Tskxekengtsyìp a Mikyunfpi 2—A Little Listening Exercise 2

Kaltxì nìmun, ma frapo.

We’re overdue for some listening exercises! I’d like to begin posting these periodically to give us all some additional practice in understanding spoken Na’vi.

Today’s little exercise is from a rich source—the masterful and exciting European Na’vi radio play that was recently completed and posted to YouTube. I’ll provide the links below to the various versions of the play, in which you can hear the narration in Na’vi, English, or German, along with reading subtitles in those three languages and Dutch. Irayo nìtxan tok Europat a eylanur a fìtìkangkemvit alor ngolop!

In the excerpt below, you’ll hear the opening narration, which sets the scene of the drama. Below is some information, and some questions, that should help your comprehension. I would suggest that you first listen to the Na’vi several times without looking at the text to see how much you can understand. Then look at the Na’vi text while listening to the audio to see how much more you can get. Finally, check the English translation.

PROPER NAMES

Leyorta: the name of a Na’vi clan

Sìnatx, Leney, Nìnu: three individual Na’vi.

QUESTIONS:

1. What role does Sìnatx play in the clan?
2. What’s going on in the clan?
3. Is the situation getting better or worse?
4. What does Sìnatx decide?
5. Who is going on the quest, and why were they chosen?
6. What is the object of the quest?

Here is the Na’vi narration from the radio play, at a relatively fast speed, with background music:

Here is the same Na’vi narration, slower and without background music.

This is the Na’vi text: Na’vi text

And this is the English translation: English text

How well did you do? 😀

If this exercise has whetted your appetite for the complete play, here are the various versions on YouTube:

With Na’vi narration

With English narration

With German narration

Subtitles in four languages are available for all these versions.

Finally, I’ve been asked to remind everyone about something I believe we all understand and acknowledge. This radio play, like all fan-created work, is not an official Avatar effort and not canon. Moreover, creators of such work have no ownership rights to plot points, story lines, or character descriptions.

We’ll have more listening exercises soon—and with different speakers!

Hayalovay!

Edit 01 July: fìtìkangkemit –> fìtìkangkemvit

Edit 05 July: First recording replaced with a much clearer version. Irayo nìtxan, ma Andi!