Do you remember Tika's welcome prior to the very first lesson? It was of course pure gibberish for you then and it most likely still is for although the text is comparatively simple it still is real, unedited Greenlandic contemporary language. It therefore contains loads of words and constructions you haven't acquainted yourself with yet.
Still, there are bits and pieces in the text with which you now are familiar and which you with a bit of practice will be able to isolate and understand in the middle of all the "noise" from unknown language. And this is important for whenever you understand a bit of language your understanding adds to the acquisition process and thus creates resources you will exploit to focus on the next bits of unknown language and so on.
I hope that this far from uncomplicated assignment will
strengthen your ability to perceive real, Greenlandic connected speech
affirm your understanding of the fact that Greenlandic in the real world always is complex and makes you see clearly that all attempts to develop a "mini language" for beginners' use will NOT bring you closer on the reality you somehow will need to address.
in spite of all the problems after all let you focus on the fact that you by now after a time investment in the new language of less than 50 working hours already understand 26% of this authentic text!
reinforce your understanding of the fact that you will not acquire Greenlandic via the same strategies you exploited with other foreign languages. Compiling lexicon - even one with lots of words - will not take you far in this polysynthetic language. You also need to get the processes between words and word internal processes under your skin.
Hereunder you get the text with all unknown language material in red.
Qujanaq kalaallisut oqaatsivut soqutigigakkit ilinniarusullugillu. Kalaalerpassuit qallunaartatta kalaallisut ilinniarnissaat pingaartittaqaat iluatsitsisimasullu alutorisarlugit.
Kalaallisut ilinniarnissavit ingerlanerani ajornartorsiuteqartarnissat ilimanarluinnarpoq. Kalaallisulli taaguineq nalunanngeqaaq aallaqqaataaniit ilitsersorneqarluaraanni.
Ilinniutinnguaq manna peqqissaartumik naammassigukku kalaallisut taaguillaqqissaatit taamatullu kalaallisut ilinniaqqinnissannut patajaatsumik tunngaveqarlutit. Sulilluarina!
Learning 23 new words will remove a good bit of red from the text:
| aallaqqaat | a beginning |
| ajornartorsiut | a problem |
| alutore{} | to be pleased with (object) |
| ilimanar{} | abe expected |
| ilinniar{} | to learn (object) |
| ilinniar{} | to study |
| ilinniut | a primer |
| ilitsersor{} | to instruct (object) |
| iluatsip{} | to succeed with (object) |
| ingerla{} | to move (both in time and space) |
| manna | this one |
| naammassi{} | to finish (object) |
| nalunar{} | to be difficult |
| oqaaseq | a word |
| oqaatsit | a language (plural of oqaaseq) |
| patajaap{} | to be stable |
| peqqissaar{} | to be thorough |
| pingaartip{} | to regard (object) as important |
| qujanaq | thank you |
| soqutige{} | to have an interess in (object) |
| taagor{} | to mention (object), to pronounce (object) |
| taamatut | so |
| tunngavik+ | a base |
Qujanaq kalaallisut oqaatsivut soqutigigakkit ilinniarusullugillu.
Kalaalerpassuit qallunaartatta kalaallisut ilinniarnissaat pingaartittaqaat iluatsitsisimasullu alutorisarlugit.
Kalaallisut ilinniarnissavit ingerlanerani ajornartorsiuteqartarnissat ilimanarluinnarpoq.
Kalaallisulli taaguineq nalunanngeqaaq aallaqqaataaniit ilitsersorneqarluaraanni.
Ilinniutinnguaq manna peqqissaartumik naammassigukku kalaallisut taaguillaqqissaatit taamatullu kalaallisut ilinniaqqinnissannut patajaatsumik tunngaveqarlutit.
Sulilluarina!
As you clearly see is the improvement from expanding the lexicon limited. You cannot be without the information included in the morphemes and the grammar.
It will be too overwhelming to include the rest of the red text in this stage. You will gradually learn everything before you reach the end of the system. For now you just get a very direct word-by-word translation before you embark on the next exercise:
Thank_you . Greenlandic . our_words . because_you_show_an_interest_in_them . and_want_to_learn_them
Many_Greenlanders . our_Danish_fellow_countrymens' . Greenlandic . their_studies . they_regard_it_as_very_important . and_the_ones_succeeding . they_are_pleased_with_them.
Greenlandic . your_future_learning . during_that . your_several_times_having_problems . it_is_very_likely
But_Greenlandic . pronounciation . it_is_not_complicated_at_all . from_the_beginning . if_one_is_properly_insructed
Small_primer . this_one . thoroughly . if_you_work_through_it . Greenlandic . you_will_pronounce_very_neatly . and_so Greenlandic . for_your_further_acquisition . stable . you_have_a_foundation
All_the_best_in_your_work
You launch Tika's welcome as a dictation exercise by clicking the following link. The exercise will sharpen your perception of spoken language and at the same time strengthen your writing.
You will most likely experience this as a very difficult exercise with good reason. It is under all circumstances difficult to perceive incomprehensible language. But you cannot be without it for the very starting point for your future acquisition of Greenlandic is your ability to isolate the bits and pieces you need to acquire and do so qualified enough for you to look up meaning from dictionaries or by getting the information from Greenlandic conuntrymen and after that process the new bit of language in your head.
It will most likely be good for you to listen to the text using a sound editor. It will give you a visual picture of sound and not least the white spaces between words and it has much better facilities for controlling the stream of sound than the stop and play button under the video.
Audacity is an open source sound editor in widespread use. Installation is fast and simple on both Mac and Windows. You can download Audacity here https://www.audacityteam.org/download/