The Shipibo School

Shipibo Joi.
The Shipibo language.

Learn to greet someone, say your name, and describe the world in Shipibo-Konibo. Lessons you can start right now, speakers’ recordings arriving through 2026, and live classes when you want a teacher in the room.

Interactive

Lessons that stick

You flip a card, say the word, and tell it the truth about whether you knew it. Then matching, typing, a short quiz. One idea at a time.

Traceable

Every word sourced

Every word links to the dictionary, where you can see exactly where it comes from.

Growing

Audio on the way

Native-speaker pronunciation for every word is being recorded — added free, for the life of the course.

The course
Why now

UNESCO lists Shipibo-Konibo as definitely endangered. Around 35,000 people speak it, and it is still spoken every day along the Ucayali — but it is no longer the norm for children to learn it at home. The elders carry the most vocabulary, the most song and the deepest knowledge of the forest. Every lesson here is built from recordings made with Shipibo speakers, now, while that knowledge can still be recorded first-hand.

Shipibo Foundations

Two courses, 43 interactive lessons. Module 1 free.

Free

Module 1 — Beginnings

Sounds, greetings, your name, feelings, thanks and goodbyes. Seven lessons, no signup.

Start lesson 1
Full course · $149

¿Eres shipibo? El curso es gratis para ti. Este es tu idioma — no nos pagas por estudiarlo. Escríbenos a info@thecommunitygarden.org.
If Shipibo is your language, the course is free. Write to us.

Modules 2–4

Describing the world · people and possession · verbs and real conversation. Sixteen more lessons, lifetime access.

See everything inside
Free

Your first ten phrases

Learn these and you will be greeted differently.

ShipiboEnglish
Jakón yamékiriGood morning
Jakón yantánGood afternoon
Bekanwe!Welcome — come in! (to several people)
Nokon jane riki…My name is…
Jáwekeskarin mía?How are you?
Éa ríki jakónI am well
IrakeThank you
Irake ichabiresThank you very much
KabanonGoodbye (to one person)
BobakanonGoodbye (to a group)

Get audio + the full mini-course by email

Opens your email. We answer everything.

Live

Cohorts & tutoring

When enough students are waiting, we run live online cohorts with a Shipibo teacher. Private tutoring follows, and a certificate when you finish.

Join the waitlist

Opens your email. We answer everything.

learn-live.jpg — video call / teaching moment

Written by The Community Garden · Last reviewed 21 July 2026 · Sources are cited on the page · See something wrong? Correct us