Killa App

I haven't exactly revised these posts, but I'm reposting them together so that my professor can locate them more easily.

Some thoughts: YouVersion

I realize I've been talking about YouVersion being all Web 2.0 and stuff, and that I haven't really expanded on what makes it the most Web 2.0-y. I've mentioned that users can be "connected" with other users. But I haven't really talked about it, huh. Well, that's probably because I'm not interested in that aspect of YouVersion. ...But I still think I should address it.

YouVersion allows you to "follow" others and to "be followed" by others. Great! Well, I have one follower. He's been following for a day now, and I don't know why he's following me, since I haven't really done anything with YouVersion except highlight and tag random verses while testing it out. I've highlighted Genesis 1:1 and wrote a note entitled "testing" about it. That's about it. Oh, and a few other tags to test out its technical abilities that I mentioned in my previous post.

Do I want other people to "follow" me on YouVersion? Not really. Strangers reading about my intimate (for lack of better word) thoughts and feelings about the Bible, Christianity, God, etc.... Eurgh--kinda weird. So I like that my contributions on YouVersion can be made private.

Do I want to "follow" others on YouVersion? Not really. I don't know them. They don't know me. Some may argue that I can just make friends! But I can make friends without the internet... I can make friends by meeting them face to face at real social gatherings.. So even if I can get alerts about contributions that the people I'm following have made, the whole following business on YouVersion doesn't seem so marvelous to me. Of course, it's always encouraging to see what others feel about a particular part of the Bible, and I'm sure I'll come across helpful and useful links by looking at other people's contributions*--but would I necessarily follow someone because of that? I don't think so...

Of course, that's unless a whole bunch of my friends use YouVersion, too. Then it's a different story, cuz that means that we can keep in touch about these Bible things using YouVersion when Daily Life would otherwise keep us from spending time and sharing about these things in person.

I guess, all in all, what I'm trying to say, is that Bible study is good. Bible study is great--when you study it with other people. But Bible study is greatest when you study it with other people face to face. That is where REAL community is experienced. That is where REAL love, encouragement, rebuke, truth, and grace is experienced. Face to face-people. There are internet-people--screen names--and there are face to face-people. There's no hiding from face to face-people, and that's what we need--face to face-people to tell us how it is and to show us how it is. That's why YouVersion is kind of blah to me. That's actually why the community aspect of Web 2.0 is kind of blah to me. I don't really prefer it because I don't really need it...

--kowai-kawaii

*LONG side note --feel free to skip this because it may not make sense, and I cannot bring myself to delete it because I had taken the time to type it out and TRY to explain it-- Even stumbling across helpful links through other people's contributions that are uploaded through a particular passage of the Bible seem kind of unlikely to me. What are the odds that I would find Article related to Topic A through Verse A, when Verse B and C and D and E and F and G and XYZ relate to Topic A, too? Even so, Verse A could be related to Topic A as well as Topic B and C and D and E and F and G and XYZ, too. If someone uploaded some content related to Topic A through Verse A, though I felt that Verse B better reflected Topic A and therefore did not go to Verse A to find any other such content about Topic A, I may never find Article! .....nevermind. If anyone is following my train of thought and the way I'm presenting it--congratulations! ...welcome to my mind. I guess what I'm trying to say is that finding applicable, "inspiring" content from a random stranger through a fairly arbitrarily chosen verse about any topic seems kind of farfetched to me.

Beta-->2.0 without 1.0?

I'm confused. I've been fiddling with screen captures of the YouVersion logo that I've taken (for a class presentation on it), so I distinctly recall this: Notice the sticker-label looking thing with the word "Beta" in it. But now... I checked my email today, and I had received this alert--apparently YouVersion has updated? officiated? its status so that now it's: Ooo slick black. and no more "Beta" sticker. The subject headline of the email looks like this: Umm, so I'm confused--it can jump from being in Beta all the way to 2.0? Or did its 1.0 stage last for just a day or something? But then, I'd've received an email about YouVersion coming out of Beta and into 1.0, right? Regardless... Man, YouVersion is different now.

Now the homepage opens directly to the Bible Reader. My favorite update to the site is the ability of the reader to open up two versions of the Bible at once. The versions can be sync-ed to the same passage, or they can be unsync-ed. Browsing through the Bible is easier, now, too. I wish I remembered how browsing worked with the old Reader, but I remember that I didn't like it and preferred to search passages up directly through its search engine. Look at its craziness!: I didn't mention it before, did I, but YouVersion incorporates not just English versions of the Bible, but also OTHER LANGUAGES!!! yesss What a tool to help those learning a different language, eh, especially with two languages side by side. Besides clicking on the "browse" button and using the pop-up menu, you can also click the "previous" and "next" buttons for the "previous" and "next" chapters of that book.

And now, instead of "star"-ing a verse, you "bookmark" it. The "My Contents" tabs that I mentioned in my previous post are now gone. Now that half of the screen is tab-less and incorporates widget boxes: "Community Contributions," "My Contributions," "Reading Plan," and "Journal." (They're customizable, but only in that you can re-order them, and choose not to show some--still kind of glitchy, though, because it wasn't cooperating with me earlier.)

Viewing tags in this newer version is easier, too. I think the previous version was rather glitchy with its tagging abilities. Kinda too difficult to explain... Well, I would tag a Verse 1 with "tag 1" and then I'd tag the same Verse 1 and a new Verse 2 with "tag 2," but when I went to look at my tags, it seemed that Verse 1 would be tagged with "tag 1" and Verse 2 with "tag 2" but not Verse 1 and 2 with "tag 2" or something weird like that. But that's fine, cuz I think it's better now.

I don't think they've figured out the attaching/uploading audio and vlogs capabilities yet. Doesn't matter, especially for vlogging. You won't ever catch me doing that, I think.

Overall: nice, YouVersion/LifeChurch.tv! verrry nice

--kowai-kawaii

edit: The slides of my class presentation, mentioned in the first sentence, can be viewed here!:

Youversion Presentation

View more presentations from kowaikawaii.

Christianity and Bible Study: Web 2.0'd

The internet has "Web 2.0'd" Bible study by connecting believers to others by sharing information SO easily. Exactly--Web 2.0'd. BibleGateway has been around for some time. Same with Crosswalk.com. I've used both--BibleGateway for quick Bible verse look-ups, and bible.crosswalk.com for Bible study, using the online Bible study tools available (commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, etc.). Crosswalk.com itself is a great resource for articles about many topics of life (marriage, finances...). Blue Letter Bible is pretty good, too... It's kind of like an amped up BibleGateway/watered down Crosswalk.com. And now, there's...

YouVersion! That's right. YouVersion. Not YourVersion, but YouVersion. Kinda odd, but let's not let that stop us... YouVersion was started up by LifeChurch.tv. I feel that LifeChurch.tv needs some more introduction. I'm not that well acquainted with it, but as I have come to understand it, poking around on their website, it's an actual church with more than 10 locations or something. The churches are so spread out that they are all connected by satellite and internet in some way (exactly how they're connected that way...that's not really clear to me yet... They do put their sermons online...). The odd thing is that their brick-and-mortar churches are also called "LifeChurch.tv"--.tv?! I don't understand the reasoning for a physical church to have a ".tv" attached to its name when "Life Church" would be good enough... Anyway--

The thing about LifeChurch.tv is that it runs an "online church." Internet church sounds a bit odd to me, and for me to share more of my opinions about it would be an entirely different post. Ultimately, whatever floats people's boats is my so, so, so short answer (an answer that I almost don't want to give at all). So LifeChurch.tv is very internet savvy, and so they were able to make YouVersion, a free online Bible that connects you to other believers, allowing you to connect through shared links, videos, and comments, all centered the individual's selected Bible verse(s).

As with any other Web 2.0 app, this means signing up for an account. I know how to do that! Check! And now... The Bible Reader. Either I'm not that smart, or it's not that intuitive, or it just doesn't work that well, but the reader takes some getting used to. It says:

You can begin by selecting, then tagging () or starring () content that resonate with your studies.

I failed at the first (which was the basis to the second and third). For your information,
Just tap the text and it will select/highlight the entire verse in yellow for you. It took me a while to figure it out. So sad.

To the right of the reader is what I like to call "the Content Tabs" (I just made that up because I didn't know how to refer to it in my post). The first tab of these "Content Tabs," the "Community" tab, brings you to other people's activity surrounding the highlighted verse. Most common are "thoughts"/notes--theological notes, historical notes, "btw" notes, "i love this!" notes, devotional notes... Besides notes, members of the community may attach/upload links to other websites, videos, images, and coming soon, vlogs and audio.

The next tab is the archive for your own uploaded content. It's nice that there is the option of making your own content private or public. However public and community-y you choose to use this website by utilizing YouVersion's Web 2.0-ness (its "Web 2.0-ness" being its ability to link to many different types of things), YouVersion, in my opinion, is more immediate and useful than Delicious bookmarking--at least for Bible study related stuff. See, I could bookmark an article from a website that really makes me go, "Ahh.." about Genesis 1:1 through Delicious and look through my tags at Delicious whenever I wanted to find it, or I could just more directly link it to the actual Bible with YouVersion, and look at "my contributions" on YouVersion where all my other related Bible study content are also located. (es, post-its in the physical Bible book would work, too, but then everything gets lumpy and the post-it covers other parts of text...) YouVersion seems pretty cool, but I need to poke around it a bit more to see if I'd really stick with it.

But no more time for poking around--I'm getting sleepy, and while I'd love to talk to you more about YouVersion, I'd rather talk to God about other things... Good night!

--kowai-kawaii

Some thoughts: YouVersion

I realize I've been talking about YouVersion being all Web 2.0 and stuff, and that I haven't really expanded on what makes it the most Web 2.0-y. I've mentioned that users can be "connected" with other users. But I haven't really talked about it, huh. Well, that's probably because I'm not interested in that aspect of YouVersion. ...But I still think I should address it.

YouVersion allows you to "follow" others and to "be followed" by others. Great! Well, I have one follower. He's been following for a day now, and I don't know why he's following me, since I haven't really done anything with YouVersion except highlight and tag random verses while testing it out. I've highlighted Genesis 1:1 and wrote a note entitled "testing" about it. That's about it. Oh, and a few other tags to test out its technical abilities that I mentioned in my previous post.

Do I want other people to "follow" me on YouVersion? Not really. Strangers reading about my intimate (for lack of better word) thoughts and feelings about the Bible, Christianity, God, etc.... Eurgh--kinda weird. So I like that my contributions on YouVersion can be made private.

Do I want to "follow" others on YouVersion? Not really. I don't know them. They don't know me. Some may argue that I can just make friends! But I can make friends without the internet... I can make friends by meeting them face to face at real social gatherings.. So even if I can get alerts about contributions that the people I'm following have made, the whole following business on YouVersion doesn't seem so marvelous to me. Of course, it's always encouraging to see what others feel about a particular part of the Bible, and I'm sure I'll come across helpful and useful links by looking at other people's contributions*--but would I necessarily follow someone because of that? I don't think so...

Of course, that's unless a whole bunch of my friends use YouVersion, too. Then it's a different story, cuz that means that we can keep in touch about these Bible things using YouVersion when Daily Life would otherwise keep us from spending time and sharing about these things in person.

I guess, all in all, what I'm trying to say, is that Bible study is good. Bible study is great--when you study it with other people. But Bible study is greatest when you study it with other people face to face. That is where REAL community is experienced. That is where REAL love, encouragement, rebuke, truth, and grace is experienced. Face to face-people. There are internet-people--screen names--and there are face to face-people. There's no hiding from face to face-people, and that's what we need--face to face-people to tell us how it is and to show us how it is. That's why YouVersion is kind of blah to me. That's actually why the community aspect of Web 2.0 is kind of blah to me. I don't really prefer it because I don't really need it...

--kowai-kawaii

*LONG side note --feel free to skip this because it may not make sense, and I cannot bring myself to delete it because I had taken the time to type it out and TRY to explain it-- Even stumbling across helpful links through other people's contributions that are uploaded through a particular passage of the Bible seem kind of unlikely to me. What are the odds that I would find Article related to Topic A through Verse A, when Verse B and C and D and E and F and G and XYZ relate to Topic A, too? Even so, Verse A could be related to Topic A as well as Topic B and C and D and E and F and G and XYZ, too. If someone uploaded some content related to Topic A through Verse A, though I felt that Verse B better reflected Topic A and therefore did not go to Verse A to find any other such content about Topic A, I may never find Article! .....nevermind. If anyone is following my train of thought and the way I'm presenting it--congratulations! ...welcome to my mind. I guess what I'm trying to say is that finding applicable, "inspiring" content from a random stranger through a fairly arbitrarily chosen verse about any topic seems kind of farfetched to me.

Beta-->2.0 without 1.0?

I'm confused. I've been fiddling with screen captures of the YouVersion logo that I've taken (for a class presentation on it), so I distinctly recall this: Notice the sticker-label looking thing with the word "Beta" in it. But now... I checked my email today, and I had received this alert--apparently YouVersion has updated? officiated? its status so that now it's: Ooo slick black. and no more "Beta" sticker. The subject headline of the email looks like this: Umm, so I'm confused--it can jump from being in Beta all the way to 2.0? Or did its 1.0 stage last for just a day or something? But then, I'd've received an email about YouVersion coming out of Beta and into 1.0, right? Regardless... Man, YouVersion is different now.

Now the homepage opens directly to the Bible Reader. My favorite update to the site is the ability of the reader to open up two versions of the Bible at once. The versions can be sync-ed to the same passage, or they can be unsync-ed. Browsing through the Bible is easier, now, too. I wish I remembered how browsing worked with the old Reader, but I remember that I didn't like it and preferred to search passages up directly through its search engine. Look at its craziness!: I didn't mention it before, did I, but YouVersion incorporates not just English versions of the Bible, but also OTHER LANGUAGES!!! yesss What a tool to help those learning a different language, eh, especially with two languages side by side. Besides clicking on the "browse" button and using the pop-up menu, you can also click the "previous" and "next" buttons for the "previous" and "next" chapters of that book.

And now, instead of "star"-ing a verse, you "bookmark" it. The "My Contents" tabs that I mentioned in my previous post are now gone. Now that half of the screen is tab-less and incorporates widget boxes: "Community Contributions," "My Contributions," "Reading Plan," and "Journal." (They're customizable, but only in that you can re-order them, and choose not to show some--still kind of glitchy, though, because it wasn't cooperating with me earlier.)

Viewing tags in this newer version is easier, too. I think the previous version was rather glitchy with its tagging abilities. Kinda too difficult to explain... Well, I would tag a Verse 1 with "tag 1" and then I'd tag the same Verse 1 and a new Verse 2 with "tag 2," but when I went to look at my tags, it seemed that Verse 1 would be tagged with "tag 1" and Verse 2 with "tag 2" but not Verse 1 and 2 with "tag 2" or something weird like that. But that's fine, cuz I think it's better now.

I don't think they've figured out the attaching/uploading audio and vlogs capabilities yet. Doesn't matter, especially for vlogging. You won't ever catch me doing that, I think.

Overall: nice, YouVersion/LifeChurch.tv! verrry nice

--kowai-kawaii

edit: The slides of my class presentation, mentioned in the first sentence, can be viewed here!:

Youversion Presentation

View more presentations from kowaikawaii.

Christianity and Bible Study: Web 2.0'd

The internet has "Web 2.0'd" Bible study by connecting believers to others by sharing information SO easily. Exactly--Web 2.0'd. BibleGateway has been around for some time. Same with Crosswalk.com. I've used both--BibleGateway for quick Bible verse look-ups, and bible.crosswalk.com for Bible study, using the online Bible study tools available (commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, etc.). Crosswalk.com itself is a great resource for articles about many topics of life (marriage, finances...). Blue Letter Bible is pretty good, too... It's kind of like an amped up BibleGateway/watered down Crosswalk.com. And now, there's...

YouVersion! That's right. YouVersion. Not YourVersion, but YouVersion. Kinda odd, but let's not let that stop us... YouVersion was started up by LifeChurch.tv. I feel that LifeChurch.tv needs some more introduction. I'm not that well acquainted with it, but as I have come to understand it, poking around on their website, it's an actual church with more than 10 locations or something. The churches are so spread out that they are all connected by satellite and internet in some way (exactly how they're connected that way...that's not really clear to me yet... They do put their sermons online...). The odd thing is that their brick-and-mortar churches are also called "LifeChurch.tv"--.tv?! I don't understand the reasoning for a physical church to have a ".tv" attached to its name when "Life Church" would be good enough... Anyway--

The thing about LifeChurch.tv is that it runs an "online church." Internet church sounds a bit odd to me, and for me to share more of my opinions about it would be an entirely different post. Ultimately, whatever floats people's boats is my so, so, so short answer (an answer that I almost don't want to give at all). So LifeChurch.tv is very internet savvy, and so they were able to make YouVersion, a free online Bible that connects you to other believers, allowing you to connect through shared links, videos, and comments, all centered the individual's selected Bible verse(s).

As with any other Web 2.0 app, this means signing up for an account. I know how to do that! Check! And now... The Bible Reader. Either I'm not that smart, or it's not that intuitive, or it just doesn't work that well, but the reader takes some getting used to. It says:

You can begin by selecting, then tagging () or starring () content that resonate with your studies.

I failed at the first (which was the basis to the second and third). For your information,
Just tap the text and it will select/highlight the entire verse in yellow for you. It took me a while to figure it out. So sad.

To the right of the reader is what I like to call "the Content Tabs" (I just made that up because I didn't know how to refer to it in my post). The first tab of these "Content Tabs," the "Community" tab, brings you to other people's activity surrounding the highlighted verse. Most common are "thoughts"/notes--theological notes, historical notes, "btw" notes, "i love this!" notes, devotional notes... Besides notes, members of the community may attach/upload links to other websites, videos, images, and coming soon, vlogs and audio.

The next tab is the archive for your own uploaded content. It's nice that there is the option of making your own content private or public. However public and community-y you choose to use this website by utilizing YouVersion's Web 2.0-ness (its "Web 2.0-ness" being its ability to link to many different types of things), YouVersion, in my opinion, is more immediate and useful than Delicious bookmarking--at least for Bible study related stuff. See, I could bookmark an article from a website that really makes me go, "Ahh.." about Genesis 1:1 through Delicious and look through my tags at Delicious whenever I wanted to find it, or I could just more directly link it to the actual Bible with YouVersion, and look at "my contributions" on YouVersion where all my other related Bible study content are also located. (es, post-its in the physical Bible book would work, too, but then everything gets lumpy and the post-it covers other parts of text...) YouVersion seems pretty cool, but I need to poke around it a bit more to see if I'd really stick with it.

But no more time for poking around--I'm getting sleepy, and while I'd love to talk to you more about YouVersion, I'd rather talk to God about other things... Good night!

--kowai-kawaii

The Future of _____

Medicine? No. Business? Sort of. Mission? Yes.

The future of mission=Business as Mission

wuzzat mean? (and why can't I write in complete sentences?) It means that more and more missionary work in the future will look more... businessy.

"And KK (kool nickname for kowai-kawaii), why is this so?" Let me spell it out for you! (Not because I think you need me to, but because I don’t know any other way to make this a more “interesting” intro--sorry.)

We all know that the quality of life in "Western"(ized) places are not as great as they can be for the average person (in "Western"(ized) places). If those who choose to obey and follow Jesus actually do what He greatly commissions them to do (ie. the Great Commission, har har, "go and make disciples of all nations" in Mt. 28:19-20) they also need to "love one another" as is frequently mentioned in the Bible. One of the best ways to love others around the world is to create jobs for them. This is where business comes in.

We can start up businesses. We have the capital (maybe not right now in this economy...) If we feel like we have little--I think we actually have a lot more compared to others. So lets do something good with our money. Let's make even more! For good, of course. Makes sense.

Even if I think the future of mission includes Business as Mission companies, I don't think the future of mission ONLY includes the "Business as Mission" movement, per se. It's not the automobile, here to replace the horse-drawn carriage. Think of it instead as... the hybrid or the electric car. It does the same things as a regular car, just in a different way. Hopefully the people in contact with such a company benefit both socioeconomically and spiritually as well.

--kowai-kawaii

Lingala

Hello! Spring break is over... back to work!

...work on... what?

I dunno!

Anyway, you know what I found last Saturday? Poking around once more at The Talking Bible blog led me to the Talking Bibles website which led me to Audio Scriptures. At Audio Scriptures, I can listen to the recordings of the Bible online for free! I might sound like some type of advertisement, but honestly, I love this website! As a linguistics major, I love languages, and so I love hearing the sounds that people make in different languages that speakers of English couldn't possibly try to pronounce--I just like hearing different things!

But let's not forget that these languages available for a little look-see (hear-listen?) at this website are more than just exotic sounds. Take Lingala for example. Heard of it? I've never heard of it. Not until I saw it on this website. So what do I do? I click on it to hear it. What do I hear? Something African.

"Something African."?! Pardon me, I'm Asian-American (Taiwanese to be exact!), so the only non-Western European languages my ears are familiar with are the East Asian ones. But still, I can't just write off a language that people think, feel, argue, forgive, honor, encourage in as "something African." So now what do I do?

What does any curious college kid do? Why, they look it up on Wikipedia! So what does Wikipedia say?

Lingala is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) and a large part of the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic. It has over 10 million speakers.

Shnikies! Over ten million people speak this language, and I've never even heard of it! People in four countries speak this language, and I've never even heard of it! The official language of two countries, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo (did you even know there were two Congos?), and I've never even heard of it! About eight million people live in New York City while more than twelve million people live in Tokyo. This many people, and we probably just write them off as "something African." That doesn't sound right.

And yet, the reason I only heard about this language and its "over 10 million speakers" is because I wanted to hear some exotic sounds. That in itself doesn't sound quite right either. So you know what I really like about Audio Scriptures? It acquaints me with a part of the world I was earlier ignorant of. It isn't right just listening to sounds, so I look up the language, then its speakers, then their countries... And now what? I can pray for them.

Joshua Project is a site I like to use for more detailed information. It's a website that compiles information about different people groups. So looking at the Joshua Project website, I learn that the Lingala of DRC are already primarily Christian. The church is already fairly widespread and established, so when I pray, I can praise God for this!

See? Isn't the internet good and fun? You should try it. And as I sign off--let me leave you with a view of a beautiful page of the Bible in Lingala...


--kowai-kawaii

Narrowing it down...

I've been thinking about this paper I'm writing for a class--the one whose annotations I've been posting on this blog. Bible translation is a big topic. I don't really even know where to start. I mean, some people just like to debate the pros and cons of specific English translations and "necessary" revisions. I don't want to do that. There's a enough about all that. I say--why worry about English, when languages we've never even heard of, languages we couldn't possibly pronounce, haven't even heard of God and the Bible? The fifteen plus 20th and 21st century versions of the Protestant Bible in English now seem quite frivolous to me. Okay. Thoughts are too negative. Stop that!

But translation as a goal for missions--it seems kind of narrow. I'm pretty sure there aren't a lot of information and academic resources out there. Oh, no doubt there are spiritual/theological/pastoral writings on it. But academically... Why would there be a lot of information on it? I don't think it's a topic that typical academics ponder often.

I've been thinking a lot about the cultures. Our differences. Not just the more surface, social things, but the things that run the deepest--our values. How do our differences complicate translation? I've also been thinking a little bit about history. How does history (past translation and mission projects and imperialism/colonization) play a roll in current efforts? But more practically, how has the process of translation changed? Do these changes equal bigger success? Just some thoughts to chew on. Definitely not yet as well thought-out I would like to be.

--kowai-kawaii

"Flakes of info and fun!"

That's how I'd try, in my corny way, to promote Pageflakes. It's a start page similar to iGoogle or Netvibes. The idea is that you can put a whole bunch of things (ie, widgets/flakes) that you like all together on a page, or a tab. You could have a very basic "home" start page, with your email, a game that you always play, the weather, a calendar, and some RSS feeds. You can also have more specialized tabs--ones devoted to music, sports, science, etc. Then if you really want to, you can also publish this particular tab into a "pagecast" and other people can see it and use it too. It's a great way to share information, and so--I've made one!

Make your way on over, or just read my little summary of it here:

I've tried to keep it organized. On the right are RSS feeds to blogs I like to keep up with. Many are included in my blogroll. I'll need to update my blogroll. One of them is this blog you are now currently reading. (On a side note, a cool thing aboutPageflakes is that you can click a button and view a pagecast as if it were an RSS reader.)

To the left, under the introduction are two search engines (already loaded with search words) to keep us updated on current, related pieces of news and blog entries. And remember Maigemu? I've bookmarked his "mission" tags. I've also shamelessly bookmarked my own Diigo bookmarks.

And here's something juicy--the annotated bibliography I've been giving sneak peeks to! It's done really techno-savvily with Zotero, a source-bookmarking add-on to Firefox, and Citeline, an online tool that automatically types up bibliographies for you, made by those geniuses at MIT. It's okay if this isn't your favorite part of the pagecast, though. I understand if it's a bit dry.

Next, some websites for getting involved... All three of these websites are sites of organizations founded by a man named Cameron Townsend. The first is Wycliffe Bible Translators, an organization I've mentioned before. They are a mission organization aiming to send people out to translate Bibles. Besides actual Bible translators, included in the work force (partially through the closely related Wycliffe Associates) are language surveyors, literacy specialists, teachers for the kids of missionaries, even librarians, and many many more.

They work very closely with JAARS, of whose site I've included as third in the pagecast. JAARS is an organization aiming to aid missionaries in other, more specialized and technical ways (eg, radio transmission, aviation, information technology, contsuction).

The second website included (yes, I understand I'm explaining out of order) is OneStory. OneStory aims to make voice recordings of Bible stories for oral-based cultures. It's a great step toward actual Bible translation.

And the last little bit of this pagecast, tacked onto the right column under the RSS feeds are two websites full of great linguistic information--SIL International and its publication, the Ethnologue, a collection of the world's languages.

And.. that concludes my pagecast! I hope you have fun using the pagecast and looking at all the things I like to look at!

--kowai-kawaii

edit: I've updated and changed the pageflake a little bit, so it currently is a bit different than what I've written about here... And I'm sure it will continue to change, too, so just go there and check it out! :)

màs libros para ti...

Continuing my currently rather aimless research/source-browsing, here are some more sources I've found that might be of interest to you:

Missions, Nationalism, and the End of Empire, edited by Brian Stanley, is a collection of articles on the history of Christian missions. Of interest is the article by Derek Peterson, "The Rhetoric of the Word: Bible Translation and Mau Mau in Colonial Central Kenya." Peterson argues that the Gikuyu in colonial Kenya used Bible translation as a way to comment on morals associated with political and economic change. This article looks past Bible translation itself (the theories, the goals, etc.) and analyzes a specific language being translated. Not only that--it goes beyond the processes and difficulties involved, and looks beyond at other possible motivations, beside missionary-work, involved. This brings to light a facet of the realm of Bible translation, one that, whether unintended or not, still nonetheless exists--politicizing religion. This article could either be too specific, or could be a jumping off point for more directed research.

Customs and Cultures, by Eugene Nida, is a volume of anthropology for those interested in Christian missions. Nida writes on many topics (race, religion in the world, technology/medicine, cross-cultural social interaction) but of course the most useful is the section on language. Though a somewhat older source, with some now commonly disregarded notions (regarding race, for example) and now frowned upon terms used to describe people ("the heathen"), this book is written in an easy-to-read style that makes for clarity for the lay person. It's chock-full of specific, humorous examples of translations gone bad. Whether or not all of these examples will be of use is another matter, but the mistakes they illustrate could be worth noting.

Some other sources:
Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference by Lawrence Venuti
Translating the Bible: An Unending Task by Keith Crim

--kowai-kawaii

Some books

I'll be writing a paper soon! Of course, I'll be writing about Bible translation. What exactly about it, though, I don't know yet. But I've already gone to the library to see what types of books are available. Here's an adapted version of some of the content from the annotated bibliography I'm turning in soon:

A collection of essays by Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion professor, Harry Orlinsky's “Essays in Biblical Culture and Bible Translation” is split into three parts, the third with the most importance: “Essays in Bible Translation.” Although these essays are written in a non-Christian perspective, the Christian Bible includes the Hebrew Bible includes as well, so what Orlinsky has to say is still very relevant. Orlinksy, writing in the 1970s, argues that new translations constantly need to be made, of any sacred scriptures—whether Jewish, Protestant, or Catholic—in order to remain intelligible to audiences whose language has changed from those of the past. While making this argument, Orlinsky draws readers' attentions to a lot of the history of the translation of the Hebrew scriptures for the Jewish and the Christian faiths. So, given that there is a lot of history included, this volume is of value because it sheds light (and gives specific examples) into the practice of translation, no matter which languages are involved.

“Translation as Mission: Bible Translation in the Modern Missionary Movement” by William A. Smalley will probably be a very crucial piece of information for this research. Because this book is written in the Christian perspective—and one that it specifically focusing on translation in the missionary mind-set (not just updating and improving English translations, but into languages that have never had any part of the Bible translated into their language)—every part of it will be useful or necessary in my research because so much is covered in this book (chapter 5: Theology in Translation, chapter 8: Translation Strategy under Language Diversity, chapter 10: Translation and Indigenous Theology). Whatever topic pursued, care must be taken not to just regurgitate this book's information, but to give it relevance and channel it into specific arguments.

--kowai-kawaii

Record players

One day, I had a thought--how did people heat up milk before the invention of microwaves? I asked my mom, and she kindly reminded me about the stove. For heating things up--not just cooking! Weird-sad-inconvenient. To me, that is. And now, I realize that the younger generations probably won't know what is VCR is. So this is what it feels like to “get older.”

But you know, the way that these younger generations won't understand Walkmans and portable CD players is the same way I don't understand record players. I mean, I know it spins and there's a needle placed in grooves on the record... but that's all. And so... It's crazy to think about how God has used everything for his purposes. Harvey Hoekstra of The Talking Bible recently writes about 1964 in Ethiopia,

"Our house was a stick shack the local Majang had put up in a single day. Lavina cooked on three stones and we ate our meals using our boy scout aluminum utensils. This was about as simple as one could get...[One night] I was reading a little book by Joy Ridderhof, founder of Gospel Recordings. She was telling the story of how she began using phonograph records to multiply the occasions when new people could hear the Gospel message in their very own languages.

As I read that story, by the light of that flickering candle, I said to Lavina, "Honey, if we are going to reach this tribe, we're going to have to use those 'wretched records'." I had seen, while living in the Sudan, how unskilled, non-literate people would carry those heavy army surplus record players and the phonograph discs all over the place. I had seen how people were impacted by the message on those discs. And I had seen how just ordinary people became effective witnesses because the phonograph records having the message gave them confidence and a way to share their limited knowledge of Christ.

I suspect I used those words, "wretched records," because of their limitations. Those army surplus players were heavy to carry. And the fidelity of the records themselves was too soon distorted as the phonograph needle made its deepening groves in that turning disc."

So even though some things may be considered inconvenient (or just old-fashioned, in my eyes), I don't think God thinks of them that way. I think he sees value in everything, no matter what time period he uses any particular item in.

--kowai-kawaii

Soulmates?

Are we supposed to have one soulmate? I think I might have two: let's say I'm Christine Daae: I have a Raoul: and a Phantom:

Raoul I have known for a while and he provides me with stability. The Phantom is a recent adventure, very enriching...

Yeah... no, my analogy ends here because I personally feel that the Phantom is a crazy, bitter person. Anyway--can I do this? Is it cool behavior to have two soulmates? Can I even call them my "soulmates" if I have more than one?

Oh, but before we get too philosophical, who are my "loves"? Well, it's kind of embarrassing to admit it, but I found them online. Through Delicious. But it's even more embarrassing to admit that my love for them is unrequited. At least, they probably don't know I exist. That's fine, cuz I haven't introduced myself to them, so I don't expect anything. (Maybe they aren't my soulmates, if I don't care whether they know of my existence or not...) Enough dilly-dallying. Let me introduce them to you!

The "soulmate" I had in mind as Raoul, just because I recognized this name (the way Christine and Raoul recognize each other in the early part of the story) is:

Kouya. You might sort-of remember this name from my January 29th post (if indeed you, reader, clicked on the link I provided for "the Arthurs' 'blog'"). "Kouya" is the Arthurs, Eddie and Sue of the UK. I was excited to see that they also use Delicious. Bible translators for twenty years, they have a clear interest in related, additional topics, such as ethnomusicology, the Jesus film, etc. The sad thing is that their participation at Delicious seems to be on hold. Not having commented on any bookmarks, yet having made tags into convenient bundles, the last bookmark marked of their less than 30 bookmarks was marked June 2006. Best stick to their active blog. Maybe my second "soulmate" will be more...present and available.

Or a little too present and available, if I'm still rolling with my analogy, and he were the crazy-pedophilic-kidnapping Phantom. Irregardless, the second one is Maigemu. A currently active user of Delicious, Maigemu's interests include a lot of intellectual aspects of Christianity. Some tags include Calvinism, Arminianism, eschatology, and theology. See, very brainy. A slight departure from Bible translation, yes, but nonetheless, a good indicator of a sharp, well-rounded mind. Nearing 1300 tags, this guy is at treasure trove of information. Too bad his tags aren't organized into little convenient bundles the way Kouya's are.

Well, if I were still Christine, and Maigemu the Phantom, he'd teach me this song to perform and share with you all: Interserve International. This organization is

a network of Christians from all over the world who, using their professional skills, work together to serve people of Asia and the Arab world - getting alongside them in tackling material, physical, mental and spiritual needs. (emphasis added)

I know many mission organizations have this same type of focus (though not necessarily to the same regions of the world), but I'd just like to remind myself and you, readers, that Bible translation isn't just about learning a language and translating some words. It's about doing what those words actually say--which is to love God and to love our neighbors. What better way to love than to serve by doing what we can for others holistically? Help to give people what they need, just the way Jesus did with us!

--kowai-kawaii

Blogorama: A Revision

So to all of you out there... you're gonna be like, "What's going on..." No, this isn't the name of a musical or something. I've just revised these three posts to see if I can improve my writing. Don't feel obliged to reread them though. It's just minor stuff.


Hello!

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog about Bible translation!

"Why, kowai-kawaii, what an interesting topic! How did you decide to blog about that?"

Well, originally I had thought about blogging about linguistics: how our words, or the way they are pronounced and used, affect how people see us (as in, whether or not there is any resultant discrimination or judgment). Sociolinguistics, I guess. I had wanted to dispel misconceptions of what made a language a language or a dialect, what made something “correct” about a language, if indeed there is any “correctness” involved. That kind of stuff. But I thought about it for a while. Could I really write about that for an entire semester...or even longer? I didn't really have anything to say about this stuff except for what you could easily learn in a class that you can actually take here at this university (a class that I had taken, of course...) I didn't really have anything new to add to this discussion—I just agreed with people and wanted others to know about it all. So I was thinking, along with my roommate, what else did I care about that could be academically related to linguistics?

But first!—here's something you should know about me: I'm spiritual—my spirituality is in Jesus Christ. I know, I know—doesn't it just sound like I might as well say, “Hi everyone, I'm Christian - Protestant! What's your religion according to Facebook?” But really, what I believe—it's not just a label that I slap on to myself for identity's sake. Nor is it just a set of rules that I follow blindly, cuz it's "tradition" or something. No, I'm not gonna just go with the flow, be like the other "Christians"—no rock and roll music, must be home-schooled and vote Republican because it's what God wants you to do. No way. All that I want is to follow Jesus's example. I mean, with all my ability (and then some!) I want to listen to others' differing beliefs in order to respect and love them. But what I hope is to share with you something I find interesting, in more ways than just spiritual—something that also says a lot about people, cultures, and languages.

That's why I'll be writing about Bible translation. And as most people know, Christians—whether the religious, traditional kind or the kind that really wants to make a difference in the world—read the Bible. (Whether they really do what it says is another matter...) What's the point of translating it, especially if that means leaving the comfort of your home, culture, and language? Well, to do as the book itself says, those who choose the spirituality of following God's way are supposed to take this book and its message to

“every nation, tribe, language and people” (Revelation 14:6)

so that “every nation, tribe, language and people” can hopefully decide for itself whether or not it wants to choose this way as well. For those who do not have this book in their own language, how are they supposed to read and truly understand it unless it is translated into the language that speaks directly to their hearts and souls?

For that matter, what does translation mean? It might mean finding out exactly what languages are out there: how many are there in a particular area? Which? Do they already have a writing system? What are some related languages? It will definitely mean understanding a new culture and people group. It will mean difficulties and struggles for those going out there to do this work, and it will also mean difficulties and struggles in the work itself. Hopefully I'll get to know more and we can look into the linguistics and cultural differences involved in all of this together!

As with any intellectual exchange, feel free to disagree with me because I'll be happy to reply! This is what a blog is for—it's a dialogue between writer and reader, reader to reader, hopefully to further understanding between different peoples—whether of the same or different nation, tribe, or language.

And so... peace in the Middle East, as my currently sleeping roommate would say...

--kowai-kawaii


Check this out!

Go check out "Nyungwe Bible Translation"! As you can guess...it's a blog completely devoted to the translation of the Bible into the Nyungwe language in Tete, Mozambique. Nyungwe is

a language spoken by more than 250,000 people living in the region of the Zambezi River.

It's a concise little blog that shows anybody who's interested, from financial and/or prayer supporters to any person like me who has an interest in the subject, a little bit about what goes on in the world of translation. It's not necessarily all that academic, because it's not here to instruct us about how to translate or anything, but it is very professionally written. I believe an American missionary working on the project writes this blog. Based on his post in the May of 2008, linking us to his other blogs, he is David Ker,

a media access specialist and member of Wycliffe Bible Translators based in Mozambique, Africa.

Wycliffe Bible Translators, by the way, is probably the biggest organization out there devoted to translating the Bible into all the languages spoken by all the people on Earth. (But more info on them later!)

One post I like is one from April 2006, where more light is shed into the actual process of Bible translation. In my mind when I was younger, I imagined Bible translation to be a dangerous, adventurous journey where a family would go alone into an unknown jungle-or-something and live with the "natives", as the natives do, slowly learning their language and developing a script for it. But now that areas of the world are more developed, I suppose it's more common for things to be done more efficiently as a group effort. With training, nationals are actually doing more of the actual translating now, not foreign missionaries. Computers are available, too.

This post in November 2007 reveals to you the dedication these people have for translation. It's boiling hot in Mozambique, even in November, so the most comfortable place to work is in the shade outdoors!--on little wooden chairs? With our worldviews and living standards, I'm sure I'd be thinking about how my butt's so sore and my feet are all dusty, but really--this is home for others! And reading the previous post, this Pastor Semo (the joyful, smiling man in the picture, I presume)--his wife had passed away about two months prior. That he still has this passion, drive, and joy is completely inspirational to me; it really is a testament to how God heals.

Actually, each post in this blog is a gem--BUT--this blog only averages about 4 posts a year: this is probably due to busy schedules and perhaps limited internet access. Posts are kept short, probably due once more to limited internet access. As for popularity, I suppose it is not that popular--the post with the highest number of comments contain only 2 comments, and a technorati search yields no results. I can't help but feel a bit sad because, you know, I can't help but yearn for more from this blog! More detail, more shtuff! I'd love to know more about the state of their permanent office since they've moved into "the Garage." It'd be great to see a list of the books of the Bible they've completed, too, or to know a little bit more about the individuals in the translation team. I feel as if I'm not getting a big, HD picture of the translation process, just little microscope zooms into some parts. As I said earlier, it's "a concise little blog"--but that doesn't mean that I want it to stay that way!

Ah, well, I guess I'll still be coming back to this site as a reference about ways in which Bible translation occurs. There's not a whole lot, but it's just so cool to be reading about something that's happening right now. In real time. Otherwise, the only contact I'll have with a particular translation process is probably just the finished product. w00t!
--kowai-kawaii


The Lousy Linguist is a baritone.

That is my guess. But as far his literary voice goes, I think he's incredibly funny while still being so academic and informative. He really knows how to use his words. Not surprising, as he's a linguist (a "lousy" one) who specializes in syntax and semantics. His posts range from discussing the meanings of specific words ("think" vs "believe", "call"), to discussing things he's come across (little xkcd comics, Stephen Colbert...) of relevance to the world of linguistics. Thus, his voice may range from more academic, to more casual and critical. And he's not at all afraid to state his opinions and to pick sides (or let us know what side he's already on, I suppose). My favorites of his posts have to be the ones where the reader can tell that he's currently feeling very passionate about linguistics. Namely, the blogs where he is critical of Andrew Sullivan, blogger of The Daily Dish. Why do I like these posts the most? For that matter, why am I even blogging about this site, seeing as how its main topics are syntax and semantics, and not Bible translation?

Bible translation from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek to another, whether English or, let's say, Nyungwe, is all about understanding the meanings of the original words in order to find, hopefully, equivalents in another language. That task itself requires an understanding of the language being translated into. And so, understanding the syntax and semantics of that language is key because if there's confusion and/or disagreement regarding what some words actually mean, or how they should best be used, well... we'd be in trouble. Or shall I say that we are already in trouble if speakers of the English language seem to be "talking bad" already? We often mix up common words ("effect" and "affect," "sympathy" and "empathy," "then" and "than"...the list goes on...) and get rid of specific ones we just don't seem to like ("whom," anyone?). But actually, even if we mix stuff up and put words down and eventually change language, the fate of Bibles seem to be doing okay, as translations get updated and revised to change along with language.

And see, language is forever changing. It has to. There's a certain amount that we should try to regulate, I suppose, so that we can continue to understand each other cross generationally or something, but those that maintain that rules are rules are rules... That is not language. We've got to be flexible because people, society, we change. Prescriptivism is about prescribing the rules for language. Descriptivism is about describing the way language is spoken. Click on his "andrew sullivan" tag, and the two most recent posts imply that the Lousy Linguist is a descriptivist, also stating that Sullivan of The Daily Dish is a prescriptivist.

So part of why I like this Lousy Linguist's posts regarding Sullivan is his vocal ability to critique so humorously without lacking substance (ie, reason and credibility). His character is one that loves the English language the way it is used by the masses (he often Googles specific word phrases to check the popularity and usage of it). He loves his area of study, is offended when others disregard it, and, boy, do his snarky words let us know his mood. Someone who loves linguistics so much really lets himself shine when he comes to defend the subject of study itself and his point of view (check out: Dissin' Linguists and Deer Meat & Semantic Narrowing--and now I know: rhetorical questions are very useful. I'll have to look into that).

The Lousy Linguist's voice is humorous with substance, honest and unafraid of opposition. He certainly does not try to imply that his opinions and thoughts are fact, and he praises, surmises, and critiques while still maintaining a fairly academic tone. He doesn't impose his thoughts on others who differ (though he may directly address them: "Andrew Sullivan! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Take a frikkin linguistics course! Ugh!") The fact that he blogs all of this down communicates to me that he just needs to collect his thoughts and perhaps share them along the way. Yet, there are times when he isn't feeling as diplomatic as one merely "sharing his opinions" (very much to my pleasure). When he declares war on Stephen Colbert, his asyndetic descriptions of Colbert give me joy:

Stephen had the cheekiness, the impudence, the audacity, the temerity, the mendacity, to lump linguistics in with classics and comparative literature in the lowest tier of his new pricing system for college majors...I’ll be damned if I’ll let some plastic-haired, thin-lipped, southern-fried ninny sully the name of my chosen profession.

and in discussing MIT linguist Pinker:

I have mixed feelings about Pinker. I admire his contribution to psycholinguistics, even while disagreeing with some of his major conclusions. ...But of late, he seems to have jumped off the deep end of rationality and come to the conclusion that his opinions and intuition are more than that; they are now fact. I think we would all be better off if Pinker got off the lecture circuit and back into the lab and started studying verbs again.

Oh, his daring, to criticize so boldly and honestly the renowned Pinker, renouncing him as one who's "jumped off the deep end of rationality." What metaphors! What visuals! If we could all be truly free to blog as we wish, like The Lousy Linguist. To feel fine and unburdened as we talk about what we want to talk about, with whatever voice we want to use. I mean, we could--I could--I guess I'm not personally quite at that step yet. Yeah...I don't think I'm as verbally opinionated (especially out there in the interwebs) as some people are. Maybe it's the Asian in me that's keeping me back. Or something. I dunno.

--kowai-kawaii

Let's get connected, yeah yeah yeah

Soo, exploring the great interwebs is fun. I really do spend too much time doing it. And my Firefox "bookmarks" thing isn't that great because organizing is a bit of a hassle and not everything fits that well into specific folders. So hmm, what about a social bookmarking site? Which one will be best for me? Well, what am I looking for? I'm not that big on networking, but if people have some of the same interests and have found new, different things--awwesome. I guess the key words I should be searching up would be "Bible", "translation", and then maybe "missions", if "Bible"+"translation" is still too broad. So let's see...

Stumbleupon is too fun. A search doesn't bring me anything too interesting that I didn't really already know about. I'll use this site to procrastinate.

Of course, Citeulike is a keeper, just because it's so academic. I don't know if it exactly has information that I'd want specifically regarding Bible translation, but it wouldn't hurt to dig around and to use it for other classes and research, too.

Trailfire and Twine are...interesting...but the overall concept of both of them are not really what I'm looking for. Looking at someone's trail is a bit weird. Do I really need to have all this information fed to me? Twine is a bit better cuz I guess multiple people can contribute to a specific topic, but still. I'd rather find my own stuff my own way. Besides, searching up my specific tags in these two sites don't bring up a lot for me.

And too bad an iceberg hit RSS Ma.gnolia. I've heard good things about it, especially presentation. I guess its saved webpages for users aren't exactly "unsinkable". This aspect of Magnolia makes me think of Furl, and after looking up my tags, I think I could use this one, especially if I really want to be able to save webpages. I don't know if I want/need to yet. I mean, I don't currently even use a bookmarking site anyway, so...I guess I won't know if I need it until I try stuff out. A plus is that, with the ability to make and join groups, this site's social life seems pretty healthy.

Although Digg is so popular, I'm afraid it's too popular. It's like "popular" music--people generally like it, but it's not that substantial. Not for my topic, anyway. The simple search of "bible translation" actually brings this friend:

No results Found

Every site I've mentioned so far have actually at least brought me something, whether its stuff related purely to translation or to Bible study. So maybe Digg just has a really bad search engine tool thing but nevertheless--in my opinion, Digg has limited value: it's purely a casual, "Hmm what's up..." site.

And now... down to the juicy, meaty bits: Delicious and Diigo!! Delicious has so many dang users--a plus--because there's a lot showing up in my searches. Besides that, its layout is friendly. Its delicious.. and friendly... so tempting... But let's not forget Diigo. Community here seems to be stressed a lot more. With Diigo, it's so much easier to communicate within the community because of the highlighting and sticky noting. Verry niice... Delicious and Diigo together... I like...

--kowai-kawaii

(And check out what I found today!: The Johnson family in Papua New Guinea.)

Even in English...

Hey everyone--I just posted this comment on the Northwest Baptist Seminary website where I realized too late that I mistyped the URL link to my blog hehe :)

Hi Mr. Naylor!

In answering your questions: I used to think that word for word translations were the best. I also thought that we should keep God’s words as close to the original as possible, because it would be closer to what he really SAID. But as I learned more and actually tried to read from more word for word translations, I realized that I just could not understand it because I didn’t naturally read with such an actively linguistically interpreting brain. It kind of detracted from my ability to really apply things to my life. What was the point of being so careful to know exactly what God had SAID when I couldn’t really even understand what he MEANS?

So now I think that people should read whatever works best for them. I have a friend who had been reading the NIV Bible all her life until a few years ago. She gave NASB a try and realized that it made things *click* more for her. It’s crazy that the phrasings don’t slow her down as they do me… Well, I also believe that comparing Bible translations is helpful to interpret difficult passages. The more the merrier!

My only concern regarding the more dynamic versions is that in the effort to keep things readable and non-churchy lingo-y, sometimes it seems that certain truths are watered down; though the WORDS are completely comprehensible to all, they lose their a certain level of intent and TRUE meaning.

Of course, I’m no pro. I don’t think about these issues too much. To be honest, I haven’t completed the Bible yet. Too bad school takes up so much of my time…

But I see that you are also involved with the translation of the Bible into Sindhi–how do translators go about translating into a different language where this will be, for many languages, the first ever translation? What rhetoric do translators usually strive for, for this first translation? I’m sure making cultural differences clear is difficult already. Anyway, I’m always interested in reading more!

So... peace and goodnight..

--kowai-kawaii

The Lousy Linguist is a baritone.

That is my guess. But as far his literary voice goes, I think he's incredibly funny while still being so academic and informative. He really knows how to use his words. Not surprising, as he's a linguist (a "lousy" one) who specializes in syntax and semantics. His posts range from discussing the meanings of specific words ("think" vs "believe", "call"), to discussing things he's come across (little xkcd comics, Stephen Colbert...) of relevance to the world of linguistics. Thus, his voice may range from more academic, to more casual and critical. And he's not at all afraid to state his opinions and to pick sides (or let us know what side he's already on, I suppose). My favorites of his posts have to be the ones critical of Andrew Sullivan, blogger of The Daily Dish. Why do I like these posts the most? For that matter, why am I even blogging about this site, seeing as how its main topics are syntax and semantics, and not Bible translation?

Bible translation from the original languages to another, whether English or, let's say, Nyungwe, is all about understanding the meaning of the original words in order to find, hopefully, equivalents in another language. That task itself requires an understanding of the language being translated into, and so understanding the syntax and semantics of that language is key because if there's confusion and/or disagreement regarding what some words actually mean, or how they should best be used, well... we'd be in trouble. Or shall I say that we are in trouble? But actually, we seem to be doing okay, as translations get updated and revised to change along with language.

And see, language is forever changing. It has to. There's a certain amount that we should try to regulate, I suppose, so that we can continue to understand each other cross generationally or something, but those that maintain that rules are rules are rules... That is not language. We've got to be flexible because people, society, change. Prescriptivism is about prescribing the rules for language. Descriptivism is about describing the way language is spoken. The Lousy Linguist is a descriptivist while Sullivan is a prescriptivist.

So part of why I like this Lousy Linguist's posts regarding Sullivan is his ability to critique so humorously without lacking substance: reason and credibility. His character is one that loves the English language the way it is used by the masses (he often Googles specific word phrases to check the popularity and usage of it). He loves his area of study and he is offended when others disregard it. Someone who loves linguistics so much really lets himself shine when he comes to defend the subject of study itself and his point of view (check out: Dissin' Linguists and Deer Meat & Semantic Narrowing--and now I know: rhetorical questions are very useful. I'll have to look into that).

Back to what I glossed over in my opening paragraph about The Lousy Linguist's posts: what I like most about his voice is that he writes with honesty, not afraid to to invite opposition, and certainly not stating that his opinions and thoughts are fact (all while still being fairly academic). He doesn't impose his thoughts on others who differ (though he may directly address them: "Andrew Sullivan! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Take a frikkin linguistics course! Ugh!") The fact that he blogs all of this down communicates to me that he just needs to collect his thoughts and perhaps share them along the way. He lets himself freely think this way in "Words and Meaning":

I could be wrong about this, but my hunch is that the human language system takes all written representations of language and converts them into an internal mental representation it’s happy with...but I don’t see any reason to believe that the internal semantic representation of kanji is somehow different than the representation of words. (emphasis added)

and in discussing MIT linguist Pinker:

I have mixed feelings about Pinker. I admire his contribution to psycholinguistics, even while disagreeing with some of his major conclusions. ...But of late, he seems to have jumped off the deep end of rationality and come to the conclusion that his opinions and intuition are more than that; they are now fact. I think we would all be better off if Pinker got off the lecture circuit and back into the lab and started studying verbs again.

Oh, if we could all be truly free to blog as we wish like The Lousy Linguist. To feel fine and unburdened as we talk about what we want to talk about, and to feel fine and unburdened to not talk about what we don't want to talk about. I mean, we could--I could--I guess I'm not personally quite at that step yet. Yeah, I don't think I'm as verbally opinionated to any old person (especially out there in the interwebs) as some people.

--kowai-kawaii

Some more...

Maaan there're so many blogs out there! I thought I'd have some trouble finding blogs related to this area, but umm... I guess not. It's actually kind of late as I type this. My eyelids are getting all droopy. Anyway, look:

lingamish.com: that translator that blogs about the progress of the Nyungwe Bible--David Ker--he blogs about a ton of things...things he finds interesting. Get this:

I never blog about cats.

And this one's funny. Actually, he just is funny. He's got a great blogging voice. But there's just a lot of stuff there. It'll take a while for me to get through it all.

The Arthurs' blog is cool cuz in its "tags" section, "BIBLE TRANSLATION" shows up as the BIGGEST.

The Talking Bible reminds us about the cultures out there, that are oral and not script based cultures. Audio Bibles will probably be the most meaningful to them, huh.

The "Translation Issues" category in the Northwest Baptist Seminary archives talk more about translation itself, regardless of resultant language.

Ok, going to bed. It feels so late. How will I ever have the time to revisit these blogs and pour through them? On a side note, my roommate will now have trouble making sure I'm actually doing homework when from now she'll see me on the computer a lot. :)

--kowai-kawaii

Check this out!

Go check out "Nyungwe Bible Translation"! As you can guess...it's a blog completely devoted to the translation of the Bible into the Nyungwe language in Tete, Mozambique. Nyungwe is

a language spoken by more than 250,000 people living in the region of the Zambezi River.

It's a concise little blog that shows anybody who's interested, from financial and/or prayer supporters to any old person like me who has an interest in the subject, a little bit about what goes on in the world of translation. It's not necessarily all that academic, because it's not here to instruct us about how to translate or anything, but it is very professionally written. I believe an American missionary working on the project writes this blog. Based on his post in the May of 2008, linking us to his other blogs, he is David Ker,

a media access specialist and member of Wycliffe Bible Translators based in Mozambique, Africa.

Wycliffe Bible Translators, by the way, is probably the biggest organization out there devoted to translating the Bible into all the languages spoken by all the people on Earth. (But more info on them later!)

One post I like is one from April 2006, where more light is shed into the process of Bible translation. In my mind when I was younger, I imagined Bible translation to be a dangerous, adventurous journey where a family would go alone into an unknown area and live with the "natives", as the natives do, slowly learning their language and developing a script for it. But now that areas of the world are more developed, I suppose it's more common for things to be done more efficiently as a group effort. With training, nationals are actually doing more of the actual translating now, not foreign missionaries. Computers are available, too.

This post in November 2007 reveals to you the dedication these people have for translation. It's boiling hot in Mozambique, even in November, so the most comfortable place to work is in the shade outdoors!--on little wooden chairs? With our worldviews and living standards, I'm sure I'd be thinking about how my butt's so sore and my feet are all dusty, but really--this is home for others! And reading the previous post, this Pastor Semo (the joyful, smiling man in the picture, I presume)--his wife had passed away about two months prior. That he still has this passion, drive, and joy is completely inspirational to me; it really is a testament to how God heals.

This blog averages about 4 posts a year: this is probably due to busy schedules and perhaps limited internet access. Posts are kept short, probably due once more to limited internet access. As for popularity, I suppose it is not that popular--the post with the highest number of comments contain 2 comments. Most posts are commentless and a technorati search yields no results.

Besides all that technical stuff, I'll be coming back to this site as a reference about ways in which Bible translation occurs. There's not a whole lot, but it's just so cool to be reading about something that's happening right now. In real time. Otherwise, the only contact I'll have with a particular translation process is probably just the finished product. w00t!

--kowai-kawaii