Self-Taught Language Books / Developing a Language Resource

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » November 5th, 2011, 11:32 am

Right now I still don't feel up to recording, as I'm still figuring out how to use Audacity, but once I've managed to learn this, I could help in projects involving learning materials for my native Polish.

nazanin · Post by **nazanin** » November 5th, 2011, 3:02 pm

This is a wonderful collection indeed! I got carried away checking out all these treasures

I'm a linguist myself with a major in Persian, so i would love to record something in Persian, i just need to choose which book and get a decent microphone

those books on linguistics must be very useful, too!

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » November 5th, 2011, 5:53 pm

nazanin wrote:This is a wonderful collection indeed! I got carried away checking out all these treasures I'm a linguist myself with a major in Persian, so i would love to record something in Persian, i just need to choose which book and get a decent microphone those books on linguistics must be very useful, too!

That's great to hear Nazanin. I look forward to your contributions. Persian is a wonderful language I'd love to see more material here.

Best wishes,

jgrape · Post by **jgrape** » February 11th, 2012, 8:34 pm

Hello! I just published my test recording. I used to speak Japanese, but I've fallen out of it, so I'd love to take on Japanese Self-Taught. I know it's long, but I didn't see a shorter work on Japanese grammar and I think it would be more manageable than trying to read something that was originally published in Japanese.

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » February 12th, 2012, 3:08 am

I don't see your test recording anywhere, jgrape? You need to let us know by posting the URL in Listeners and Editors Wanted.

Ruth

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » February 12th, 2012, 4:49 am

jgrape wrote:Hello! I just published my test recording. I used to speak Japanese, but I've fallen out of it, so I'd love to take on Japanese Self-Taught. I know it's long, but I didn't see a shorter work on Japanese grammar and I think it would be more manageable than trying to read something that was originally published in Japanese.

That's great. I look forward to your recordings. Make sure to post the link to your test recording though.

Best wishes,

jgrape · Post by **jgrape** » February 19th, 2012, 7:33 pm

Sorry! I did post a recording under "Test recording jgrape".

prwells32 · Post by **prwells32** » March 19th, 2012, 8:53 pm

My goodness that is a big list!

I totally agree with you. This would be awesome. I would love to help out in any way I can.

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » March 21st, 2012, 4:53 am

prwells32 wrote:My goodness that is a big list!

I totally agree with you. This would be awesome. I would love to help out in any way I can.

That's great. Do feel free to volunteer for the latest volume of the LibriVox Language Learning Collection which is in the Short Works section: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=34447

Regards,

prwells32 · Post by **prwells32** » March 21st, 2012, 6:25 am

Will do.

jgrape · Post by **jgrape** » April 7th, 2012, 7:32 pm

OK, I've been cleared for launch and would like to try Japanese Self-Taught! I didn't see any Japanese on the newer list, so I'm assuming it's still open here?

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » April 8th, 2012, 4:03 am

jgrape wrote:OK, I've been cleared for launch and would like to try Japanese Self-Taught! I didn't see any Japanese on the newer list, so I'm assuming it's still open here?

Hi.

It's great that you want to record Japanese Self-Taught.

However, before you take on a solo project, where you would be the Book Coordinator, you might want to contribute a section to an existing collection in order to get some practice. I'd suggest you find a chapter or section from a language learning book and contribute it to the LibriVox Language Learning Collection Vol. 004:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=34447

elainesilva · Post by **elainesilva** » November 15th, 2012, 8:58 am

Hello! I really love this thread and had I not been in my last two years of study in Uni, I would have loved to record one of the books. Anyway, I've just seen this book, Language: An Introduction to the study of speech by Edward Sapir, one of the proponents of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis- http://archive.org/details/languageanintrod00sapi
Just trying to add to the database for future recording. As a Linguistics student [soon to be linguists hopefully], this books is really helpful for beginners.

sonnethaiku · Post by **sonnethaiku** » November 20th, 2012, 6:31 pm

Piotrek81 wrote:Right now I still don't feel up to recording, as I'm still figuring out how to use Audacity, but once I've managed to learn this, I could help in projects involving learning materials for my native Polish.

Piotrek, I am extremely interested in this idea. I didn't see anything like this in the catalogue when I searched for "Polski" or "Polish." Can I assume that there isn't anything currently underway that you know of? Are you still interested in a Polish/English project, perhaps? I could supply the English if you will supply the Polish. We would have to decide on what would suit us - perhaps a phrase book? Something (relatively) short? For myself, I should probably not start another major project until January or February. Still, I would be delighted to help get this going.

I spent two years trying to teach myself Polish from an audiotape set when I was in college. Sadly, the main remnant from that effort is I can sing "Sto lat," which I do enthusiastically at every birthday party. I also amused all my Polish friends greatly.

(By the way, Poznan is my favorite city in continental Europe. I spent almost a month there several years ago. It's my dream to return.)

What do you think?

~ Chessie Joy

EDIT: removed repeated phrase

sonnethaiku · Post by **sonnethaiku** » November 21st, 2012, 8:52 am

Part of being a "language resource" is providing stories, poems, and other works in the target language to listen to, for the practice and enjoyment of those language learners. English monoglots (such as myself) can still contribute to this effort without recording phrase books or grammars, per se. Here are some ideas.

1) PL a recorded work not in English. This helps expand the LV catalogue, of course, but it also shows support to those intrepid readers who may be the only person recording in their language here at this time. Nearly all PL levels are standard, which does not require understanding the meaning of what is being said. Instead, standard PL is looking mostly for technical concerns (noise, pops, splosives, volume) checking for the correct amount of silence, and listening for repeated words or phrases.

Following along in a text can help in listening for repetitions. Many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet have a transliteration of their writing system into the familiar ABC, so if you can't read Sanskrit (and let me tell you - I can't), it's still possible to match sounds with letters. This is much easier than it seems, as I've discovered in PLing Vairagya Shatakam as read by UdaySagar.

2) Make a special effort to welcome and encourage new volunteers, especially volunteers who indicate that English is not their primary language. We're hoping they will all be readers and proof-listeners. I'm trying to imagine learning the software and workflow at Librivox in, say, Slovakian. I could do it, but it would take a huge amount of will and effort, maybe 20x as long as it would in my native English. I'd be much more likely to stick to it if I thought my efforts were being noticed and encouraged.

3) Point out Librivox to any language enthusiasts you may know. Schools, universities, and colleges often cannot host excellent initiatives due to lack of funding, but Librivox is free! You might be willing to introduce a language instructor (or lead a workshop for a whole language department) to Librivox. They, in turn, might incorporate the books into their classes for their students, or recruit students or themselves into recording projects.

Other ideas?