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Re: "But mostly it was the Indians that learned the European language.."
That is so true. The two Indians , Squanto and Samoset , who met the Pilgrims knew a bit of English. That was the result of being kidnapped and sold as slaves by English traders.
And this is how Englishmen recollected the sound and speech the Indians made when they were attacked in an area on Cape Cod. It was called 'The First Encounter' . They said their 'cries were dreadful'.... 'Woach woach ha ha woach.' Not sure how an Englishmen would say this!...;-)...
In the case of monks during the 16th century, yes, they learned the language,
The preached using native languages, wrote dictionaries.,
But monks already knew Latin and Greek, some Hebrew, and were used to learn languages,
When Europeans first arrived to North America how did they learn the various indian languages and all that, it would be completely foreign after all.
They brought some back to England with them, and the Natives learned English. Then when subsequent settlers arrived, the English-speaking Natives functioned as interpreters. Pocahontas made a tour of England, and wore the English fashions of the day.
^
You know Malick's film , 'The New World' is a pretty good interpretation of those initial meetings with the Indians and subsequent events. Curious if she wrote anything down on her English experience. It must have been incredible for her to see that land and people so different from her part of the world.
I can't wait until you get some quality answers. Fascinating question.
The Mexican tribes that the Spanish first encountered were extremely anti Aztec and very willing serve as volunteers in the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs.
In one case, one of the native volunteers was a gifted linguist who spoke not only coastal languages, but also Aztec. Evidently he was able to rapidly learn Spanish. It probably helped that Spanish is one of the easier language to learn.
As a side note, the Spanish army that looted the Aztec capital and executed the aztec emperor had more natives in it than spaniards.
The Mexican tribes that the Spanish first encountered were extremely anti Aztec and very willing serve as volunteers in the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs.
In one case, one of the native volunteers was a gifted linguist who spoke not only coastal languages, but also Aztec. Evidently he was able to rapidly learn Spanish. It probably helped that Spanish is one of the easier language to learn.
As a side note, the Spanish army that looted the Aztec capital and executed the aztec emperor had more natives in it than spaniards.
If you mean Malinche, this was a woman who the chief interpreter of Cortez, his mistress and mother of his first child.
Yes, they did. The monks taught them religion in their language and prepared elaborate dictionaries.
At that time, languages were not an issue as monks and priest knew Latin, Greek, some Hebrew. For example, Jesuits spoke Guarani in their missions, Quechua and Aymara in the Andes.
They also compiled Taino dictionaries.
To answer the above question, Malinche never had a son with Cortez, the Malinchin, she sired a son with another Spanish.
The same way children learn any language or those married to foreigners learn others language often. ften as history shows it was Europeans who took the time to teach their language just like schools here.Its that which makes English so wide spread even today.
If you mean Malinche, this was a woman who the chief interpreter of Cortez, his mistress and mother of his first child.
Thanks for the correction. The "he" was clearly a "she".
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