tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 24 00:50:03 1997
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Re: Requesting Phrasebook
Adam Ophir Shapira wrote:
> I am trying to learn Klingon. I have a copy of all of the
> classic materials for learning Klingon (those including THE
> KLINGON DICTIONARY, as well as the two casettes, CONVERSATIONAL
> KLINGON and POWER KLINGON).
Sounds like a good start, these materials contain all the
information needed to learn Klingon.
> However, there is something that I need in order to
> successfully learn the language that appears not to be
> availiable from any of these two sources. I need a
> phrasebook.
There is a list of useful phrases in the Klingon Dictionary. If
you want other phrases, you should try to translate them yourself, and
then post your attempts here for the Beginners' Grammarian to review.
There is a book of Klingon proverbs available called _The Klingon Way:
A Warrior's Guide_. Translations are given. However, you will
probably learn more by doing your own translations.
> THE KLINGON DICTIONARY is inadequate for this purpose,
> because it truly appears to be a dictioanry, not a textbook,
> and not a phrasebook. It is clearly more suited for
> reference than for anything else.
It is a dictionary and a grammar. If you want a more traditional
textbook-style learning material, try the free postal course from
David Barron. Details on this are available on the KLI website.
> On the other hand, the casette, CONVERSATIONAL KLINGON,
> has phrases in it, in an order that might be very helpful
> for me to learn ... only I can't use it as a phrase book,
> nor as a source from which to construct one, for a simple
> reason. It contains absolutely *no* information on how
> to *write down* the transliterated Klingon.
I will agree that the tapes are not the most useful tool for
learning the language. They are useful for learning correct
pronunciation, and Power Klinogn is useful for its explanation of
toasts, Replacement Proverbs, and Secrecy Proverbs. You can also use
them to learn to understand spoken Klingon. Understanding a language
spoken and understanding it written are two quite different things. A
good starting tool for this might be to get the Klingon translation of
Hamlet, and download the sound file from d'Armond Speers' web page of
him reciting Hamlet's famous soliloquy from Act 3 ("To be or not to
be . . . "). Listen to the sound file while you read along in
Klingon. I found this useful.
> I have developed a system that I can use to aid myself
> in learning languages ... but one thing that this system
> REQUIRES is a phrasebook.
>
> Is there anyone who can help me find this necessary
> material for the Klingon language?
If all you need is a volume of text that is in both languages,
the Klingon Hamlet is very a good source, as is The Klingon Way.
wIvqu', law'wI'pu'vaD Holtej jIH
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| Thaddaeus Vick, Linguist to the Masses | [email protected] |
| | |
| I could be wrong. After all, there's | |
| a first time for everything. | http://www.crl.com/~dvick |
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