I work in the library of an elementary school and spend a good portion of my free time writing things down in Dovahzul runes. The kids here are, understandably enough, curious about what I'm writing with all those funny looking lines and dots. "Is that Chinese?" they ask, unfamiliar with anything but the Latin alphabet. I reply, "Actually, it's the language of dragons," and read off whatever I'm writing in the dragon tongue.

Some kids simply write me off as a weirdo, but some show significant interest in learning more. I've given a couple of them a sheet of paper with the dragon alphabet on it, with a note at the bottom of the paper that explains that there is no dragon letter for C and how to circumvent that obstacle. (K for hard C sound, S for soft C sound, TSH instead of CH.) I also include a quick explanation of the digraph runes.

Having given these kids the means to write in another alphabet, I challenged them to write their name in the dragon runes and return to show me when they have done so. In the past week, I've had at least five kids show that they can competently write their name in runes (some even used the digraph runes!), so I gave them a simple worksheet containing a few Shouts and a brief description of the lore behind what a Shout is.

I wrote up the runes on these worksheets by hand, and included the English translation (written in runes to make it more challenging) right alongside the Rotmulagge and description of each Thu'um. The Shouts I included on this sheet are Unrelenting Force, Frost Breath, and Fire Breath, as well as Su'um ahrk Morah, which I explain is a traditional dragon way of saying farewell.

The kids who have expressed interest in learning Dovahzul have asked me if I can teach them anything else about the language. I'd like to try making some more simple worksheets that would be easily understood by third, fourth, and fifth graders while still being appropriate for a school environment. I may even go as far as hiding sticky notes throughout the library in places that aren't often used (such as the sections of the library with books about math, architecture, and other subjects kids don't check regularly) and turning it into a scavenger hunt.

I'm excited to get kids interested in other languages, and hope to use this to spark a love of linguistics. Kids love dragons, after all, which is a big reason why they're so interested in learning about the language. It would be great to help the kids get interested in such an interesting field as the study of language.

However, I'm not quite sure where to go from here. What else should I try to teach kids about Dovahzul without it becoming too difficult, too boring, or inappropriate for school? Should I go with a few simple vocabulary words, like viing, pruzah, and bo? If anyone has ideas on how to use Dovahzul to teach kids that languages are cool, I'd love to hear any advice!

I like that idea. It seems good, especially since kids absorb more knowledge. I personally think there should be a Dovahzul class in college, lol. :D

This sounds like an amazing idea!  I know that I would have loved to learn the language of Dragons when I was younger.  

I learned another 'Dragon language' that involved runes when I was little, and I still use the runes to this day whenever I just want to write something without worrying about everyone else looking over my shoulder and reading it.  

Ever since I've loved learning fantasy languages, so who knows, you might spark something that makes these kids love to learn new languages!