

[@viktorkruis579]

What an amazing video!!

[@antoniafuentes4691]

Tranquilamente el mejor video de tu canal. Que linda experiencia y gran edit jajaja

[@motivator4ever]

YOU ARE SO SMART

[@erickemilio8586]

truly amazing video, me gustó demasiado, gracias Elysse!!!

[@chanarosenberg7103]

Such a cool video. It's my second time watching this and I'm really enjoying your content :)

[@laurascardua8852]

Nice video!!

[@supernovaee6943]

Thank you SO MUCH for this video, these languages are not known and this is soooo important to share about theses cultures and languages. Great video !! :)

[@rodrigomaravilla321]

The reason the alphabet has a z only with other letters is also because of the latinization of the language. Of course the original language would have very different looking letters, the latinization of the language’s alphabet is purely sounds based/sybolized now.

[@jackiepetrosky4611]

This is so cool and interesting! I am working in Costa but about to go visit a friend in GUAT.

[@lenamichel4070]

La manière dont tu introduis le sujet, comment tu expliques les différents nouveaux éléments du Tz'utujil est inspirante. Muchas gracias por ese video tan interesante :)

[@TizianaB-hq1ub]

Giiirl, have you posted any videos when you actually speak all the languages you know yet? I'd really love to see them

[@balak1]

In some alphabets, there are some separate letters for the tz sound. Lucky to have it in my native Romanian (ț).

[@elyssespeaks]

Cool! this is my first time hearing about this!

[@cbbcbb6803]

What about the vocabulary from a language that does not share word origins or similarity with your own language? How does someone handle vocabulary in that situation?

[@elyssespeaks]

i think this might have been commented under the wrong video hahaha

[@cbbcbb6803]

@@elyssespeaks Can you suggest a more appropriate place to search? I'm at a complete loss about this. I will do some googling in any case.

[@steadystudying]

I grew up in a childrens home in Guatemala and we often had kids come who spoke indigenous languages and didn’t know any Spanish. Where I was born, not sure if there’s a prevalent indigenous language but I’ve thought about learning kaqchikel

[@YourTioTravels]

I have to say you are a Dope person!

[@mauriciob5757]

La gramática del lenguaje de Guatemala y demás países hispanos la hizo España en los años 1500 en adelante,estos pueblos tuvieron primero gramática que los ingleses y franceses, gracias a España.

[@brandonb3174]

Y su Lenguaje natal que?

[@wiinguru1475]

tambien te informo que el nombre guatemala significa lugar de muchos bosques y viene del nahuatl la cual es el lenguage indigena mas influyente de mexico ( cual nombre tambien es de origen nahuatl)

[@yousafkhan7622]

hi,if you know any language academy for spanish learning course in guatemala for foreigner?

[@MartinBodi]

New elysse video notification *Clicks immediately*

[@elyssespeaks]

now that’s some dedication

[@spoonerboy6281]

In my case , i would like travel to Paraguay and learn "Guaranì"

[@elyssespeaks]

awesome! I’m pretty sure 70% of people in Paraguay speak it, it’s so wonderful that it’s normalized there, not just spoken in Indigenous communities

[@julioarrecis5444]

👍🇬🇹🇺🇸🙏

[@leah2915]

Hi elyess

[@leah2915]

Thanks

[@harleyavidson]

It's sad how much gentrification still goes on in Guatemala. Cool to see even a small piece of ancient culture preserved

[@elyssespeaks]

Ancient in terms of origins, yes, (?) but it’s very much still a modern language!

[@harleyavidson]

@@elyssespeaks Right, I guess Spanish is just as ancient when you put it like that. I meant endangered

[@user-ew7cu3bh1w]

So instead of using AAVE we can just say xatwa'i

[@elyssespeaks]

I KNEW SOMEONE WAS FINNA SAY THIS

[@copiouscat]

First

[@elyssespeaks]

hahaha hi!

[@copiouscat]

@@elyssespeaks heyy and you go girl! I love the way your mind and approach towards language and learning! I forgot to comment again cause I was deep into the video. 🤗💜🫶🏽

[@ar_p4986]

Interesting how foreigners are more invested in Guatemalan languages than us Guatemalans 😂

[@elyssespeaks]

The video featured several Guatemalans I really don’t get what ur point is?

[@ar_p4986]

@@elyssespeaks usually it's always the foreigners who show interest in learning Guatemalan languages, most locals just ignore they exist. They're endangered. Not even the new Mayan generations are interested.

[@MysticHeather]

@@elyssespeaks I think they just meant that young Guatemalans are less invested in learning/speaking it and you’re very dedicated

[@moviesync3131]

🚫NO PROFANITY 🚫NO PROFANITY

[@alrin3884]

Take an attempt to learn the 🇮🇳 Language Malayalam😝