[Tlhingan-hol] Beginner's Grammarian: The hunt is on

[Rohan Fenwick]

tetlh jeSwI'pu', Savan.

Further to a lot of discussion on the list recently about Beginner's Grammarians and the absence of same, I've been starting to get the ball rolling over the last few days on a process for finding and investing a new BG. I don't hold any exceptional authority apart from my own history as a BG emeritus, but I do view the role of BG very passionately and it's because of that that I'm taking it on myself to organise The Great BG Hunt of 2015 (as it were).

Having sought advice from Holtej, I've decided to take this process on formally, and with advice from other long-time Klingonists, I'm compiling a list of potential candidates that I'll be emailing later today. That list almost certainly won't be exhaustive, though, and anyone who thinks they have the Klingon chops to take the role is also more than welcome to throw their hat into the ring. To let prospective BGs know what's involved in the role, I'm attaching a brief description of the KLBC forum tag and a more detailed description of the BG's role on the mailing list.

The role of the Beginner's Grammarian (BG) and the "Klingon Language Beginner's Conversation" (KLBC) tag
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The Klingon Language Beginner's Conversation (KLBC) was formed in February of 1994 as a forum for beginners on the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list to practise using Klingon, without having the conversations become too complex for beginners to follow or sparking off arcane discussions or arguments about Klingon grammar. It was felt that it would be overwhelming for a beginner to have their question answered a dozen times by a horde of well-intentioned veterans. So one noble soul was chosen to have the right of first strike, as it were: this person is the Beginner's Grammarian (BG for short). Posts to the KLBC are identified as such with the letters "KLBC" at the beginning of the message's subject line. Anyone is welcome to respond to the content (in Klingon) of a KLBC post, but only the BG is allowed to respond to and advise on grammatical content (usually in English). Once the BG has responded, then others may comment on grammar as well.

The Beginner's Grammarian (BG) has traditionally been a promising intermediate-level Klingonist, in the past usually selected and trained by their predecessor. If a prospective BG has any formal qualifications, they should ideally have passed a Level 1 (bronze) or Level 2 (silver) certification, though formal qualifications are by no means necessary and a level of practical ability in the language is the only important factor. The role of the BG is to respond to any posts tagged "KLBC", or any posts that are obviously from a complete newcomer. As such, the BG is expected to be quite closely involved with traffic on the list (i.e. on a daily or near-daily basis) for the term of their service, and should keep an eye out for any new faces or questions that would be typical of beginning Klingon students. Originally, the role was planned to rotate every six months; in practice a term of approximately twelve months (one year) has become the norm, though this is not at all fixed and may be varied as necessary. Also, the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list is an official project of the KLI, and as such, the BG is expected to behave in a professional and mature manner at all times.
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And that's it. The role can be quite involved at times, particularly when traffic from beginners is high, but it's not at all onerous, particularly in these days when much of the non-TKD/KGT Klingon canon is available online (such as the older, but immensely valuable, MSN postings). The way I view it is that the BG role is almost like a Klingon-language internship of sorts. As BG you learn as much as, if not more than, you teach and it will help to bring you a new level of familiarity with the language that will serve you well if you aim to reach for Level 3 (gold) certification in the KLCP. (To put it in perspective, I've heard estimates that the Level 3 certification has been achieved by about 20 people in the history of the KLCP. Of those, the list Grammarians - Krankor, Seqram, and the ex-BGs - account for at least 10, perhaps more.) Plus it's good fun, and many of the ex-BGs are still active on the list, so there are plenty of people around to offer advice if the new BG should need it.

So in short, watch this space. I'll be reaching out over the course of today to several speakers who've been suggested to me, and if there's anyone who's particularly interested, of course feel free to put your name forward as well by either emailing me privately (qeslagh at hotmail.com) or by posting publicly to the list.

QeS 'utlh
 		 	   		  
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