tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun May 15 16:22:31 1994
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KATE
After all the inquiries on the list about the discussion of the mysterious
KATE project, I think this post is more than appropriate.
KATE is... well, the Guidelines I've written for it explain it pretty well:
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Klingon Audio Tape Exchange
KATE is a program in which Klingonists who are separated from each other
by great distances can converse by means of audio tape sent by postal mail.
To participate in the KATE, you are asked to have the necessary
equipment to play and record your own voice onto an audio tape. Also, as an
initialization to the program, you are asked to purchase one blank audio tape
to put into circulation among the other members. There will always be the
same
number of tapes as participants in the rotation.
The participants will be organized in a particular order in the rotation
scheme, which will be set up by the coordinator.
The first step of the procedure is to purchase one blank tape. Begin the
recording with an introduction of yourself in English. This is simply so that
the rest of will be able to recognize your voice. Then follow with
approximately 2 to 8 minutes of speaking in Klingon. The amount of time spent
speaking will depend on the speaker. It should not be too brief, but not too
long and drawn out either. We don't want to overwhelm anyone. Suggested
topics
on which to speak might be what you did during the weekend, your opinions on
something, a description of your house, family, etc. But these are only
suggestions. The whole scope of possible topics is quite broad.
After you have finished the recording, put it in a business size
envelope and address it to the person who follows you on the rotation. The
postage for sending one audio tape is $0.75(US). Be sure to mark "KATE"
somewhere on the back of the envelope, as well "Magnetic Media" or some such
marker to indicate presence of an audio cassette.
Within one to three days, you should receive a tape from the person who
precedes you in the rotation. Listen to that entire tape and then respond in
Klingon. Every tape that you receive will be passed along to the person after
you on the rotation. The scheduling will give each person two weeks to make a
recording and send it off to the next person. The tape will always be sent on
the specified date, which will fall on alternate Wednesdays.
If, for some reason, you are absent on a rotation date and unable to
make a recording, simply make arrangements to have the tape forwarded by
another person on the specified date.
Along with your recording, you are to send along a transcription of your
spoken Klingon as well as a translation of it. When you receive a tape, you
should try to figure out what is said on the tape yourself BEFORE looking at
the transcription and/or translation.
The transcription and translation will add to the bulk of the mail, so
postage may be up to $1.00. If you are uncertain, you should consult the post
office, since any envelope returned or arrived "postage due" may disturb the
rotation process slightly. Each time a tape is rotated back around to you,
you
should remove your own previous transcription and translation from the others
and insert your new one.
One of the main goals of the KATE is to learn to understand spoken
Klingon and improve pronunciation. You are encouraged to evaluate others'
pronunciation. If you do write a critique, be sure to include the specific
phonemes that caused difficulty, AS WELL AS ways to improve overall
pronunciation.
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The program is currently in its second round (as of the time I write this
message). It involves seven Klingonists, all of which are quite skilled in
the language. I am the Coordinator. I carefully designed the rotation scheme,
altho it couldn't be as extensive as I'd've wanted it. E.g., all participants
are in North America. Two interested individuals (one in Australia and one in
Croatia) I had to reject *AT THIS TIME*. I would very much like to involve
them, but this whole project is rather an experiment, and a test of the
postal mail system; I wanted to see if it would succeed on an
intracontinental basis before moving to an intercontinental one.
>From the discussion going around on the list and on private E-mail, I've
gathered that even the first and second rotations have had their share of
problems. Tapes weren't getting delivered on time (sometimes not even sent on
time). Being the Coordinator, I'm getting worried. I can't think of much to
do short of lengthening the rotation interval to three weeks. But I don't
think that's a healthy decision at this point. If things get so carried away,
I may have to shut down the program, and reset it later. (Now I'm talking
about KATE as if it were a computer). I would never expect it to work like
clockwork, tho.
Any interested folks can contact me "[email protected]".
Guido#1, Leader of All Guidos