UQROO Students Immerse in Maya Language Learning in Quintana Roo

Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo — Students from the Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Chetumal campuses of the Autonomous University of the State of Quintana Roo (UQROO) are conducting fieldwork in the community of Uh May to improve their proficiency in the Maya language, a skill that has been declining in recent years.

The intensive learning period, which began on May 27 and runs through June 5, involves students from the bachelor’s degree in Social Anthropology.

“The purpose of this practice is to strengthen their linguistic and intercultural competencies,” said Ever Canul Góngora, coordinator of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto campus.

Before the trip, students attended an academic orientation session that emphasized the importance of linking university education with the community and the living culture of the region, according to Canul Góngora, who is also an academic and writer.

During the first days of the immersion, students have been accompanied by teachers María Elena Cruz Cáceres and Wilberth G. Ucán Yeh, who guide activities related to learning Yucatec Maya.

This fieldwork period adds to two 64-hour Maya language courses that were taught during the first year of the degree program.

While in Uh May, students also received training in a workshop on Basic Photography Tools with an ethnographic focus, led by teacher Heriberto Platas. The workshop aims to create a bank of images that will be presented at the Anthropology Week 2026 photography exhibition in September.

These academic activities also represent an act of resistance against the crisis in Maya language learning that Quintana Roo has experienced in recent years. Factors such as linguistic discrimination, transculturation in urban areas, a lack of translators, and a basic education system that prioritizes Spanish have accelerated the displacement of the language among young people.

Currently, Quintana Roo has 82,715 people who report speaking and understanding the Maya language, according to data from INEGI (the national statistics agency), while across the Yucatan Peninsula the figure reaches 700,000 speakers.