[lojban] Re: organization of Lojban material

[John E Clifford <lojban-out@lojban.org>]

Some of the toepics that are coming up as I
prepare my paper on semantic primes for the
Constructed Languages Conference, seem relevant
to questions about organizing material for
teaching/learning.

Semantic primes per se are not the first things
one learns as a child, nor are they the things
out of which one builds one's other notions; they
could be but the idea of a prime does not depend
on that.  Nor the defining devices using primes
necessarily foundational.  There is, however a
closely related cluster of notions which do seem
to be relevant to teaching/learning a second
language as an adult.  These constitute the idea
of a minimal language within the context of a
larger one (or not -- there minimal languages
which are not intended to get bigger). The ideal
minimal language has a small vocabulary, a very
simple grmmar (a handful of lines in EBNF, say)
and yet is capable of being used to talk about
almost anything: not very precisely perhaps and
long-windedly maybe but at least getting nto the
conversation -- and asking how to get the more
precise words if the need arises.  

Let's assume that the first lesson is: the
alphabet and how it sounds, how to form names in
Lojban given those in your native tongue, and how
to use names in conversation (introducing,
addressing), and the fundamental words of polite
intercourse ("Hello," "Goodbye," "My name is...,"
 "What's yours?" and maybe "I have more to say,"
"I'm done now" and "May I interrupt here").  the
next thing is to have something to say in the
conversation.  There are, of course, the cliche's
and, as a start for further explanations at
least, these probably cannot be dispensed with. 
But right away, starting from these, the basic
sentence pattern (under all the fuss, there
really is only one in Lojban) can be introduced
and explained.  And it can be filled out
immediately with some of that minimal list words,
pronouns and basic predicates (leaving "basic"
undefined and given by a list, perhaps).  

This may mean that the first Lojban one learns or
creates is only a little advanced from Dick and
Jane (but some: no observatives and no
imperatives), rather than the Bible and LaoZi,
with which we all started.  Maybe a good as Dr.
Suess by the third or fourth lesson. But at the
end of a few lessons -- say five -- the student
could carry on a conversation at a very low level
about just about anything and would have
internalized a vocabulary in terms of which the
rest could be explained and the basic sentence
structure, around which the rest could be
developed.  Indeed, most of the developments are
foreshadowed in the minimal approach and come as
a welcome relief from some of its wanderings
(Moving from "I believe this:  The sky is blue"
to "I believe that the sky is blue" or "Something
bit me.  It was a dog" to " to "A dog bit me" for
examples). 

Another possibly useful feature of minimal
languages is that they provide a schema for
explaining meanings of words.  Minimal English
(or whatever) can thus be used to lay out the
particularities of a Lojban predicate, say, both
in itself and how it relates to various English
glosses.  We do this eventually in some way or
other, but this would provide a uniform pattern
(and progressive, using earlier bits in later
ones) and perhaps one that would regularly be a
part of a lesson.

If any of this makes any sense to people inclined
to write or revise or ... a textbook for Lojban,
I will be happy to discuss details and lend
advice along the way.
 



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