austraLasia 1309
Blessed Michael Rua: communication and language
SEOUL/DALAT: 29th October 2005 -- A quick perusal of the 'Annuario'
indicates that two communities of the hundred or more communities in
EAO are named after Blessed Michael Rua: one in Seoul, Korea, and
one in Dalat, Vietnam. The former, with three members, is the
communications centre of the Korea province, looking after Don Bosco
Media publishing and the Salesian Bulletin. The latter, with no
fewer than 70 members, is the post novitiate community for
Vietnam. austraLasia takes the opportunity to wish these two
communities in particular, a happy feastday, but extends the good
wishes to all.
A 'past pupil' from Dalat, now a missionary, has
begun a project intended to help all of his Vietnamese confreres
throughout the world - he has begun to add Vietnamese terms to SELECT,
the Salesian lexicon. At this point, there is just the 'A'
(English) page completed, and there is a general invitation to any
Vietnamese speaker to take a look at this page and offer any correction
that may be required, since the generous individual who has begun the
process does not claim to know Italian or English to the extent where
he can be certain he has picked up all the correct meanings.
In fact, his effort, like the outstanding effort of
the Chinese confrere who has completed some 80 percent of the Chinese
terms in SELECT, is to be much applauded.
In both instances, an open invitation is extended to speakers of
Vietnamese and Chinese to add to or correct (but not to complain
about!) translations so far offered.
For the Vietnamese version, just the 'A' page is
done. It is enough to open Bosconet at www.bosconet.aust.com and
click on SELECT at the top. In the English list that appears,
click on the first term with a Vietnamese equivalent and the whole 'A'
page will be available by scrolling.
Here are two possibilities: (1) You wish to offer a
correction to any of the items? Email your correction, quoting the
Italian or English term and the Vietnamese correction.
austraLasia's computer 'speaks' Vietnamese, so we can read your
correction and ask around for comment on it. (2) You wish to help in
this project and would be prepared to do a page - 'B', or 'C'
etc? Just email to say you would be willing to receive a page,
and the page will be sent to you as an attachment for you to return
once you have completed the task. 20 contributors along these
lines would have the job done in a week!
Of course, the same offer is open to Korean,
Japanese, Tagalog, Tetum, Bahasa.......
One small point: do not forget to refresh your
screen the first time you open SELECT because the 'old' version may not
show the Vietnamese script...and of course if your computer is not set
up to read complex scripts, this exercise is of academic
interest only!
VOCABULARY
perusal: take a look at
annuario: year book (formerly the Elenco)
applauded: congratulated
academic: in this context it means 'not
practical'
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