Downloadable textbooks

The Books section has been updated today. The updates include links to two Kyrgyz textbooks that can be downloaded from the ERIC website.

Downloadable textbooks are wonderful news. However, Kato Lomb, whose book I am now reading, proves that languages can be learned with very few resources at hand.

By the way, I am halfway through Lomb's book on language learning. I will share my impressions in the next post.

Language policy

Here is a recent post from the Golden Road to Samarquand blog on language policy in Kyrgyzstan. Reflecting on other Central Asian countries the author writes that "Kazakhstan seems to be rather unconcerned about the switch [to the Kazakh language]". Although I no longer live there, my impression is that the Kazakh language is quite high on the agenda in the neighboring republic. All official paperwork is soon to be done in Kazakh only, television and radio programs in Kazakh abound, and efforts to encourage people to learn the language are underway.

The good thing is that, unlike in Kyrgyzstan, people wishing to learn the language now have plenty of resources at their disposal. I am not trying to idealize the situation—apparently, there are many downsides to the promotion of the official language—but some of the developments are good indeed.

On a different note, we are in the news again. Some locals call it the post-March syndrome, referring to the events of March 24 this year. It looks like a new tradition: if you don't agree with something, get a couple of hundred of supporters and set up yurts in front of some government building.

Meanwhile, I'm still fighting the bad cold that I got nearly two weeks ago. I had to put in a day of simultaneous interpreting last week, which only made things worse. So I'm staying home, meaning more time to study Kyrgyz, right? :)

Children's Bible and a new online dictionary

On some days I see people selling used books on Sovetskaya right by the intersection with Kievskaya. Something caught my eye as I was passing them by this afternoon. It was a copy of a Children's Bible, just like the one I have in Russian. But this one was in Kyrgyz! I grabbed it as soon as I saw it, paying only 70 soms ($1.75) for the almost new book.

Since these Bible stories are already familiar to me, I can guess many of the Kyrgyz words without looking them up in the dictionary. The language is very simple, and with colorful illustrations on every other page, I'm in for some very enjoyable reading. The title of the book is "Сүрөттөргө келтирилген Библия". It was published in 1995 by the Institute for Bible Translation in Stockholm. I think the Kyrgyz branch of the Bible Society may have some copies in stock.

Ыйса is the Kyrgyz word for Jesus.

"Мына ошентип, бардыгында адамдар, силерге кандай мамиле кылуусун тилесеңер, силер да аларга ошондой мамиле кылгыла."
This is the Golden Rule as found in Matthew 7:12

My other Kyrgyz language activities of today include the online English-Kyrgyz Dictionary. It is based on Gunnemark's Minilex, which is a fancy word for a collection of basic and, arguably, most useful words in a language. The online dictionary is still far from being complete and, as with all KyrgyzWiki projects, contributions are welcome.

Kyrgyz Language from Alex Lugovskoy

I am still doing my reading on Kato Lomb. I have downloaded her book in Russian translation ("Как я изучаю языки"), which I want to read before I write my overview of Lomb's methods.

Meanwhile, here is an interesting site I have just discovered. It is called "Киргизский язык от Алекса Луговского", so unfortunately it will be of little use to those of you who don't read Russian.

As I'm browsing this site I am simply overwhelmed by all the information contained there. In addition to extensive background information on the Kyrgyz language, it contains a reference grammar and several online Kyrgyz lessons.

In the introduction, after some laments on the absence of good resources for the study of Kyrgyz, the author writes that he is planning to create an online Kyrgyz course without the shortcomings of the textbooks available to date.

What makes this project even more unusual is the fact that the author is neither Kyrgyz nor a resident of Kyrgyzstan.

Hopefully this much-needed course will grow beyond the two lessons that are currently online.

Self-directed learning

While reading about Ms. Lomb I learned about autodidacticism. Basically meaning self-directed learning, this concept appeals to me very much. I have never really liked the idea of traditional education; I simply do not see it as the most effective form of learning.

Back in ninth grade, after much back-and-forth between my parents and myself, I was allowed to stay home for a semester and study on my own. I don't feel that I've made the most of that period, but it has been an exhilarating experience in many ways.

I did not have any formal training in what I now do for a living—translation—until this year. And the advanced interpreting class that I took at the university this spring has only reinforced my conviction that self-directed reading and hands-on experience are much more effective in teaching me about my trade. Although maybe if this course was taught at MIIS and not at the local liberal arts college I wouldn't be saying this. :)

No wonder I've been going on and on about passion for learning. No wonder my learning efforts have been largely solitary. Perhaps readers of a more conventional bent will find my ideas useless. I won't be trying to convince anyone to take the autodidactic path, but my posts will likely be slanted toward this approach for it is central to my learning experience.