response 1 of 63:

Oct 11 15:57 UTC 1998

Hello, I am hoping to get a discussion going of how to start a
conference for translators, and first had to learn to use backtalk.
I am hoping to have a place to post questions about the RUssian
educational system, papermaking terminology, and the like.  If enough
people announce themselves in this 'item' I will start a new
conference specifically for translators.

response 3 of 63:

Oct 13 00:20 UTC 1998

I invited 14 of them to telnet or Backtalk to this item but they have not
yet figured it out.  See Coop.  One says he is on a mailing list and does not
need to conf.  ANother is on Compuserve FLEFO (which costs $20/month).  They
will discuss this at the annual convention, soon, and let me know.
There are plenty of things to discuss, we all have problems translating
subjects that we don't understand as well as someone else might, and we have
different dictionaries and backgrounds and could help each other a lot.  As
things are, questions are published a montha fter you mail them in, and you
get published answers a couple months after that, too late to do any good.

response 5 of 63:

Oct 23 15:04 UTC 1998

One promised to try this out over the weekend.  I am now having email
discussions with three people about one phrase in Russian, and it would be
nice to have a conference discussion instead.

response 7 of 63:

Oct 27 15:09 UTC 1998

Hi Mirek, you are the very first of 14 people I invited to try grex who
actually made it here.  Can you tell me how long it took you to get to this
conference, and just what you had to do?  I will forward that info to other
people and urge them to join us.  To non-translators, Mirek and I have been
exchanging help by email, on such interesting problems as 'what is a quilt,
is it a blanket or a work of art?', and how is the Polish educational system
different from the American one (useful for translating grade transcripts and
diplomas), and I suggested that some of his questions could be answered by
plain old American non-translators simply interested in language.  Mirek,
please post some general questions here, like the quilt one.
        I found about 8 Americans listed who translate from Polish, enough to
have some interesting discussions.

response 9 of 63:

Oct 27 20:56 UTC 1998

'other' has been sending me requests for translations into Hungarian and
Catalan, which he could have posted here.  The University Musical Society has
been writing welcome letters for its visiting performers.
I am working on a Croatian transcript and wondered about the following:
urbroj - original number?  record number?
JMBG - federal i. d. number (unified registration number of citizens)?
Elektrotechnikia - electrical technology, electricity?  Something studied with
electronics.
The owner of the transcript was born in the 'country' of Serbia, according
to the Croats, but the Serbs still call their country Yugoslavia.  
And from a fashion interview, what are 'svilene najlonke', literally silk
nylon stockings, are they silk stockings or nylons?  (Croatian again).

response 11 of 63:

Oct 28 01:21 UTC 1998

Hi again , Mirek.  I think other grex users would enjoy hearing about changes
in Poland since liberation.  You were telling me how the fast food chains have
moved in.  I hope you are enjoying reading the rest of the language conference
in grex, and maybe some other conferences.  Try kitchen if you want to start
a discussion (item) about pierogies and golabki.  Jim has recipes.

response 13 of 63:

Nov 14 20:09 UTC 1998

OK, getting down to translation business, I'm translating some primary 
school report cards into Polish for Polish parents to understand.  Here 
is some vocabulary I don't understand, not having attended the primary 
school in the US:
KINDERGARTEN
adds/subtracts using _manipulatives_
FIRST GRADE
reads _sight words_
readst _story vocabulary_
SECOND GRADE
adds/subtracts with/without _regrouping (trading)_
Please help

response 15 of 63:

Nov 15 01:49 UTC 1998

Right, sight words are words you *recognize*, more or less instantly, with
no conscious parsing at all (and without picking up clues from context, for
that matter).  The "adds/subtracts with/without _regrouping (trading)_", I
believe, means with/without carrying or borrowing.  That is, adding 15+13 does
not require "regrouping"; the ones digits can just be added, likewise the tens
digits.  Whereas 18+13 requires "regrouping" because 8+3 has to be seen as
11, regrouped into 10+1 so that it can be recognized that the tens column gets
an extra 1.

"Manipulatives" may not be that specific.  I think the idea is that the child
understands how to take (say) 4 objects away from a group of 7 objects and
see that 3 are left, with concrete objects being used.  Understanding how to
do it with the abstract numerals 7, 4, & 3 may not be present yet.

I'm guessing a little about "story vocabulary", but I think it's this: is able
to read & understand words (vocabulary at the level being presented) when used
in context of a fairly simple narrative - as opposed to being able to define
them when presented out of context.  This would mean that the kid can answer
questions designed to test whether those words were understood, I think, as
opposed to asking the kid "what does the story mean when it says so&so".
(On this one some current elementary-ed major can probably set me, a mere
parent, straight.  On the others I'm pretty sure I know what's meant.)

response 17 of 63:

Nov 16 02:03 UTC 1998

"sight words" are like "and" or "the"- you can't get them from the story, you
just  have to recognize them on sight.
"story vocabulary" is probably what you guessed; the words used in that
particular story.  Now story *grammar* would be how the story is organized,
how one part leads to another.
Reading with understanding means just that- that the story makes sense to the
child; he or she can answer questions about what's going on or even why.  Some
children can read quite fluently, even words they have not seen before, but
they are just decoding sounds, not making meaning from those symbols.  That's
"reading fluently"- not hesitating or making errors.

response 19 of 63:

Nov 16 02:26 UTC 1998

Thank you everyone, I think I have it straight now:
"Reads sight words": able to recognize instantly words which you have 
to be able to read without context (mostly? only? short words which 
don't require parsing, like "and" or "the")
"Reads story vocabulary": reads words of a particular story, which you 
normally recognize using context, but this does not neceassarily imply 
to much about the child's understanding the story
"Reads with understanding": well, just what it says
"Reads fluently": very good at reading at level which does necessarily 
imply much understanding of the story

response 21 of 63:

Nov 16 21:46 UTC 1998

I just posted a request for help (Jellyware 229) with translating a grade
transcript for a computer major.  

response 23 of 63:

Nov 19 18:55 UTC 1998

John Decker, who writes the translation inquiry column for the monthly
translators' journal and was the first to suggest an online conf, just got
his desktop computer back from repairs and hopes to try out grex and report
on it in the Jan issue.  If a significant number of the 6000 or so members
give it a try, we may have a viable new conf.  Two people is not critical
mass, fun though it may be.