tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jul 24 22:20:58 1998
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Re: List for beginners???
- From: "Qermaq" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: List for beginners???
- Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 01:24:11 -0400
ghItlh David Baxter:
>Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, but when I first subscribed to
>this list, it was a list for beginners.
You are partly right. It is a resource for beginners, but it is also a forum
for all Klingon speakers. Long time ago, they thought about having two
lists, one for raw chu'wI'pu' and another for fluent speakers - the idea was
passed up because it would cheat beginners out of seeing the language being
used. So they instituted the "BG" and the "KLBC" to accommodate the
beginners on a list which was originated as a fluent-speaker's list.
>Now I am finding that the majority
>of messages are written by people who appear to be quite fluent in Klingon.
>For people like me, who are looking to learn a new language, this is too
>confusing. It is like putting a Japanese person in the heart of Paris and
>telling him to get on with his life.
jIyaj. It is time consuming and challenging to develop the skills needed to
keep up with any language.
Bear in mind these things:
1) Because of the qep'a', there is no active BG on the list for now. There
are a few experienced speakers who can answer questions of a general nature,
but we are not sanctioned as BG's and are reluctant to act as a BG without
authorization. I'll answer any questions you pose which you open up to
anyone to answer - otherwise, we really have to wait for a BG to come
online.
2) Right now, traffic is really light. It happens only once a year - during
qep'a' - so the usual volume of KLBC submissions and corrections is down to
nothing. Stick around. In a short time everything will be back to normal.
>I have seriously considered unsubscribing from this list, and I know other
>people have unsubbed, also because of the complexity of the language now it
>too great.
Do'Ha'! But if you really want to learn Klingon, you will stick it out no
matter what, eh? Don't forget, if there is even one word in a post you can
figure out, you are more fluent in tlhIngan Hol than nearly the whole
population of the planet. So you're doing great. I've thrown a few Klingon
words into this post. You probably know what they mean - if you don't, you
can figure it out easily enough, I'm sure.
So today you get one or two words. In a few weeks you get 5 or 6 words. In a
few months you can almost read a short post without looking up too many
words. Yes, there are some long posts I pass up, because even if they were
English I don't want to spend too long reading them! But if the post isn't
too long - some over the last few days are good examples - try to figure
them out. Word by word. You'll need to look up nearly everything, I'm sure.
I still look up words all the time and I studied Klingon for years before
joining this list a little over a year ago. The first sentence I wrote here
took 5 minutes of looking stuff up to compose. Now I can read most short
posts without looking up more than one or two things. Next year I'll be even
better.
Don't get discouraged that you can't read all the Klingon. I guarantee that
less than 5% of the subscribers can read everything on this list without
effort. Most are lurkers who haven't even come as far as you. Some are
capable users of the language but need practice to develop more skill.
There's room for all of us on this list.
>Please bring the list back to what it used to be... a help place for
>beginners, and a place where beginners can share new ideas and learn the
>Klingon language.
I find this list to be all these things still. When we meet our new BG in a
few days, these things you wish for will be so. Now, it's kinda crazy. But
be patient. Things will get back to "normal" soon.
Qermaq