[Lexicog] Digest Number 458

[billposer at ALUM.MIT.EDU]

Along the lines of Claire's suggestions, one technique by which
I have learned a lot is one that you can only use if you have
a fairly advanced knowledge of the language. One elder had
given me a text that she particularly wanted published.
We wrote it down one night and I subsequently typed it up and
translated it. We went over it quite a few times after that.
Initially this was mostly to check that I had heard it correctly
and so forth, but after a while I began to ask her about
why she had said things a particular way. I would, for example,
say: "If it had been me, I would have said X. Would that be okay
too? And would it mean the same thing as what you said?"
My knowledge by this point was good enough that I don't think
any of my proposals were outright wrong, and sometimes she
would say that they were equivalent to what she had said,
but on a number of occasions she explained subtle differences
between the two. This often led to further discussion of
that topic and sometimes to words that I hadn't heard before.

Bill


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