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

Mon Nov 9 18:56:51 PST 2015

One of the reason the old BG line was broken, was that there wasn't enough
traffic on the list to warrant a new BG. While the recent uptick in
activity due to qunnoQ and the new words has been great, is it really
enough to warrant a new BG? The list only has 308 members, with only 170 of
them getting it on a daily basis (the rest are digest or turned off). Back
in the mid-90s to the mid-00s we had a lot of traffic on this list.

People just don't use mailing lists the way they used to (the KLI's
Facebook group has over 900 members and adds more weekly). Being the BG is
supposed to be a challenge involving a year or so of answering questions
from multiple new students. We just don't have the throughput to make it
that way anymore.

Perhaps we can do something different. Instead of having the intermediate
speakers use the new students to improve their understanding, we could have
the advance speakers/Grammarians help pull the intermediate speakers up.
I've heard many people speak of how useful it was to be "forced" to
translate from Klingon into English by other speakers, so maybe something
along the lines of having each intermediate speaker be "assigned" to an
advanced speaker. Whenever that advanced speaker posts something all in
tlhIngan Hol, with a specific tag (ala KLBC... KLAS - KL Advanced
Speakers??), the assigned speaker has to post a translation of what was
said to the list. No one would be allowed to comment on the post until the
translation was sent, and then only the OP could comment on the translation
itself.

This would have a bunch of benefits, from increasing the list traffic, to
helping advanced speakers flex their muscles and increasing the number of
fluent speakers.

While the BG role has been very important in the past, perhaps we should
look at other ways to use the list in lieu of new students.

qurgh

On Mon, Nov 9, 2015 at 8:07 PM, Rohan Fenwick <qeslagh at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> ==============
> 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.
> ==============
>
> 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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>
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