ᐊᖅᑯᓯᐅᕐᕕᒃ • Aqqusiurvik

Inuktut Instructor Diploma

Our next Aqqusiurvik Diploma Program will run from February 2025 to February 2026.

Sign up for individual courses or the entire full-time program.

Pirurvik, in partnership with the University of Victoria, is offering the Aqqusiurvik Inuktut Instructors Diploma.

Aqqusiurvik is a comprehensive 21 course program that features Inuktut language enhancement and a full range of training in the skills needed to become a successful Inuktut instructor. At the end of the program, students participate in two practicums to acquire hands-on experience instructing in an Inuktut-immersion learning environment.

In the second two semesters, students receive a full range of training in the skills needed to be successful Inuktut instructor. This includes Inuktut immersion teaching techniques, course planning, curriculum design, teaching and learning resource development and student evaluation.

Students who complete all courses will receive an Aqqusiurvik Diploma and a diploma in Indigenous Language Revitalization from the University of Victoria.

course descriptions

Aqqusiurvik Students take Pirurvik’s Inuktut Enhancement Courses (Qimattuvik) during the first semester followed by Instructor Skills Courses (see below).

Inuktut enhancement courses (QimattuviK)

ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᓂᒃᑰᐸᓪᓕᐊᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ
The Inuit Timeline: Past to Present

February 3-21, 2025 (on-line delivery), 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

The Inuit Timeline builds a stronger sense of Inuit identity and vitality through the exploration of the drastic changes that have impacted our communities, as well as the resilience and strength of the generations of Inuit who lived through them. The course draws upon rich historical facts as well as personal stories and experiences that relate to the pre-contact era (taitsumani) and contact with outside cultures, as well as Inuit efforts to take back control that led to the present-day Nunavut era.

ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖅ
The Nunavut Writing System

February 3-21, 2025 (on-line delivery), 1:15- 4:15 p.m.

Nunavummi Titirausiq provides an overview of the writing system that is currently the standard in Nunavut for quality written texts in Inuktut. The writing system has two forms - qaliujaaqpait, or standardized roman orthography and qaniujaaqpait, standardized syllabics. Instruction is provided on the rules of the writing system, including the characters that are used and the correct use of finals.

ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᓕᕆᓂᖅ ᓇᕿᑦᑕᓂᕐᓗ
Inuktut Computing & Keyboarding

March 3-21, 2025 (on-line delivery), 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Participants in this course learn the background to computing in Inuktut, fonts, keyboards, transliteration tools, locales, localization, and terminology. This course also helps learners to acquire Inuktut keyboarding skills in qaniujaaqpait (syllabics) and/ or qaliujaaqpait (roman orthography). As part of the keyboarding component, participants will also become learn effective Inuktut note-taking skills.

ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᐅᑉ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᓂᖓ
The Patterns & Structure of Inuktut

February 3-21, 2025 (on-line delivery) 1:15- 4:15 p.m.

This course is designed to give participants an introduction to the grammatical structure of Inuktut, including Inuktut sounds, how words are built and basic structures like singular dual plural, tenses, nouns, verbs, locations and describing words.

ᐃᓄᒃᑑᖓᑦᑎᐊᑎᑦᓯᓂᖅ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᕕᒻᒥ
QUALITY INUKTUT IN THE WORKPLACE

March 31-April 23, 2025 (on-line delivery) 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

This course is designed to help learners to think critically about how Inuktut is used in the workplace. Learners will become more conscious of the mixing of Inuktut and English and literal translations and apply strategies for avoiding them. Learners will be taught to think from an Inuktut-first perspective to improve their ability to communicate clearly in Inuktut in a work context. This will help learners to improve the overall quality of Inuktut in the workplace. This course will emphasize written Inuktut and will be customized to the learners’ work environments.

ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒍᓯᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᙱᑦᑐᑦ
DIALECTS & Variations of Inuktut

March 31-April 23, 2025 (on-line delivery) 1:15- 4:15 p.m.

Each community has its own rich base of Inuit knowledge and wisdom that is articulated and embedded through their Inuktut language and terminology. The goal of this course is to develop a greater appreciation of the richness of the range of Inuktut spoken throughout Inuit Nunangat. By understanding differences in pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, spelling and writing systems, learners will be better equipped to learn and work across Inuktut dialects.

ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᑐᖃᖏᑦ
inuit traditional terminology

April 28 - May 16, 2025 (on-line delivery) 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

This advanced course is intended for learners who already have a strong grounding in Inuktut and are looking to enhance their understanding and ability to use complex terms. The course draws on rich Inuktut concepts and terminology to enable generations today to express themselves more articulately in Inuktut. The instructor assists learners to apply these terms to the modern context. Learners will acquire a deeper connection with Inuit knowledge keepers and become part of the continuum of the traditional Inuit teaching and learning cycle.

ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᑦ
Modern & Technical Inuktut Terminology

April 28 - May 16, 2025 (on-line delivery) 1:15- 4:15 p.m.

This course is designed to help learners to avoid language mixing - that is using English words when speaking or writing Inuktut. In the workplace, at home and in the community, it has become a common habit to use English terms even when effective, and sometimes better, Inuktut options exist. Learners will examine and reflect upon their daily use of Inuktut and also learn new terminology relating to topics such as health, finance and computing. The course will also explore the challenges relating to the creation and dissemination of new terminology with the goal to keep Inuktut fluency in the workplace.

ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᑐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑭᑦᓯᓂᖅ ᐅᖅᑲᕆᑦᓯᓂᕐᓗ
Inuktut Creative Writing and Articulate Speaking

May 20 - June 9, 2025 (on-line delivery) 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Inuktut isumatunikkut titiraqqitsiniq uqqaritsinirlu will help learner’s practice and develop their Inuktut writing skills. Learners will learn to express their Inuktut thoughts in a natural, non-technical way. This course is intended as a bridge to bring the articulacy of our oral tradition into a written form. Learners will explore modern and traditional forms of creative Inuktut expression and practice writing their own.

ᐃᓄᓐᓃᙶᖅᑐᑦ
inuit topics

May 20 - June 9, 2025 (on-line delivery) 1:15- 4:15 p.m.

This course is an exploration of the highest level of Inuktut language and knowledge through the recorded voices of Inuit who lived prior to our modern communities and context. Learners will be exposed to thoughts, ideas and knowledge that will help in their personal development, their understanding of Inuktut historical events, their quality of language and terminology, and generally provide a stronger base to deal with today’s challenges.

Instructor Skills Courses

Students must complete all of the above Language Enhancement Courses (Qimattuvik) before enroling in the Instructor Skills Courses below.

ᐃᓕᓴᐃᓂᖅ ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ TEACHING INUKTUT LANGUAGE

September 2-22, 2025, in Iqaluit.

This is an introduction to teaching Inuktut in immersion settings. With Inuktut as the medium of instruction, we will provide an overview of the theory and practice of Inuit language teaching methods through a workshop format.

We will explore some of the learning activities and strategies that have proven effective for teaching adult learners of Inuktut.

Students will learn about the different needs of first and second language learners of Inuktut, as well as some of the innovative strategies and activities and that have proven effective for teaching adult learners with different levels of skill in Inuktut.

ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔾᔪᑎᑦᓴᓂᒃ ᐸᕐᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᓂᖅ ᐅᐸᓗᖓᐃᔭᕐᓂᕐᓗ COURSE PLANNING & PREPARATION

September 2-22, 2025, in Iqaluit.

This hands-on course helps students develop the skills they will need in order to lead a course as an Inuktut instructor. Students will learn to prepare lesson plans that will enable them to apply a curriculum in a classroom setting over many days and weeks.

We encourage students to unleash their creativity in developing learning activities that will make their classes interactive and engaging while meeting the outcome of the curriclum.

Students will also participate as a learner in other people’s lessons and provide feedback through group discussions.

ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᑦᓴᓕᐅᕐᓂᖅ INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN & CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Sept. 29 - Oct. 20, 2025, in Iqaluit.

This course explores some leading practices in program design and curriculum development for Indigenous language revitalization and connects these to contexts in Nunavut. Students consider how skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing Inuktut are developed and the importance of a complete, well-planned curriculum package.

Students will also develop a stronger understanding of how language learning relates to knowledge, skills and values at the heart of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. Together, we will consider how to weave together language learning and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit through a strong program design.

ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᕈᔪᓐᓂᒃ ᓇᕿᑦᑕᐅᑎᕈᔪᓐᓂᓪᓗ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᓗᓂ
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

Sept. 29 - Oct. 20, 2025, in Iqaluit.

This course will provide an overview of the technology that can be used to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom, including computer applications and digital audio/visual tools.

With the growing trend towards on-line learning, we will also look at some tools and techniques to support Inuktut learning through the internet.

In an ever-changing technology environment, we look at the ways your classroom learners engage through the effective use of educational technology without beccoming overwhelmed. By building activities that involve the use of apps and internet tools, your classroom can become more interactive and provide a more dynamic experience for Inuktut learners.

ᐃᓐᓇᕐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᓂᖅ ADULT LEARNING AND EDUCATION

Oct. 27 - Nov. 17, 2025, in Iqaluit.

Together, we will explore the teaching / learning process in the education of adults and look closely at the unique situations in Nunavut.

We will examine the formal and informal approaches to language teaching and learning in Inuit communities. Topics include language acquisition, Indigenous teaching and learning strategies, the needs and goals of the community, as well as the role of community members in supporting the teaching and learning of Inuktut.

During the course, we will explore traditional Inuktut learning styles and individual learning styles, and how these could affect how you would approach teaching in Inuktut.

ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᓐᓂᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᕐᓗ
ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION

Oct. 27 - Nov. 17, 2025, in Iqaluit.

Students will explore effective techniques for evaluating learners’ abilities in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Inuktut using arange of assessment tools. They will also consider how to evaluate skills at at the beginning, middle and end of a course.

Topics include designing tests and other assessment tools, creating a relaxed environment for an effective evaluations, documenting the results and providing constructive feedback to the learner.

ᑕᖅᑳᓂ ᓯᓚᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᓂᖅ TEACHING IN THE NATURAL CLASSROOM

January 5 - 23, 2026, in Iqaluit.

This course involves self-directed learning among students to create language learning and speaking opportunities in the natural environment outside the four walls of the classroom.

Students will strengthen their understanding of the terminology and language used in outdoor field-based activities related to Inuit life. A component of the learning will take place in the natural Arctic environment through field trips.

Students will acquire an understanding of how outdoor learning builds a connection with the Arctic environment and contributes to physical health, motor skills, emotional well-being and increased attention to detail.

ᐃᓱᒪᖅᓲᑕᐅᔪᖅ: ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔾᔪᑎᑦᓴᓕᐅᕐᓂᖅ
SPECIAL PROJECTS: CREATE AN INUKTUT COURSE

January 5 - 23, 2026, in Iqaluit.

Students will bring together the knowledge and skills they have acquired to date in curriculum design, teaching methods for Inuktut and lesson planning. This is an opportunity to demonstrate the learning you have achieved so far.

Directed by your own passion and skill, follow the process of reverse planning to build an Inuktut course complete with outcomes, activities, unit and lesson plans and assessment strategies.