tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Sep 03 23:21:11 2000
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Klingon audio (was Re: KLBC: more sentences)
[email protected] wrote:
>Is there a way to learn this language by listening rather than reading and
>writing?
Yes, sort of. Simon&Schuster (the audio counterpart of Pocket Books) has
published two audiotapes, _Conversational Klingon_ and _Power Klingon_.
Although they don't contain enough information to teach someone how to
speak Klingon without using TKD as well, they're fantastic ways to get
comfortable with Klingon pronunciation. As a bonus, you get to hear curse
warfare, replacement proverbs, and a number of ostensibly cultural features
that have made their way into the language.
Part of the "Star Trek: Klingon" CD-ROM game is an interactive language
lab, which includes a rudimentary voice recognition section to help one
practice pronunciation. It's actually pretty sophisticated, but the
recognition parameters were intentionally tweaked away from what might be
absolutely "correct" in order to accomodate the mispronunciations of Robert
O'Reilly as Gowron.
"The Klingon Way" is also available as an audiocassette, but it contains
nothing not in the book, and much of the pronunciation is extremely poor
(by the standards of people who can actually use the language for
communication).
>I have TKD, KGT, and TKW but I can't seem to find any of these other books in
>my local bookstores:...
I've never seen "The Grammarian's Desk" offered anywhere except on the
KLI's "Merchant" page, but it's a good reference book. It's actually a
collection of reprints of Captain Krankor's columns in HolQeD, and as such
is more suited for exploration of odd grammatical corners than for getting
an introduction to the language.
You won't find it in bookstores, but the Postal Course started by David
Barron many years ago has been endorsed (and indeed embraced) by the KLI.
The first handful of lessons are available as pdf files on the KLI's web
site.
>or these audiocassettes:
>
>Spoken Klingon For Beginners
>Pronouncing Klingon Correctly
>Listen and Learn Klingon
Look more closely. You might not find CK and PK on the shelves, but
they're certainly on the list of publications you can order. If you don't
want to bother the bookstore with a special request, you can get them from
the KLI's "Merchant" page on the web.
>I can't even find Klingon listed in the Foreign Service Institute Language
>Courses. Looks like the KLI has the market on Klingon.
The KLI has a *license* for Klingon. Viacom has the market, and if the KLI
tries to publish something that Viacom's lawyers can say infringes on their
claimed "ownership" of the Klingon language, that license might be revoked.