Picking a minority/endangered language to learn

[Querneus]

Does anyone know whether Guaraní fits the bill? Too many new phonemes

I had an interest in learning Guarani once. I think it largely fits the bill, but at the time at least I was really put off by the low quality of dictionaries available. I got ahold of three or four dictionaries (I'd need to check which) and not one of them included any phrases or idioms, only containing bare 1 word : 1 word equivalencies. Actually I think one of them did, but only very few of them.

It also has a rolled r, in some words taken from Spanish.

[Sedge]

Not to be discouraging but I've never seen someone who "wanted to learn a new language" succeed.* (Not to mention that minority languages are a special case)

What do you consider "success"?

I would argue that if "success" means becoming fluent in and using a new language, then yes, I'm doomed to failure. But the point is to learn. I don't have a specific end goal for this project; I have set a challenge for myself of studying one language every day for a year. With that will come studying the culture and history of the people who speak that language. I don't think I'm going to become an expert. I just want to learn. Fluency would be nice, but it's not a practical end goal when I'm probably never going to meet someone who speaks the language.

Additionally, the biggest problem that I have is that I am interested in too many things (including too many languages). I try to dedicate too much time and attention to too many things at once, and then balls get dropped. So I have built a structure for this specific thing. I am going to pick one language, and study it for half an hour a day for one year.

And, if the language doesn't catch my attention, I'm not going to study it. I had to take a mandatory six weeks of French in middle school, but the language didn't interest me, and I never touched it again, even though I had plenty of opportunities.

How many materials did you use to learn your other 'second languages'? Can you get that for a language on the brink of extinction?

Which is, of course, why for this particular project my parameters started with the language having a reasonable number of accessible resources.

But, part of what I am interested in finding out is what I can learn about finding resources for language learning; I may someday tackle learning a much more endangered language - again, not so much expecting fluency, just challenging myself to go as far as I can.

[Serpent]

What do you consider "success"?

In the context of my statement, I mostly mean learning a "random" language consistently for 6-18 months and not dropping it in favour of your other languages.
Saying "I want to learn a language" implies not having much interest in any specific language (beyond those you already speak/learn).

BTW, I'm certainly not saying it's impossible to learn more than one language at a time, or anything like that We have this wikia article:
https://learnanylanguage.fandom.com/wik ... me_time%3F

[Sedge]

That's valid, and I know that I might not stick with it the way I plan to, but even if I fail in the time component, I will have learned something.
...aaaaand starting out by saying, "hey, I might not meet this goal" is a terrible way to approach goals.

So, I begin with the assumption that I will succeed.

[księżycowy]

I'll toss Lakota, Cherokee and Cayuga in the ring. They have simple enough phonologies, and have enough resources to at least get you started.

I can share links/suggestions if wanted.

[Sedge]

Lakota was actually one that I was already considering; along with Sauk, which is the indigenous language of my region of the US. I'll add Lakota, Cherokee, and Cayuga to my list. I still think that for this particular project, Inuktitut is the top of my North American language choices, but who knows what the future holds!

[Serpent]

Sauk, which is the indigenous language of my region of the US

Do you think you're going to live in the same region for a long time? If you're planning to move, it's a good idea to learn that language now (assuming the community is open to outsiders and there are some resources you can use). Find out if there are native/heritage speakers near you, especially those who are passionate about spreading the language.
Or you can just dabble in Sauk/find out about some cultural opportunities that don't require knowing the language.
If you pick another North American indigenous language, people may ask you why you're not learning a local one instead. They may be more open to communication if you say you've given it a try/are somewhat involved with the culture in question. (I think it's okay to say you found it too difficult or there aren't enough resources etc)
In general, when interacting with people who speak a minority language natively/fluently, be extra careful to avoid describing ANY language as ugly, boring etc. Even the majority language - they probably have friends/family members who only speak the majority language.

[Sedge]

No language or culture is boring, there's just ones that grab my interest more or less than others, often with no rhyme or reason.

I do plan to live here long term - my brother and I have found that living near our family means that we don't feel the need to spend our precious travel resources to go home and visit family. So any future residence of other regions of the US or the world will be temporary. The nearest community where the Sauk language is spoken is still a couple of hours away, so while we have been to some cultural events, I haven't ever knowingly met someone who speaks the language. I do have a cousin who worked in their school system for a few years and knows a few words, but that's it.

[RedBeardVII]

This may be helpful to the original post, but also to other people interested in lesser-studied languages.

The "Faith Comes By Hearing" website has Bible audio for many, many languages. I was able to download the MP3 files, so I can listen to them at my leisure. Some of the audio files are professional sounding audio dramas with background sounds and orchestration, etc. As far as I can tell, these are all free, so no reason not to check in and see what they offer.

https://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/aud ... recordings

-RedBeardVII