LibriVox Language Learning Collection Vol. 001.
Click here to be notified by email when this book is complete!
This collection is part of an initiative to create a language learning resource at LibriVox. The LibriVox Language Learning Collections contain readings from various language learning books, grammars, primers, phrasebooks, dictionaries, readers and even other works which contain information on various languages, recount experiences of language learning and encountering new languages or provide guides for correct pronunciation, writing or discourse in a language. These works could describe English or any other language whatsoever, from Latin to Sumerian, Chinese to Wampanoag, Esperanto to Swahili (etc.).
This Volume includes a treatise by Sir Arthur Cotton, author of an "Arabic Primer". His daughter, Lady Hope, on page 523 of her biography of her father, writes that he "had very strong theories on the subject of learning “Living Languages,” his opinion being that, as every child who comes into the world learns its mother tongue orally, and at first without grammar… so the learning of all modern languages would be very much facilitated by a similar process." Also included are the orientalist E.G. Browne's opinions on language learning (taken from the introduction to A Year Amongst the Persians), the first lesson from Dr. Emil Otto's "French Conversation-Grammar", a talk by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the need for a universal auxiliary language, Samuel Johnson's "A Grammar of the English Tongue", several sections from Henry Sweet's "First Steps in Anglo-Saxon", Lessons 1 - 5 from "Esperanto in Twenty Lessons", two sections on language by Varro, a story in Latin from "Fabulae Faciles", "Greek Lessons: 1-10", the Phonology Section from a "Primer of Persian" and Lessons 1 - 19 from "A Practical Arabic Course". (Summary by Nicholas James Bridgewater)
- How to claim a part, and 'how it all works' here
To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are “up for grabs.” Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you’d like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording. - New to recording?
Please read our Newbie Guide to Recording! - Is there a deadline?
We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim (or by the target completion date, whatever is sooner). Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it’ll go back to the pool. There’s no shame in this; we’re all volunteers and things happen. The target completion date for this project is June 1, 2010. - Where do I find the text?
Please choose ANY section, chapter, lesson etc. (even introductions, prefaces, word-lists etc.) from a language learning book, grammar, primer, phrasebook, dictionary, reader and even a relevant section from ANY other work which contains information on various languages, recounts experiences of language learning and encountering new languages or provides guides for correct pronunciation, writing or discourse in a language. This could be a book about English or ANY language whatsoever, as long as it is in the public domain (i.e. printed before 1923). Other than that, which language you choose or what book you choose, is completely up to you!
You can find LOADs of books to choose from, many of which I have listed in the following post: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21482
Even if you ONLY know English, there are plenty of books you could choose from, including the following:
A Grammar of the English Tongue (1812) by Samuel Johnson
http://manybooks.net/titles/johnsonsam15091509715097-8.html
The Grammar of English Grammars (1851) by Goold Brown
http://manybooks.net/titles/browng11611161511615-8.html
English Dialects from the Eighth Century to the Present Day by Walter William Skeat (1912) http://manybooks.net/titles/skeatw1575515755-8.html
The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire by James Jennings
http://manybooks.net/titles/jenningsetext058deng10.html
English as She is Wrote – Showing Curious Ways in which the English Language may be made to Convey Ideas or Obscure Them by Anonymous (1883)
http://manybooks.net/titles/anon2593325933-8.html
A primer of spoken English by Sweet
http://www.archive.org/details/primerofspokenen00sweeuoft
The verbalist : a manual devoted to brief discussions of the right and wrong use of words, and to some other matters of interest to those who would speak and write with propriety (1884) by Ayres and Millar
http://www.archive.org/details/verbalistmanwest00ayreuoft
The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language – Word-Study and Composition & Rhetoric by Sherwin Cody (1903)
http://manybooks.net/titles/codysh1971919719-8.html
How to Write Clearly – Rules and Exercises on English Composition by Edwin A. Abbott (1883) http://manybooks.net/titles/abbotted2260022600-8.html
Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases – A Practical Handbook of Pertinent Expressions, Striking Similes, Literary, Commercial, Conversational, and Oratorical Terms, for the Embellishment of Speech and Literature, and the Improvement of the Vocabulary of those Persons who Read, Write and Speak English (1910) by Grenville Kleiser
http://manybooks.net/titles/kleiserg1836218362.html
Division of Words – Rules for the Division of Words at the Ends of Lines, with Remarks on Spelling, Syllabication and Pronunciation by Frederick W. Hamilton (1918) http://manybooks.net/titles/hamiltonf1701617016-8.html
Punctuation -- A Primer of Information about the Marks of Punctuation and their Use Both Grammatically and Typographically by Frederick W. Hamilton (1920)
http://manybooks.net/titles/hamiltonf2078720787-8.html
1001 Questions and Answers on Orthography and Reading by B.A. Hathaway (1888)
http://manybooks.net/titles/hathawayb14401440314403-8.html
Slips of Speech -- A Helpful Book for Everyone who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking and Writings by John H. Bechtel (1895) http://manybooks.net/titles/bechteljetext04slpsp10.html
Write it Right -- A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults by Ambrose Bierce (1909)
http://manybooks.net/titles/bierceam12471247412474-8.html
A Spelling-Book for Advanced Classes by William T. Adams (1873)
http://manybooks.net/titles/adamswt2651326513-8.html
New Word-Analysis – Or, School Etymology of English Derivative Words by William Swinton (1879) http://manybooks.net/titles/swintonw1934619346-8.html
The Philosophy of Style by Herbert Spencer (1852)
http://manybooks.net/titles/spencerhetext048phil10.html
Lectures on Language – As Particularly Connected with English Grammar by William S. Balch (1838) http://manybooks.net/titles/balchw1759417594-8.html
Manual of linguistics (1893) by John Clark
http://www.archive.org/details/manualoflinguist00clar
English grammar, past and present; with appendices on prosody, synonyms, and other outlying subjects (1898) by Nestfield
http://www.archive.org/details/englishgrammarpa00nesfuoft
Pronouncing handbook of words often mispronounced and of words as to which a choice of pronunciation is allowed (1873) by Soule
http://www.archive.org/details/pronouncinghandb00souluoft
The King’s English (1922) by Henry Watson Fowler
http://www.archive.org/details/kingsenglish00fowliala
Of the Orthographie and Congruitie of the Britan Tongue – A Treates, Noe Shorter than Necessaries, For the Schooles by Alexander Hume (1617)
http://manybooks.net/titles/humeal1700017000-8.html
Style by Sir Walter Raleigh (1904 Edward Arnold edition)
http://manybooks.net/titles/raleighwetext97style10.html
English Past and Present by Richard Chevenix Trench (1905)
http://manybooks.net/titles/trenchri2090020900-8.html
On the Study of Words by Richard Chevenis Trench (1859)
http://manybooks.net/titles/trenchrietext048stwr10.html - Please claim sections (the numbers in the first column below)!
If this is your first recording, please let me know under which name or pseudonym you'd like to appear in the LibriVox catalogue. We can also link to a personal website/blog.
Prospective Prooflisteners: Please read the Listeners Wanted FAQ before listening! Level of prooflistening requested:[Standard
MAGIC WINDOW:
(BC admin) - BEFORE recording:
Please check the Recording Notes:
http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6427#6430
Set your recording software to:
Channels: 1 (Mono)
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz - DURING recording:
Please leave no more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of your recording! - At the BEGINNING Say: "[Title of Work], by [Author Name]" "Read for the LibriVox Language Learning Collection, Volume 1" "This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox Recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librivox.org"
- At the END, say: "End of [Title], by [Author Name]"
- If you wish, you may also say: "Read by...your name."
- Please leave 5 seconds of silence at the end of your recording . If your recording is longer than 30 minutes, please leave 10 seconds of silence at the end of your recording.
- • Title/Name: [Title]e.g. Wampanoag Cardinal Numbers 1-10
• Artist: [Author Name]e.g. John Eliot
• Album: LibriVox Language Learning Collection Vol. 001
[*]File Name:[/b] Put file name all in lowercase, and the title all in one word (no leading articles(the, a, an) and NO SPACES): languagelearning001_shorttitleinoneword_readersinitials.mp3,
e.g. languagelearning001_wampanoagnumbers_yy.mp3 (DO NOT INCLUDE 'mp3' IN FILE TITLE.)
Please ignore tags for Genre and Track Number - these will be filled in automatically at the cataloguing stage.
Transfer of files (completed recordings)
Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file.
Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link. As this is a collection and readers choose what to read, please post the following information as well:
Title of section:
Author of section:
Language:
Link to source:
Link to the recording:
- Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader (when your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread):
http://upload.librivox.org
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: le - Leni - If this doesn't work, or you have questions, please check our How To Send Your Recording wiki page.
Please post below or PM me.
But I guess that means I'll have to find someone else to PL this, right? 
Any chance I could also ask you to record something from a Portuguese language textbook?
) but with all the German readers around some of them are bound to show up here