tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 25 22:57:50 2001
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vocabulary (was Re: To do or not to do...)
ja' qurgh:
>What you see as vagueness, I see as a simply not know what words I have to
>play with.
It's pretty much the same thing. You had an extremely vague English word
to start with, making the task of finding a specific translation difficult.
If the original English term had been more specific, I'm pretty sure it
would have been easier. Unfortunately, English is an old language with
lots of well-worn spots in its vocabulary. We must train ourselves to
avoid the areas where it doesn't have straightforwardly direct Klingon
translations, such as the vague verb "do" and the adjectives "ready" and
"afraid". Knowing what words you do *not* have helps nearly as much as
knowing what words you *do* have.
>Until I have memorized all 2000 odd words, I'm going to have to
>ask questions which seem like vagueness to you, but to me are simply lack
>vocab.
You don't actually have to have everything memorized. All you need to know
is that certain words exist, so that you know how to phrase what you want
to say.
>Which is why I thought this list was here. So that those that have
>gone before, and I must commend them all, can help lead us willing, but a
>little slower, people along the path. I'm not saying spoon feed us, just
>help us take the right paths as we go and deal with our vagueness, we are
>doing our best :-)
If you'd like to follow the path *I* took to get where I am, you're going
to have to copy the dictionary by hand, word by word, writing or typing
absolutely every definition given in TKD and KGT -- making sure to look at
both directions -- plus the New Words List (actually, I got the post-KGT
words from closer to the source, but that's not important). Forcing each
word through your eyes and brain and out your fingers will make sure you're
exposed to all of them. Even if you don't remember the details, you'll
have encountered them, and you'll have a much better chance of finding an
appropriate word in the dictionary.
Maybe you'd be more comfortable on a different path, but I can't guide you
where I haven't been.
>That aside, does anyone have any tips for learning vocab? I've tried
>translating things on the list, and I remember words for a few days but then
>they seem to float out of my brain.
If you translate things every day, you'll never give the words a chance to
get away. Now all we need to do is make sure you have enough text to keep
you busy translating...
>I've tried ter'eS's great kliflash
>program, but the same thing happens. Any other suggestions?
To truly learn a language, you must use it. I'm not certain, but I think
my big boost in skill happened while I was practicing in real time with
people on the MUSH. We *really* have to get that running again.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh