One of our first ever Maya students, Clair, came to study with us on her own in 2016 when she was a high school student. She later came back down for a month to live with our homestay family in a Maya community in 2019 and now continues her classes online. As a Linguistics and Latin American Studies student, Clair is quite the polyglot, speaking five languages! When asked why she chose to learn Maya, she said, “I started learning Yucatec [Maya] as a means to enrich my understanding of Classical Mayan Hieroglyphics, but have really come to enjoy it for its own sake. Also, learning less commonly taught languages is a great way to make quick connections with people.”

In this video, she gives us a wonderful explanation of the K’ sound in Maya, highlighting that it's not so different to some of the sounds we have in English.

http://youtu.be/qi0nVqJMDMc

If you would like to read more about Mexican culture, history, cuisine and language, check out our blog page for our latest monthly articles. You can also sign up to our newsletter to receive these straight to your inbox along with the latest news about our non-profit school for local and Indigenous students in Felipe Carrillo Puerto. 

The best way to experience the Mexican lifestyle is in person, with a Na’atik Immersion experience. Not only do you live with a local Mexican-Maya family, sharing home-cooked meals and free time, but also receive expert instruction in your chosen language at our school. Best of all, every immersion experience helps fund our subsidized and free local education program, helping local students to access opportunities and make their own futures.