Sorry about the radio silence the last few days, everyone – Yamanyá Backpackers will be opening its doors in 12 days (!) so I’ve had my hands quite full (as an even cursory look at our still below par website will tell you).  Uni also started back this week.  What sound does a nervous breakdown make?

Quechua.  The second official language of Peru, spoken by around 8.5 million people in the Andean region (although across several, sometimes mutually unintelligible, dialects), and the next item on my intellectual bucket list.  Widely trumpeted as the language of the Incas, Quechua in fact predated the empire, and most likely developed in Central Peru, not Cusco.  Here’s what it sounds like:

I’ve been planning on starting lessons for a while now – once the hostel’s up, staffed, running, I’m hoping to take as large a step back as I can manage while actually living inside the place, to concentrate on my studies and on an internship with one of the many NGOs here.  Quechua will open a lot of fascinating little windows on the inner workings of the communities I hope to be working with.  I’m going to geek out on this all in a later post, once I’ve actually started learning the language and speaking to people who know more about this than I currently do, but there’s some totally fascinating social dynamics at play here, and some very intriguing grammatical quirks in the language (I know, I know.  I just used ‘intriguing’ and ‘grammar’ in the same sentence.  I used to be cool).

At any rate, little did I know, when I actually started looking for a teacher, I would find it much more difficult than expected.  This is kind of a niche post, but I’m hoping to save one or two people the desperate run-around I’ve been through this last week.  I can’t give you any super-solid leads, but I can steer you away from a few dead ends.

Spanish schools

I started with the obvious – the Spanish schools.  Most also offer Quechua classes.  Unfortunately they also tend to price and structure their courses for tourists.  As I’m only barely paying myself a living wage at this point, and I have one or two other little bits and pieces on my plate, a 20-30 hour per week course is unfortunately out of the question.  If you do have that kind of time, and are looking to study Quechua intensively during your visit to Cusco, check out Proyecto Peru – I did a month of Spanish there and they’re good people, and good teachers.  If you’re not too pressed for time, though, it’s worth simply arriving in Cusco without booking your course, and dropping in on a few schools to see how you click with them.

Next up, I hit the Internet, only to discover an absolute dearth of up-to-date information.  Quechua language and linguistics is a great resource for general information on the language but their page on where to learn dates back to 2002.  It did, however, send me off on a few leads (or wild goose chases?).

Getting closer?

Back in 2002, you had four options for Quechua classes – Bartolomé de las Casa‘s Colegio Andino, the University [all Spanish links], the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, or private lessons.  The University’s website is a long way from user-friendly, and isn’t exactly convenient to the town centre, so it was pushed waaay down to the bottom of the list – although I can confirm they still offer Quechua, I can’t confirm they are still open to foreigners.

The Academia haven’t touched their website since 2008, and came under fire on just about every page I read, for their unhelpful and arrogant insistence that Cusco’s “Inka” Quechua is the most pure, and their stubborn adherence to the Spanish-imposed 5 vowel alphabet, whereas most professional linguists support the three vowel alphabet.  I suspect this is the kind of debate linguists come to blows over.

I set off to the Colegio Andino, lured by the prospect of six hours of class a week, in what the Quecha language website assured me was a professional and well-resourced environment.

Only to be informed they haven’t offered classes in a year and a half.

It would seem demand for Quechua has dropped since 2002.  At least the helpful receptionist sent me on my way with the numbers of two former teachers.

Private lessons

Tracking myself down a private tutor seemed to be the only answer.  I’m armed with several numbers and emails as this point, and hoping to get started in a week or two after final price and timetable negotiations (looking like US$3/4 per hour).  I’m not about to go splashing people’s personal numbers all over the internet, but new arrivals to Cusco would be well served by a few inquiries with teachers in Spanish schools, as many also speak Quechua.  Alternatively, swing by the Colegio Andino, or shoot me an email from the contact me page and I’ll help you get started.

Sorry to the 99.9% of my regular readers who are not contemplating learning Quechua in Cusco! The expat diaries will be back tomorrow – hang tight for a fascinating look at expat life in Saudi Arabia.  Friday we’re off to the just stupidly photogenic festival of the Virgin del Carmen in Paucartambo, so expect another photo essay (read: excuse to play with new camera) very soon.