Re: Idea: Language teaching tool/database

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

Reto Stamm wrote:

> The following is an Idea for Language teaching system that would work
> nicely as free Software and Content. I hope it is appropriate to send
> this here.
>

It sounds about right for us.

>
> The basic Idea is to build a Database that links words and phrases in
> one language to an abstract meaning that then links to words and phrases
> of the same meaning in other languages.

Here's where I see a complication.  How do you represent the abstract
meaning?
Dictionaries define words and phrases in terms of other words and phrases.
Unless
we have some neutral way of assigning meaning to words, we'll have to do
the same.
I've seen some a priori constructed languages that try to design their word
space
according to some overall theory of meaning, but they all seem to me to
fall short.

What may work better is to construct each languages database as a
cross-linked
web.  Each entry would have short definitions of its various meanings, and
each definition
would be linked to synonyms in the same language.  It would be sort of a
combination
dictionary/thesaurus.  The different languages could then be connected to
each other by
similar links between definitions.  For example, the English word "travel"
could be linked
to "tour," to "journey," and to "move."  The German word "fahren" would
link to "travel" and
to "move," while the German word "wandern" would link to "travel" and to
"tour."  I may
have mis-translated the German words, but you get the idea.

>
> Each word or phrase is stored with the native writing, phonetic writing,
> recording of a native speaker who is saying it, and maybe later some
> more information (like in what situations this would be appropriate).
> The database would start to be useful after a few hundred entries,
> because it will then be possible to extract a custom set of words that
> are most useful to the student. [snipped rest of description for brevity]
>
>

This sounds like a pretty good idea, but also like a pretty massive
project.

>
> So why am I posting this here without anything to show? My problem is
> it's too much work so I can't do it all by myself. So I'd like to know
> if anyone would be interested to help. I could provide some web space,
> CGI and things like that, and I can also do PERL scripts, Database stuff
> and the like, and I could add words for (swiss) German and Japanese, but
> I just can't do it all alone. If you are interested, let me know...
>

I hope you get some offers of help.  I think that some deep thinking
about how you'll represent the data and their interconnections will
be very helpful in defining the scope and breadth of the project.

If anyone here is intrigued by this, offer Reto some help.  Daniel
Glenn, does this sound like something the White Horse School might
be interested in?

--
Doug Loss            Always acknowledge a fault.  This will throw
dloss@csrlink.net    those in authority off their guard and give
(570) 326-3987       you the opportunity to commit more.
                        Mark Twain