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Arabic Parallel Text for L/R in the Works | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| DavidW Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6527 days ago 318 posts - 458 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Italian, Persian, Malay Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese, German, Urdu | Message 9 of 56 22 February 2011 at 4:48pm | IP Logged |
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I made a few improvements. Take a look at this file
(PDF Version 2) and tell me what you think. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| DavidW Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6527 days ago 318 posts - 458 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Italian, Persian, Malay Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese, German, Urdu | Message 11 of 56 22 February 2011 at 7:39pm | IP Logged |
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Here's a third version. I think there's still room for improvement, but it's getting
there. PDF Version 3 This sample text is just to get the formatting right. I know there are often many translations of popular books, and it's important to choose the right one. I'm planning to sell printed books, and also provide links to corresponding audiobooks (both free and commercial). This approach has three advantages: people get a hard copy, so they don't have to sit in front of a computer, I can collect royalties and therefore use copyrighted texts, and also I can get some compensation for the time I spend on this project :-). I have in fact done a lot of experimentation with digital files with text and embedded audio. I will have a think about this again. I am interested in doing a range of languages, and it will probably make sense to find a few other people to work with me. The aspects I could use help with are: -Choosing suitable books. -Investigating the different translations and audiobooks available. -Obtaining permission to use the texts (if required). -Aligning If you are interested, send me a PM. David Edited by DavidW on 22 February 2011 at 7:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| DavidW Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6527 days ago 318 posts - 458 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Italian, Persian, Malay Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese, German, Urdu | Message 12 of 56 22 February 2011 at 8:00pm | IP Logged |
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The translation of 'The days' by the American University in Cairo press is listed as
'Reprint rights in English available' in their catalogue, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get permission, although I haven't managed to get through on the phone yet. The Arabic original is in the public domain. Majed, the reader from mijobooks.com, has agreed to read the title. It will take him about a month or so to do the reading. His response to the suggestion of doing 'The Days' was: "The Days" is one of the best candidates for this project. After all it was in the school curriculum. AUC translations are good, and I think it would be a sentence for a sentence. This same book was converted to a TV sitcom back in the 70's starred by a well known actor called "Ahmad Zaki" and then made it's way to the cinema with a film by the same name, and the same actor. It was a great hit back then. There is also a French version of the book available by the original writer, so I will likely do a English/Arabic and French/Arabic version. It's looking good. Please let me know what you think of the proposed formatting. David 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| DavidW Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6527 days ago 318 posts - 458 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Italian, Persian, Malay Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese, German, Urdu | Message 14 of 56 22 February 2011 at 9:01pm | IP Logged |
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A couple more variations:
Version 4a Version 4b I agree that all the lines in version 3 are distracting. 4a is a little better, but still not great. 4b goes back to bulletpoints to mark lines that are aligned. Do you mean every fifth line, or every fifth sentence are numbered? What is the advantage of this? Thanks for the feedback. Edited by DavidW on 22 February 2011 at 9:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6471 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 16 of 56 22 February 2011 at 10:59pm | IP Logged |
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I like 4a best.
Thank you so much for starting this project! Arabic L-R materials are incredibly hard to come by, and I will definitely be buying. I would much prefer an electronic version though, because it is recommended to use a pop-up dictionary when L-Ring a distant language. Especially at the beginning I will have to look up too many words for comfort, and you know that looking up Arabic words isn't as easy for a beginner due to the stem issue. If the parallel text was available in HTML format for example, I could use any number of browser plugins show me word meanings without interrupting the flow of reading. I believe you could charge for an electronic version just as you could charge for a physical book - on Amazon, ebooks are not even much cheaper than paperbacks, meaning that publishers get a much greater profit per sale. Besides, it would probably result in more sales, considering that international shipping often costs more than the book itself. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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