Linguist: Hi Mr. Tchala; I´m glad to have you here today.

We are reunited here to start the review of your native

language the Akkadian.

Akkadian: Hi it’s a pleasure to meet you.

Linguist: First we will start with some personal questions about your family and your birth place, then we will move
on with some questions about the Akkadian language.

Linguist: What is your main language? And at what age did you learned it?

Akk: The Akkadian is my main language and ´ve been speaking it since I was a child. Actually I was born in a
community where we only spoke Akkadian.

Linguist: Is English your second language? At what age did you learned it?

Akk: I learned it when I was 10 yro, at my primary school.

Linguist: Did you had school classes on Akkadian or Spanish?

Akk: It was all Akkadian until 5th grade, then we move to English in 6th grade.

Linguist: Who do you live with right now? And what language do you speak with them?

Akk: Both of my parents. We mix Akkadian and English.

Liguist: Do you have siblings? I so how do you communicate with them?

Akk: Yes a younger sister, but we don’t speak any Akkadian with her. She was raised in the city, so she speaks
English.

Linguist: What about your grandparents?

Akk: Just my paternal grandfather. We speak only Akkadian with him.

Linguist: What about your community, do they speak more Akkadian or English?

Akk: Right now there are only elders and little children permanently in the community, must young people and
adults travel to the city for jobs.

Linguist: And has this influenced in the use of the language?

Akk: Yes because most of the parents return to the town talking English and they teach their children English. This
is one of the main reasons it’s an endangered language.

Linguist: From your culture what’s your favorite Holliday?

Akk: It’s the martyr’s day. We remember our heroes and have a lot of food and drinks. Also people from the world
gather to enjoy the festivities.

Lingist: So do you speak Akkadian on that festivity?

Akk: Yes. We do a ceremony all spoken in Akkadian.

Linguist: You said you were a teacher at school?

Akk: Yes im a teacher of elementary school, I help children that only speak Akkadian to understand English, but
letting them know the importance of protecting their main language.