Part of offering help to language learners is presenting flexible techniques; some people prefer flashcards, some prefer fill-in-the-blank questions, some like to read a lot of examples. Some like to see grammar spelled out, some like to grab colloquial usage and eventually come to understand the rules. Some people don't really know their preference.
One idea for the simplest data model I can imagine that allows freedom in learning is:
Lojban Sentence Submission (by anyone): lojban, natlang, and comments on one page
Use a blog-like web-page format of sentence case-studies with associated comments to provide a web-accessible learning database for lojbanistas (anyone interested in lojban).
Scenario 1
* Lojbanists who already know their stuff can put submit lojban sentences with either/both linguistic, thorough glosses and natural language (possibly multilingual) renditions.
* Beginners can search by keyword, vocab word, grammar, etc. They find the sentence, they ask a question in the comments, and something like what happens on this mailing list gets recorded in an easily visible webpage form
Scenario 2
* Beginners can submit a lojban sentence and an attempt at natlang translation, or vice-versa, or even just a natlang sentence they want to know how to say in lojban.
* Lojbanists fill it in, and use the comments to discuss, like this mailing list, any tricky grammar points etc.
Scenario 3
(maybe a bit more fun)
* Same as scenario 1 or 2, except the lojban sentence leaves a _____ blank to be filled in. A lojbanist might use this to write a 'textbook problem' or to overcome jolban writers block, and a beginner can use this technique to answer questions, or test the expressive limits of lojban.
Several days ago I mailed a data model for a language-lesson format. This solution seems to be a bit more tailored to lojban, because it seems the bulk of lojban conversation takes this form naturally (a text excerpt, then a collaborative linguistic dissection with interspersed grammar questions). The two structures could overlap (sentences as a searchable content type are used in both).
Any thoughts/suggestions?
mu'o mi'e .ku'us.
On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 04:02, A. PIEKARSKI
<totus@rogers.com> wrote:
----- Original Message ----
> From: Michael Turniansky <mturniansky@gmail.com>
> To: lojban-beginners@lojban.org
> Sent: Mon, December 21, 2009 2:22:42 PM
> Subject: [lojban-beginners] Re: Site for beginners was: vlatai and logflash
>
> On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 1:27 PM, Pierre Abbat wrote:
>
> > There's a standard sentence-glossing format among linguists: You write a
> > sentence in the language being studied, then translate each morpheme, putting
> > cmavo and their rafsi in caps. I'd like to see this done to Lojban sentences,
> > or in Lojban to sentences of other languages. E.g.:
> >
> > i le nu se citka cu funca le tordu sastu'u lacpu
> > SENT.SEP DEF EVENT PASS2 eat PRED.MARK luck.of DEF short grass-tube pull
> > The event of being eaten is the luck of the short straw puller.
> >
> > On ?tiras à la courte paille pour savoir qui serait mangé.
> > INDEF.PRON pull-PAST.2SING at/to DEF-FEM short-FEM straw for know-INF who
> > be-COND-3SING eat-PP-MASC
> > Someone pull the short straw to know who would be eaten.
> >
>
>
> If I had seen those notations when I wanted to start learning
> lojban, I'd have been out the revolving door so fast, the wind would
> have knocked over even la nikyge'u. Think middle/junior high
> schooler, not graduate student in linguistics, Pierre, to make things
> more friendly.
>
what you wrote, Pierre!
totus