micro
February 12th, 2006, 12:02 AM
THE IDEA
I want to create a very small dictionary which can be used worldwide. It should contain maybe 20-30 of the most important words or phrases useful for the average traveller in maybe 10-20 most important or most common languages. This would fit on one or two ordinary sheets of paper and can be carried around in a pocket. If you have the sheet, you can basically interact with most people in the world. The dictionary should be a table with a column for each language.
The most basic communication should include things like basic greetings, finding the way, buying items, finding accommodation, getting along in restaurants, emergency. Almost as important as including important words is to exclude everything which is not necessary, to keep the task manageable and the dictionary small. For example, everything which can be expressed with gestures needs not to be included (like it is not necessary to know the word of a product you want to buy if you can point to it). I think numbers need not be included as they can be written on paper (though some languages like Chinese have their own characters for numbers).
I had the idea for this dictionary table for many years but it needs some elaborate work and I never really started with it. But when many users participate, the job should be easy. Most problematic seems to be the filling of the table cells with words that are really accurate and to the point.
ANY SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS AND TRANSLATIONS ARE WELCOME! As well as ideas as how to name the word groups or if the whole dictionary actually makes sense. Are there regions of the world which are difficult to cover? (I'm thinking of Africa here.) I'm not sure about what words should be included. Numbers from one to ten? 'I' and 'you'?
The most recent version will always be at http://mic-ro.com/dict (for now there's just a very incomplete example)
TO DO
1. Agreement on the languages to be covered.
2. Agreement on the words to be included.
3. (When done with 1 and 2) filling in all the words (and special characters where necessary).
THE LANGUAGES
The languages should be selected to cover most of the world's population. For languages that use non-latin characters, the word should be provided in the special characters of the language as well as in English transcript.
My suggestion for languages:
- English (official language the UK, USA, Australia and 20 other countries; worldwide use as a secondary language, language of science, aviation etc.)
- Spanish (official language in Spain, Mexico and other Latin-American countries and widely spoken by others)
- French (spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland and many African countries)
- Portuguese (official language in Brazil, Portugal)
- Mandarin Chinese (spoken by nearly a billion Chinese in China and elsewhere)
- Arabic (spoken throughout the Middle East, North Africa and other Islamic countries)
- Russian (spoken in Russia and many countries of the former USSR)
- Malay/Indonesian (spoken by a large population in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and is similar to other Pacific Islands languages)
- Hindi/Urdu (spoken by a large population in India and Pakistan)
- Japanese (because of the large population of Japan)
Other languages of worldwide use:
- Latin (but only spoken by educated people who also speak other languages)
- Esperanto (conceptualised as a world language but the number of speakers is insignificant)
(So neither Latin nor Esperanto needs to be included -- or do they?)
THE WORDS
The words should be essential for travellers and cover the most basic needs for all kinds of travellers.
My suggestion for words:
GENERAL
Hello
yes/okay
no
good
very good
bad
sorry
excuse me
thank you
I don't understand
please repeat
PURCHASING
I would like
this
what is that?
how much (does it cost)?
eating
drinking
x people/persons (for ordering restaurant table or accommodation)
x days (for booking accommodation)
today
tomorrow
the bill, please
ORIENTATION
where is?
airport
tourist information
train station
bank
exit
EMERGENCY
Help!
go away!
police
doctor
So what are your ideas?
I want to create a very small dictionary which can be used worldwide. It should contain maybe 20-30 of the most important words or phrases useful for the average traveller in maybe 10-20 most important or most common languages. This would fit on one or two ordinary sheets of paper and can be carried around in a pocket. If you have the sheet, you can basically interact with most people in the world. The dictionary should be a table with a column for each language.
The most basic communication should include things like basic greetings, finding the way, buying items, finding accommodation, getting along in restaurants, emergency. Almost as important as including important words is to exclude everything which is not necessary, to keep the task manageable and the dictionary small. For example, everything which can be expressed with gestures needs not to be included (like it is not necessary to know the word of a product you want to buy if you can point to it). I think numbers need not be included as they can be written on paper (though some languages like Chinese have their own characters for numbers).
I had the idea for this dictionary table for many years but it needs some elaborate work and I never really started with it. But when many users participate, the job should be easy. Most problematic seems to be the filling of the table cells with words that are really accurate and to the point.
ANY SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS AND TRANSLATIONS ARE WELCOME! As well as ideas as how to name the word groups or if the whole dictionary actually makes sense. Are there regions of the world which are difficult to cover? (I'm thinking of Africa here.) I'm not sure about what words should be included. Numbers from one to ten? 'I' and 'you'?
The most recent version will always be at http://mic-ro.com/dict (for now there's just a very incomplete example)
TO DO
1. Agreement on the languages to be covered.
2. Agreement on the words to be included.
3. (When done with 1 and 2) filling in all the words (and special characters where necessary).
THE LANGUAGES
The languages should be selected to cover most of the world's population. For languages that use non-latin characters, the word should be provided in the special characters of the language as well as in English transcript.
My suggestion for languages:
- English (official language the UK, USA, Australia and 20 other countries; worldwide use as a secondary language, language of science, aviation etc.)
- Spanish (official language in Spain, Mexico and other Latin-American countries and widely spoken by others)
- French (spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland and many African countries)
- Portuguese (official language in Brazil, Portugal)
- Mandarin Chinese (spoken by nearly a billion Chinese in China and elsewhere)
- Arabic (spoken throughout the Middle East, North Africa and other Islamic countries)
- Russian (spoken in Russia and many countries of the former USSR)
- Malay/Indonesian (spoken by a large population in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and is similar to other Pacific Islands languages)
- Hindi/Urdu (spoken by a large population in India and Pakistan)
- Japanese (because of the large population of Japan)
Other languages of worldwide use:
- Latin (but only spoken by educated people who also speak other languages)
- Esperanto (conceptualised as a world language but the number of speakers is insignificant)
(So neither Latin nor Esperanto needs to be included -- or do they?)
THE WORDS
The words should be essential for travellers and cover the most basic needs for all kinds of travellers.
My suggestion for words:
GENERAL
Hello
yes/okay
no
good
very good
bad
sorry
excuse me
thank you
I don't understand
please repeat
PURCHASING
I would like
this
what is that?
how much (does it cost)?
eating
drinking
x people/persons (for ordering restaurant table or accommodation)
x days (for booking accommodation)
today
tomorrow
the bill, please
ORIENTATION
where is?
airport
tourist information
train station
bank
exit
EMERGENCY
Help!
go away!
police
doctor
So what are your ideas?