Language

"I have classes in English, Kichwa, Science, Math and Language. I didn't know Kichwa, I understand what they speak but I can't speak, I like to learn”. Pedro Leonardo Yumbo Cerda, seven years old.

In Ecuador, the Constitution adopted in 2008 stipulates that:

Spanish is the official language of Ecuador; Spanish, Kichwa and Shuar are official languages of intercultural relations. The other ancestral languages are of official use to the indigenous peoples in the areas where they live and under the terms established by law. The State shall respect and encourage their conservation and use.

The language of the Kichwa people of the Amazon is the Runa Shimi or language of the people, belonging to the Kichwa linguistic family, but in this region it acquires linguistic characteristics specific and different to the Kichwa of the Andean region, from which it possibly originates. Kichwa has a wide area of influence in the Amazon region, but this does not mean that it is a homogeneous language, but rather that it expresses a rich dialectal diversity with its own characteristics. (Gamboa, undated: 18).

Older adults sometimes prefer the use of Kichwa, while young people and children are more related to Spanish, as many of them have had to study in schools and colleges where this language is required for communication. In general, a large number of Kichwa-speakers are bilingual and have a very good command of Spanish, but this situation has also created a problem, as many people are no longer interested in learning or teaching Kichwa. Possibly, this is due to the constant interaction with the mestizo population, added to the formal educational model in the cities and the great influence of the mass media.

In this sense, the case of the Añangu community is very interesting. A strategy for the recovery of the kichwa has been proposed, based on a process of self-awareness of the importance of maintaining the runa shimi as one of the main characteristics of its kichwa identity. In this way, the education system in the community has been strengthened and many of the classes are taught in Kichwa. This effort has enabled children, as well as young people, to begin to value more and more the option of speaking in Kichwa and to feel proud about it.

In this sense, Mary Yumbo says: "Young people are not attracted to Kichwa. They go out to the city, they see people dressed differently, with different hair, with earrings, it is a new world for them, but they do not see what our parents have left us, that is the most valuable thing we have. We don't identify ourselves as Kichwas. Sometimes when we talk in Kichwa with the elders we talk with all the details, in Spanish it is changed, in Kichwa the end of a story is like the beginning. In Spanish it's shorter, you speak faster because there are more words, but in Kichwa you talk more slowly, where everyone can be surprised while listening. The feeling is greater when you speak in Kichwa, it comes to our heart! When we speak in Kichwa, it's like surprising”.

Silverio Yumbo says: "What has happened is that the ‘guagüitos’ no longer want to learn Kichwa. It's our mistake because we speak Spanish to each other. But we met and decided that in the house we should talk to our children in Kichwa. The young people learned Kichwa at home, but when they enter school they learn Spanish and forget about Kichwa. Since last year, classes have been held in our community in Kichwa.