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Burton in Volapükistan | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5084 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 51 19 April 2011 at 2:42pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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INTRODUCTION
Sir Richard Francis Burton was an English linguist, soldier, adventurer, spy, swordsman extraordinaire, writer, and much, much more. His life reads like real boy's own stuff. To-day, he is best known for his translation of the Arabian Nights (still widely available and widely read). Volapük is an artificial language, created by Johann Martin Schleyer, a German Catholic priest, in 1879. Although not the first international auxiliary language created, it was the first to be widely adopted and used. At the hight of its popularity, the Volapük movement boasted an 'estimated 283 clubs, 25 periodicals in or about Volapük, and 316 textbooks in 25 languages.' (Wikipedia) It now has a much smaller following. I intend to learn Volapük using Burton's method of learning languages. During his adventure-filled life, Burton travelled to many places. But so far as I know, once place even Burton never reached was Volapükistan. A PROVEN TALENT At Oxford, Burton had little patience for the way languages were taught. So he developed his own method. But did this method work? Well, the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. While there is some doubt about just which languages Burton knew, there is no doubt that he was a proficient linguist. Burton is thought to have known the following languages (though not only these): English, French (including Provençal and Bearnais dialects), Italian (including the Neapolitan dialect), Spanish, Portuguese, German, Armenian, Turkish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Hindustani, Gujarati, Marathi, Persian, Sindhi, Punjabi, Telugu, Pushtu, Toda, Swahili, Harari (Compiled from the website of the Sir Francis Burton Project). His knowledge of foreign tongues was not an empty boast: he was tested and proved in many foreign languages. He sat several Indian Army language examinations, passing with flying colours, he travelled amongst Arabs passing for an Arab, many times and in many ways he proved his talent as a linguist. The following anecdote from Wright is tribute to Burton's linguistic skill, though not his sportsmanship: 'When the Sultan of Zanzibar was paying a visit to England, Burton and the Rev. Percy Badger were singled out to act as interpreters. But Burton had quarrelled with Badger about something or other; so when they approached the Sultan, Burton began addressing him, not in Arabic, but in the Zanzibar patois. The Sultan, after some conversation, turned to Badger, who, poor man, not being conversant with the patois, could only stand still in the dunce's cap which Burton, as it were, had clapped on him and look extremely foolish; while the bystanders nodded to each other and said, "Look at that fellow. He can't say two words. He's a fraud."' Any Englishman who can exchange pleasantries in the 'Zanzibar patois' just as a show of one-upmanship against a fellow countryman is distinctly talented. Whatever method he used, it clearly worked. BURTON'S METHOD FOR LEARNING LANGUAGES: DESCRIBED Sir Francis Burton described how he set about learning new languages (from Thomas Wright's biography of Burton): 'I got a simple grammar and vocabulary, marked out the forms and words which I knew were absolutely necessary, and learnt them by heart. ... I never worked more than a quarter of an hour at a time, for after that the brain lost its freshness. After learning some three hundred words, easily done in a week, I stumbled through some easy book-work and underlined every word that I wished to recollect. ... Having finished my volume, I then carefully worked up the grammar minutiae, and I then chose some other book whose subject most interested me. The neck of the language was now broken, and progress was rapid. If I came across a new sound, like the Arabic Ghayn, I trained my tongue to it by repeating it so many thousand times a day. When I read, I invariably read out loud, so that the ear might aid memory. I was delighted with the most difficult characters, Chinese and Cuneiform, because I felt that they impressed themselves more strongly upon the eye than the eternal Roman letters.' It is this method that I set out to elucidate and to apply. BURTON'S METHOD FOR LEARNING LANGUAGES: APPLIED We can summarise and divide his method like this: 1. I got a simple grammar and vocabulary, marked out the forms and words which I knew were absolutely necessary, and learnt them by heart... learning some three hundred words, easily done in a week 2. I stumbled through some easy book-work and underlined every word that I wished to recollect 3. I then carefully worked up the grammar minutiae 4. I then chose some other book whose subject most interested me... The neck of the language was now broken, and progress was rapid Note: 1. I never worked more than a quarter of an hour at a time, for after that the brain lost its freshness. 2. If I came across a new sound... I trained my tongue to it by repeating it so many thousand times a day 3. When I read, I invariably read out loud, so that the ear might aid memory 4. I was delighted with the most difficult characters... because I felt that they impressed themselves more strongly upon the eye I shall use these steps to learn Volapük, and detail my progress, thoughts, observations, etc. in this log. I welcome your suggestions, I covet you support, and I hope that together this will be a fun and rewarding learning experience. NB: I'll not add to the length of this post by detailing what materials I intend use, and how, etc. This will be fully noted as the 'experiment' progresses. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5084 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 51 19 April 2011 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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PLEASE NOTE:
This thread is NOT a place to discuss the benefits and shortcomings of Volapük, Esperanto, Ido, or any other artificial language. It is not a place for 'inter-interlinguistic' bickering. To be frank, I have found a strong antagonism towards Volapük amongst some Esperantists. Volapük was a forerunner, a way-maker for all IALs that came after it. Before Volapük, no IAL had ever had such tremendous and international support. On the other hand, Esperanto has fared better through the years, and become more widely used. Both have good points; both have bad pints. For those who believe in the idea of an international language, surely the principle should stand above the language. Zamenhof's ideal was Schleyer's ideal, though they differed in its application. The aim of my endeavour is to apply Sir Francis Burton's method of studying languages, and to note what comes of it. Thoughts and comments on Volapük are welcomed, so long as they are made in a spirit of friendship. But note, the focus of this log is the method, rather than the language. What we learn from this we can apply to any other language. I repeat: this is NOT a place to discuss the benefits and shortcomings of artificial language. I'm looking forward to experimenting with Burton's method. I appreciate your comments, advice, and support. I'm sure we'll have a good time. Thank you. Edited by pfn123 on 19 April 2011 at 4:34pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5758 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 3 of 51 19 April 2011 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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This sounds really interesting, can;t wait to see how you get on.
One question this method immediately raised in my mind is, how do you know which forms and words are absolutely necessary? Best of luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| ruskivyetr Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5482 days ago 769 posts - 962 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 51 19 April 2011 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
By forms and words he means conjunctions, verb conjugations, word order, prefixes, suffixes, etc. Whatever grammar that would be "necessary" in saying something in any language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5600 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 5 of 51 19 April 2011 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Are you going to learn classical Volapük (Volapük rigik) or reformed Volapük (Volapük nulik)?
If you are looking for the latter, I could give you the grammar Gramat Volapüka by Arie de Jong for the "grammar minutae". It tells you such important things as the fact that Ag2PtCl6 is largentinamälkloridilplatiniat (only kidding, it is no bad grammar). There is not much literature easy available, but some texts are on the net. The longest text ever published is the Diateki Nulik (The New Testament), so you have more material than a learner of Gothic! Some guys prepare now a translation of Alice in Wonderland (Ventürs jiela Lälid in Stunalän), so the treasures of Volapük are still growing. I think learning vocabulary in Volapük rather difficult, because you keep confounding all those closed single-syllable-words (lad, led, lel, lem, let, lik, lib, löf). So gook luck and fun with your studies. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5084 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 51 20 April 2011 at 12:37am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Thanks for the good wishes :D As for which forms and words are absolutely necessary, the same question occurred to me too. I think that, by definition, a useful word is one you will use. So, when reading a story or whatever, if I come across a new word, I must ask myself: 'Would I really need this word?' Of course, in the fullness of time I'll need to learn all the words I can. But, to begin with, I'll prioritise. I think that's what Burton was driving at. For a student of English, say, there is no need to learn a word like 'honorificabilitudinitatibus' in the first week, or even the first year or longer. But to read Shakespeare (a worthwhile goal), one will need to learn it. I have a frequency list (edited somewhat) of English. Towards the end of the first week, I'll use it to fill in any gaps left. As my studies progress, and as I begin to read more, the important words are the omes that show up again and again. Again, thanks for the good wishes. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5084 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 51 20 April 2011 at 1:02am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Thanks for the interest. That's a good question. I intend to study the reformed Volapük of Arie de Jong. It seems to be the version that Volapükists to-day use, and the learning materials I intend using are all in it. When I'm advanced enough, I think it would be interesting to make a comparative study of the two, and see just how and why they differ. But for now, I'll focus on learning to use reformed Volapük.
I have already chosen the materials I'll use to study. But any extra help would be appreciated. I'll post my list of study materials, along with the my study plan, soon. I'm interested to see what you think. The New Testament will be the last of my rsources. It's the longest text, and as it is a real text, not just one written for learners, if I can read it, then I'll be a Volapükist ;D Also, I think the NT is a good way to study. It's availiable in so many languages, it's divided into books, chapters, and verses, and I already know the content in English.
Well, we'll find out. To be honest, this is the part of Burton's method that worries me the most. Rote memorisation of words. But I think that a) I can use mnemonics and frequent revision to help, and b) I'm learning high frequecy, highly useful words first. They will show up many times, and be reinforced. In fact, speaking of the New Testament, when I was doing research on the which words I should learn first (see above post), I came across an interesting fact. In the New Testament (in the original Greek, at least), 80% of the text is made of about 320 words. So, Burton really hit the nail on the head! By the way, you seem very well informed regarding Volapük. I'd be interested to know what your history with the language is. And that goes for every one else. Any one here sudied it before? Any one a fully-fledged Volapükist?
Thank you! I appreciate you suggestions. I'm looking forward to your expert advice about Volapük in the weeks ahead. Edited by pfn123 on 20 April 2011 at 1:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5084 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 51 20 April 2011 at 1:31am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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MY STUDY PLAN: AN OVERVIEW
Stage 1: Mark out and learn key words and grammatical forms (around 300 words) Stage 2: Work through easy reading passages, marking words for memorisation Stage 3: Study grammar in more detail Stage 4: Work through more reading materials STAGE 1: Mark out and learn key words and grammatical forms (around 300 words) 'A Quick look at Volapük' (QLV) 'A Quick look at Volapük' outlines the most important grammatical points, and gives a small vocabulary. I'll supplement it by looking up words in the dictionary that I feel are essential. STAGE 2: Work through easy reading passages, marking words for memorisation 'Volapük Vifik' (Reading Passages) 'Volapük Vifik' is a ten-lesson course in Volapük. I have extracted the reading texts, and shall read them without the lessons. I'll read them aloud, to improve pronunciation and fluency, and to notice which words and which forms are recurrent. STAGE 3: Study grammar in more detail 'Volapük Vifik' (Lessons) I'll work through the lessons, learning the words and grammar, and doing the exercises—both by writing and by speaking, and trying to use what I learn as much as possible (make sentences, write, etc.) STAGE 4: Work through more reading materials This is the longest stage, the stage that never ends. Following are the texts I intend to study (in order) 'Basic Readings' 'Intermediate Readings' 'Advanced Readings' 'Stories' 'The New Testament' (Probably John's Gospel first) (The Readings and Stories are from here: http://volapuk.evertype.com/) Edited by pfn123 on 20 April 2011 at 1:48am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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