on 8/28/03 8:55 PM, Merritt L. Perkins at mlperkins3(a)juno.com wrote:
. There are many things about Wikipedia that I do not
know about because
I don't know how to find out or where to look.
Try
http://www.wikipedia.org
Richard Gtreves has told
how to find out about
Wikipedias in different languages. I was surprised that so much has been
written in languages other than English.
. There are many expressions and abbreviation that I do not understand
and don't know where to find an explanation of them.
Perhaps you could try a good dictionary or encyclopedia. for abreviations
you might look at:
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation
. Why should speakers of English be interested in
encyclopedias in other
languages?
Citizens of the United States are responsible for the administration of a
great empire and have to know everything.
If you are studying another language and have learned
what you can from
language lessons you need some way to practice what you have learned.
Yes, editing on the Hindi wikipedia should bring you up to speed.
Encyclopedias give you a variety of subjects to choose
from and
preferably are original articles and not translations..
If you're into reading enclopedias.
Years ago I tape-recorded the language lessons from
shortwave radio
broadcasts from radio Beijing. They sent me the printed books to go with
the lessons.. I have a Chinese English dictionary sent to me from China.
How could I get the articles from the Chinese encyclopedia so that I can
view them on the screen?
Try
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A6%96%E9%A0%81
I would like to have it read the text with a
synthetic voice so that I could listen to it and have
it point to words
that it is reading . Is this asking too much?
Modern software allows you to do this, System X for the Macintosh can be set
up in Chinese and will do all that. (I think). Except for pointing to the
words, but perhaps there is some such software somewhere. If not someone
ought to write it.
I would like to be able to
print it out on paper.
As noted previously you will have to use a printer and supporting software
(that on System X will print Chinese).
Long ago Chinese was written on strips of bamboo, the
characters were
written one line vertically downward. A hole new the top allowed a string
to be used to tie them together. When writing on silk or paper they
started in the upper right corner and wrote down. In 1956. the mainland
government adopted simplified characters writing from left to right..
I have two writing brushes but no ink stick. Today they use a ball-point
pens.
Ink sticks are easily obtained though Chinese or Japanese merchants. And
perhaps through an artist supply store.
How could I get the hardware and software needed to
write languages other
than English with a computer.?
The modern operating systems: Microsoft's XP and Apple's System X have this.
Just buy any modern personal computer and the operating system will come
bundled with it. You can set up the computer in any number of languages.
I am dictating this with Dragons NaturallySpeaking 7
preferred. It is
available in the five English dialects: US English, UK English,
Australian English, Indian English, and Southeast Asian English. It is
supposed to be able to read back what you said, and what it recorded on
the screen. For some reason I can't get these features to work.
Perhaps it is relatively simple if you can see the screen. Have a sighted
person eyeball it and see if they can't figure it out.
I suggest that when writing an article you should keep
in mind that some
of the readers may be learning the language and so explain some of the
terms used. When an abbreviation is used the first time explain what it
stands for in parentheses and perhaps add a footnote explaining what it
means and a reference to an article on the subject...
You're preaching to the choir, but perhaps some hardheads will take note.
Merritt L. Perkins
Thank you Merritt, Your posts have provided an excellent springboard for
discussion on the list. I'm sure this one will too.
Say hello to your cousin Lisa.
Fred Bauder
http://www.internet-encyclopedia.org