Contents
Which Quechua? National and Regional Varieties
Which Variety of Quechua to Learn?
Learning Quechua in the Cuzco Region, Peru
Learning Quechua Elsewhere in South America
Lima (Peru), Tucumán
(Argentina), and elsewhere
Learning Quechua outside South America
Is It Easy?
In my experience, yes, pretty much. As a linguist I’ve had a go at a dozen or so languages, and in absolute terms Quechua is by far the easiest of them! You may be glad to know that there are:
• no irregular verbs
• no irregular nouns
• no irregular adjectives
• no gender
• no adjective agreements
• no definite or indefinite articles (Quechua’s ‘topic’ and ‘focus’ markers perform something of the same task as articles and intonation in English or Spanish).
• there is a case system, but again it is entirely regular, very simple and easy - much easier than such languages as Latin, Russian, Greek and German - no harder, indeed than English prepositions
Not that Quechua will be a pushover. No language you already may know will be of as much direct help with native Quechua vocabulary, though Spanish will help a lot for the many loan-words. There are a few things you will have to get used to, too, but they shouldn’t put you off, they’re different, not in themselves so difficult. Think of them as an exercise in broadening your mind! It just proves how the way your language, and European languages in general, have of doing things is not at all the only way possible, nor necessarily the best!
• Quechua is an agglutinating language, so typically it has long words built up from a basic root meaning followed by strings of suffixes, but the suffixes are all clear-cut and the long words are actually very easy to form from these logical building-blocks.
• Native Quechua vocabulary will seem quite foreign, of course, though if you speak Spanish this will help with the masses of loan words which have entered Quechua.
• Pronunciation is straightforward too, though Quechua does have a few sounds you probably won’t be used to, particularly uvulars, and if you’re going for the Cuzco and Bolivian dialects these also have ejectives (‘glottalised’) and aspirates. Again, though, these are actually pretty easy to get used to and in no way should put you off!
• Things to watch out for are Quechua’s system of ‘evidentials’ and topic/focus particles These you may well find the most challenging things in Quechua - but the kickback is that they’re also the most mindbendingly different and most interesting facets of this amazing lingo. (For specific details on these, search for ‘attitude particles’ on www.zompist.com/quechua.html, or go to my page on “Quechua - What’s it Like?”).
For more details on Quechua linguistics in general, see my other webpages on it.
Which Quechua? National and Regional Varieties
Given that Quechua is spoken from southern Colombia to northern Argentina, it is not surprising that it is a language subdivided into various regional dialects - six to ten, depending on your criteria. Note that the term dialect is used in the purely linguistic sense of ‘varieties’: none is necessarily any better or worse than any other, of course (though the Cuzco mob would have you think differently).
The differences between dialects are big enough to mean that speakers of one will have difficulties in understanding everything spoken in another, but they will certainly understand a fair amount - just how much depends on how similar are the two dialects in question. (Quechua dialects group into two main sub-families: for more details click Quechua Dialects). Linguists looking for an idea of how different the dialects are from each other might like to see a comparative table of phonological inventories of five main Quechua dialects.
Still, particularly as a non-native learner, you should specifically learn the variety you will need - if you can. Outside South America, though, you will probably find courses tend to go for the Cuzco-Bolivian dialect, so if that’s not the one for you, you have two options. Either you could forget the course at home and go straight to the region in South America where your dialect is spoken and learn it there. Or you can learn Cuzco-Bolivian anyway at home first, and then you’ll have to adjust your Quechua to the local variety once you get to the area you’ll be in - which might take a bit of effort!
Note also that in much of Bolivia, particularly northern Bolivia around lake Titicaca, and in neighbouring border regions of southern Peru, the native language is not Quechua but Aymara. Don’t turn up in these areas expecting people to speak Quechua! For more details on links between the Quechua and Aymara languages, see my other webpages.
Which Variety to Learn?
First of all, if you know where you want to be, then learn the local form, of course. Other than that, which form you would be most helpful to you depends on what you want to do with it.
The biggest dialect in terms of numbers of speakers and areas it is spoken in is the Cuzco-Bolivian one. This would imply that there is likely to be more material available for learning and studying this, and certainly the small amount of surviving Quechua literature and theatre (all written down after the Conquest, of course) is, I understand, essentially in Cuzco-Bolivian dialect. [There are in fact some minor differences between Cuzco Quechua and Bolivian Quechua (somewhat greater influence from Spanish in Bolivian Quechua), but learning either one will be fine for the other too.]
As far as I can tell it’s not really accurate to say that there is a ‘central’ dialect which is linguistically “in the middle” and therefore the most practical to start with if you then want to move on to learn the others. If you’re a linguist and want to have a go at various dialects, then you might be advised to go for Cuzco-Bolivian first, given its size. Also, if you learn a different dialect first and then try Cuzco-Bolivian, you will have a job to learn where to use its aspirates and ejectives - as opposed to just forgetting about them if you learn Cuzco-Bolivian first and then another dialect. On the other hand, the most conservative dialects are supposed to be the northern and central Peruvian ones, so if you’re interested in Quechua historical and comparative linguistics these would perhaps be most useful.
If you’re into education, I understand bilingual education is far more official and advanced in Ecuador and Bolivia, so these might be the most useful. The parts of Argentina where Quechua is spoken also are, I am told (though I don’t know how reliable this is), very well organised in defending and using Quechua, particularly in Santiago del Estero University.
All of this puts Peru, as the home of Quechua and the Incas - to shame a little. There is a project to start bilingual education here in Quechua-speaking regions, and some things do appear to be moving, e.g. November 1997 has seen the first national conference of Quechua teachers. Nonetheless, the official Lima attitude to Quechua is still not too encouraging, and I’ll believe bilingual education when I see it.
The Colombian, Chilean and Brazilian varieties are tiny minority languages with only a few thousand speakers, so you’d have to be doing a pretty specific project for these to be of use to you.
Learning Quechua in the
For a teacher in
Useful Personal Contacts in Cuzco for Quechua
NGOs Working with Quechua Villagers in the Cuzco Area
Library and Computing Facilities in Cuzco
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Contents –
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Formal Courses
The Centro de Estudios Rurales Andinos “Bartolomé de las Casas” (for address see below under “Useful Organisations In Cuzco”) runs two different courses at its Escuela Andina de Postgrado.
• Quechua language courses, basic and intermediate levels. The spring 2002 basic level course is from 4th Feb to 15th March: six weeks, 2 hours per day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 36 hours total. Cost is 180 Soles, c. US$52.
• A course in Lingüística Andina (‘Andean Linguistics’). A full term course, I understand. This is taught by professional linguists and is quite heavily ‘grammatical’, but have been recommended to me by people who have taken them.
Note, however, that these courses are not cheap, by Peruvian standards at least. The is 180 Soles, c. US$52, while the full “Lingüística Andina” circa US $1,300 per term for non-Peruvians (though perhaps including accommodation?), I understand, and US $300 for Peruvians.
For more details of their courses, best consult their webpage: www.cbc.org.pe and from there connect to the pages :
• Curso de lingüística andina y
educación bilingüe,
• Curso de lingüística quechua
• Cursos de postgrado.
Much cheaper courses (50 Soles = c. US$14 per month) are run by the Cuzco Quechua Language Academy. There are currently (Jan. 2002) 5‑month normal courses, and intensive 3‑month courses, 3 hours per day (choice of three times a day), groups of about ten students. See the details on the Academy below under ‘Useful organisations in Cuzco’.
The languages department at Cuzco University (see below) also runs less intensive courses in Quechua. Indeed, in December 1997 the University legally challenged Bartolomé de las Casas’ description of itself as a “Postgraduate School”, claiming it has no right to call itself thus and that its postgraduate qualifications do not have official recognition. I don’t know the ins and outs of all this, but in any case from my experience of the two institutions and from conversation with Western students at Bartolomé there is no doubt in my mind that Bartolomé de las Casas is infinitely more serious and more professional than the university.
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Arranging Private Classes
It is true that native Quechua speakers (particularly campesinos) can often show considerable reticence – especially with gringos or Peruvian professionals – to speak Quechua, claiming they don’t speak it properly, or even that they don’t speak it at all. With some encouragement and effort on your part, particularly making it clear that you like and have a high opinion of their language (rather than the traditional scorn it was long viewed with within much of ‘mainstream’ Andean society), in my experience this reticence usually won’t last long.
In fact it is quite easy to arrange tuition or private classes, at any level. In Cuzco itself you can try the Quechua Academy, though you might note that some of the members will see you as a nice source of dollars, and feel their services are worth big bucks by Peruvian standards, and can ask for $20 an hour. This is way over a normal and decent local rate, which is about $3 per hour for a professional tutor for individual classes. The Academy Office should be able to put you in contact with a lady called Juanita, who charges about this and who is apparently pretty good .
In any case, if it’s just conversation practice rather than formal tuition that you’re after, you can also easily find with native speakers in any small town who would be very willing to chat in Quechua. Quite what sort of ‘deal’ you strike, how much you wish to mix ‘business’ with money, is of course at your discretion. Again, some people may try to charge gringos handsomely, but it’s more likely that people will be only too willing to chat in Quechua for only a few soles an hour. Remember, given how low wages are, and often how little work there is available locally, the cards are heavily stacked in your favour, so you can easily end up bargaining a little too hard. Be fair.
As just two examples I recommend the small towns of: Maras, a little off the road from Cuzco to the Sacred Valley via Chinchero, speak to almost anyone; the local priest says mass in Quechua too; and Pitumarca, near Sicuani, one of the start points for the Auzangate hikes.
Given the importance of tourism as a source of employment for people in the Cuzco region, many locals are keen to learn European languages, particularly English. So in Cuzco itself it’s also quite possible to arrange conversation exchanges, e.g. English-Quechua. Bear in mind that given that the general level of English teaching in the Andes is not very high at all, you don’t really need to be a native or even particularly fluent speaker of English to be of help to them. For this you may wish to contact people on the list below.
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Useful Personal Contacts in
Here are a few people I know in Cuzco who can be useful personal contacts as Quechua teachers, helping linguists with Quechua research, or for just generally getting involved in the Quechua scene in – and better, in the villages around – Cuzco. I’ve sorted their names in order of the people I found most enthusiastic and helpful first.
To dial the telephone numbers given below from outside
• Your international access code (indicated by ‘+’): usually 00
• Peru country dialling code: 51
• Cuzco city dialling code: 84
• the 6‑digit number given below
If dialling from another city in Peru just dial 084 followed by the 6‑digit number.
•
Cesar Morante Luna, – Tel.: 274671. Very
experienced both in teaching Quechua, and in training Quechua teachers who work
in bilingual education. A firm supporter
of the 3-vowel (i.e. correct!) alphabet, naturally enough since he works in
education. Of the various people I
worked with trying to clear up queries about Quechua language and grammar, he
was the best-informed and most useful of all.
He has worked with a group in
• Jaime Pantigozo Montes, a linguist who teaches at Cuzco University (UNSAAC), who has for 25 years been working in bilingual education in Quechua, and has translated into Quechua some short works by Arguedas. His contact details are: email: atuqcha1 AT terra.com.pe Address: Calle Hospital 829 Tel: 239048 or 930024.
•
Mariana Miranda Acuña
– Tel. 222107. Teaches Quechua at the
University (UNSAAC, Facultad
de Educación) to trainee teachers (uses the correct 3-vowel alphabet
standard in bilingual education programmes in the
The next three people listed below are former active members of the Cuzco Quechua Academy, but now appear to have pretty much given up on the Academy as incorrigible dinosaurs who won’t change their opinions even when they know they are mistaken. (This is in part why they’re recommended!)
•
Julia Silva Flórez – Tel. 229127. Has
often worked on her own Quechua
programmes on various
•
José Aragón Aedo – Tel: 238855. Very
active in Quechua. Has a Quechua
programme on Radio Sicuani (a town about 120 km south-east of
•
The next people listed below are current active members of the Cuzco Quechua Academy. Be aware that most such members of the Academy can have some very aggressive and mistaken views.
•
Domingo Dávila – friendly, interested and
very active, he was writing a trilingual (Quechua-Spanish-English) dictionary
when I was in
•
As for most of the more senior members of the
Academy, these should perhaps be approached with considerable caution. The President of the Academy (since 2001) is
one Leandro Herencia Fernandez – but after
his quite outrageous, preposterous, xenophobic and nonsensical keynote speech
to the Quechua conference in
Listening to Radio in Quechua
I’ve now switched this information to a separate page, click here
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Useful
Organisations in
The Centro de Estudios Rurales Andinos “Bartolomé de Las Casas”
Postal address: Apartado 477, Cuzco,
Peru.
•
•
For more information on their bookshops – the best Quechua bookshop I’ve found anywhere! – and publishing, see my bibliography page.
Bartolomé de las Casas seems to be by far the most – indeed the only truly –‘professional’ organisation working with Quechua in Cuzco.
It is a research institute, with its Colegio Andino on Avenida Tullumayo in Cuzco. This includes a hotel in which visitors attending their courses can stay (but there’s also much cheaper accommodation than theirs in Cuzco). There are a number of researchers working here, many from the West.
They have one of the best libraries on all ‘Andean subjects’ that you’re likely to find, and certainly the best in Cuzco (it’s next to their main bookshop and printing press, at Limacpampa Grande 571, a square at the end of Calle Tullumayo, about five minutes walk from Cuzco main square). You can join the library for a day, month, three months or year, all at pretty reasonable rates (US$1, $3, $6 and $18 respectively). They will photocopy anything from their library for you, if it’s for research purposes. This is especially useful for the many out of print books on Andean subjects.
Bartolomé de las Casas may be especially useful to those working in fields such as anthropology, education, sociology, and of course Quechua linguistics.
Some locals I’ve met seem to hold something against Bartolomé de las Casas for being run on a pretty much a commercial basis on an ethos that ‘culture is something you have to pay for’, and it’s true that not surprisingly, Bartolomé de las Casas tend to want you to pay for their expertise and professionalism. By Western standards, if perhaps not Peruvian ones, however, their courses and publications remain fairly cheap.
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UNSAAC: Universidad Nacional de
San Antonio Abad del Cuzco
Avenida de la
Cultura, Cuzco, Peru. Here there is a department of Linguistics (in the
Communications Faculty) whose staff are friendly and like to meet linguists
from elsewhere (and might ask you to give them lectures!). One particularly useful contact there is Jaime Pantigozo Montes, for his contact
details click here.
The languages department also runs