Can the group help?

Rickey456 at AOL.COM Rickey456 at AOL.COM
Sun Nov 21 05:04:43 UTC 2004


Hi

I've been lurking here for some time now- reading and enjoying the messages.  
I am now seeking help from the group.

My associate and I are involved in a cross-cultural linguistic project 
involving the translation of a short non-technical text of six sentences. The text 
comes from the Jewish celebration of Passover- which as related in Exodus in 
the Bible tells of the liberation of the ancient Israelites from the slavery of 
Egypt. The text is called the 4 Questions. The youngest child at the ceremony 
recites the text, which is in a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic, and the 
discussion which follows is used to teach the next generation about their 
tradition, about slavery and freedom, about the world and their own cultural 
diversity. 

To date we have acquired more than 260 translations of languages from  
Africaans to Zulu with oral readings of most of the languages by native speakers. 
Our future plans involve a book with the translations, some history and 
information about the languages and perhaps a DVD because we also have several sign 
languages included. 

 During a vacation in  Puerto Vallarta last year, I met a woman who makes 
beaded bracelets on the beach. She is of Náhuatl ancestry and was born in the 
state of Guerrero. She agreed to translate the text for us. This was great- I 
figured I would have the text and would only have to ask for minimal help from 
the members of this group.  I returned a couple of weeks ago with the text in 
Spanish and with a translator's 'help' sheet. She then told me that she can 
neither read nor write - Spansh nor Náhuatl. You can image my disappointment.  

So I now ask members of the group if there is anyone who would be willing to 
try a translation.Again I can provide the text and informational page in both 
English and Spanish.

Thanks for you consideration.

Rickey Stein
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