tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 19 15:23:53 1994
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Idea.
- From: "...Paul" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Idea.
- Date: Sat, 19 Nov 1994 18:23:41 -0500
qech vIghaj. chaq ghojwI' chu' DIghojmoHmeH He pIm wIlo'nIS. paQDI'norgh
mach wIlo'nIS 'e' vIHar.
Okay, I'm in a bit of a rush, so English mode ON. :)
There are a lot of new people who DON'T have translators, or can't use them
while reading/composing mail conveniently. I can; I can run the mughwI' in
a window next to comm program and translate that way. But if you're just
flipping pages in TKD while staring at the screen, you'll not only get
confused (wait! was that an object or a subject???), but you'll get
frustrated looking up every word. And if the verb or noun has more than
one suffix on it, forget it; it's too much trouble. (Not really, but a
beginner would think so).
We need to think of some way in which to get beginners to write in small
blocks. Very small blocks; one or two sentences at a time; more importantly,
perhaps, very SIMPLE sentences.
When you give them responses, try to keep them short. The hope here is that
if someone writes a long, badly-done sentence, your critique will (naturally)
be quite lengthy, just because you need ponit everything out. If the
beginner's sentence is SHORT, they can't mess as much up. Hopefully, they
won't mess any of it up. Regardless, they'll be more likely to continue if
they meet with some success, especially early on. Eventually, they should
feel more comfortable, and can produce bigger, better sentences -- hopefully
with the same level of errors; ie. few or none.
I am NOT fluent in Klingon. At all. I could remember perhaps 20 or so
words, and maybe 10 or so suffixes/prefixes. But I've memorized the
grammar almost completely, and that, I feel, is my biggest triumph. Because
now, to create a sentence, I only need to check the translators (or my
cheet sheet) for single words; I know what to do with them. But the
translators can't handle grammar (yet), so if you don't know the grammar,
a translator isn't going to help.
My suggestions, in a nutshell:
Start small and progress very, very gradually.
Keep things simple.
Emphasize grammar first -- vocab will come later, with use.
Perhaps something "interactive"? Maybe a "Lesson of the week"? Someone
(one of the KLBC grammarians?) could just post a "Lesson of the Week:
This week, joining nouns in sentences". Don't even worry about a lack of
feedback. Included could be a "self-quiz", etc. And then, during the
week, those confused could ask questions specifically about the "lesson".
Comments? Feedback?
...Paul