UCSC student Sebastian Wolff says that he’s bilingual, but he’s actually trilingual. In addition to English and German, Wolff also speaks Na’vi, the language spoken by the big blue Smurfs in the James Cameron epic Avatar. Not only does he speak it. He’s also helping to teach it at his website LearnNavi.org. After all, subtitles often fail to capture all the subtle nuances of a spoken language, especially one with such a rich oral tradition as Na’vi.
The site is not quite an alien Rosetta Stone, but that could be to its advantage. For one thing, it doesn’t have all the annoying infomercials that Rosetta Stone has everywhere. And then there is the fact that the language has only about 500 words—hardly enough to carry on a meaningful conversation Earthling-style, to say “I love you,” to ask for the nearest bathroom (do the Na’vi, like bears, shit in the woods?), or even to bum a light (sorry, I forgot the Na’vi don’t smoke).
On the other hand, Wolff has contacted linguist Paul Frommer, who invented the language for the movie, asking him for another 50-100 new words. My suggestions for vital phrases are: “I’m sorry! I do not speak your language. Do you speak Klingon?” and “Get a life!”
Fì-skxawng-ìri tsap’alute sengi oe. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
