all Language grants
The Mentor-Apprentice Program (MAP) is a one-on-one language immersion program that helps people to become fluent speakers by bringing their language into their daily lives at home and on the land.
The Mentor-Apprentice Program has two streams:
- The Mentor-Apprentice Program (MAP) offers 300 hours of immersion per year for up to 3 years. For learners ages 16-50.
- The Mentor-Apprentice Program: Connections (MAPC) is less intensive and suitable for all language learners. It offers 100 hours of immersion per year, for up to 3 years, at a flexible pace. For learners ages 16 and up.
MAP is for B.C. First Nations individuals learning one of the 36 First Nations languages in B.C. You do not need to be living in your community (on reserve) to be eligible to participate, but you must be living in B.C.
FPCC also offers the Youth Empowered Speakers Program (YES) for students aged 18 – 35. YES is a Mentor-Apprentice Program that provides one-on-one language immersion funding for students pursuing a BEd, ECE, or other post-secondary program relevant to a career in language revitalization. Visit the YES program page for more information!
Information Session Recording
To support 2024 applicants, we hosted an online info session on September 9, 2024. You can view the recorded session below:
FPCC staff are happy to support if you have questions. Please contact Aurora Skala at map@fpcc.ca.
Mentor-Apprentice Program
MAP is for language learners, ages 16-50, who want to actively pass on the language to others, often through a career as a language educator. Mentor-Apprentice participants complete 300 hours of language immersion with a fluent speaker over approximately ten months. The project term for MAP is April 1, 2025 to March 1, 2026.
MAP is best suited for:
- Learners who are or want to become language teachers in the school or community
- Parents of young children or soon-to-be parents
- Learners aged 16 – 50 who have a plan for actively passing on the language to others
While completing this program is a big commitment, it works! Some apprentices have become highly proficient speakers in three years.
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Mentor-Apprentice Program: Connections
MAP Connections is for language learners, ages 16 and up, who want to strengthen their connection to their language and who want greater flexibility and minimal reporting requirements. Participants complete 100 hours of language immersion with a fluent speaker at a flexible pace over approximately seven months. The project term for MAP Connections is April 1, 2025 to November 15, 2025.
MAP Connections is best suited for:
- Learners who want to strengthen their connection to their language
- Learners with some language knowledge or silent speakers who want to gain confidence in speaking
- Learners who want to complete their mentor-apprentice hours at a relaxed pace.
- Learners 16 years of age and over.
FPCC provides training and support to successful applicants. Each grant is for a single fiscal year and reapplications are permitted for up to two additional years if the previous year’s requirements are met.
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We are here to support!
Program staff are available to support you with your application! Contact the program staff listed at the bottom of this page before September 27, 2024, if you would like a one-on-one review of your draft application. Staff will do their best to provide more general assistance up until October 14, 2024.
History
The Mentor-Apprentice Program (MAP) was first developed in California for Native American languages, but the same model can be used to learn any language. It was initially created by Leanne Hinton, Nancy Richardson, Mary Bates Abbott and others (Hinton 2001) based on a suggestion by Julian Lang, a Karuk speaker. For more information on the program in California, see the website for the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival: www.aicls.org
FPCC started a B.C. MAP in 2008 with 12 teams from 11 different B.C. languages. The goal for each team was to complete 900 hours of immersion in their language (3 years of 300 hours per year). These 12 teams showed great success and all of the apprentices became more fluent in their languages. Since then, FPCC has supported hundreds of teams across the province to learn and share their languages.
Tools and Resources
Click here for more information regarding the MAP toolkit. The program toolkit includes helpful resources to assist with planning your program activities from application to submitting your final report.
Funding Process
We are here to ensure that the funding application process is as easy as possible and offer a convenient online portal so applicants can more easily apply for programs and submit reports. For additional information please visit the Funding Process page.
Click the image to enlarge
This program is made possible with funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage as a result of the Government of Canada’s Indigenous Languages Act.
Page image: Levi Martin and Tsimka Martin, Tla-oqui-aht First Nation, 2019 Mentor-Apprentice training.
Program Contact
Aurora Skala
Aurora Skala has worked with Indigenous communities in Territories within B.C. and Alberta as an archaeologist and anthropologist for over 10 years. She received her M.A. from the University of Victoria.