SayMore!
Tom was recently asked to step in and help another project that has been under development for the past year and a half. The program is called SayMore. It's a language documentation tool to help make it easier for language researchers to organize all their data (especially audio and video) so it can be used appropriately in our language development work. At least on the surface, it might not seem to tie in quite as directly to the Bible translation task as TE or Transcelerator, but it is actually an important part of supporting the whole task of helping language communities not only get access to God's word, but also meet many other goals they have. Not only that, when we provide other non-SIL linguists and researchers with valuable free software tools, it helps us continue in our role as leaders in academic excellence within the international linguistic community, which in turn opens doors to the message of eternal life we bring.
FieldWorks 7.2.2 Available
FieldWorks 7.2.2 has lots of enhancements to the Language Explorer, plus a few bug fixes and minor enhancements in Translation Editor. It also contains a fairly full-featured early alpha version of Transcelerator for field testers to try out. If you want to see what Tom has been doing, download and install the BTE version of FieldWorks 7.2.2 and then follow the instructions found here.
Transcelerator
In early March, Transcelerator got a chance to take its first few baby steps on the world stage at the Asia Pacific Language Technical Workshop in Thailand. It’s hard to believe Tom has been working on this new software on and off for almost a year now. The first alpha version was just released within FieldWorks about a month ago. So far the feedback is minimal because in its current form potential field testers have to clear a few hurdles to be able to use it. A few questions have been raised at the theoretical level, but no serious objections have surfaced, so we expect to get the green light to go ahead and work toward an alpha that would be readily accessible to existing Paratext users. Please pray for wisdom and God’s guidance, as well as for humility to accept criticism if necessary.
News from Viji
Tom’s “twin brother” from India continues to face lots of challenges. This past fall, they had to move twice in space of just a few months. He and Minie have seen an erosion of their financial support base as well, but they press on in their work to help the Konda Dora people get the Scriptures.
Viji recently traveled to a nearby country to help facilitate a workshop to explore the possibility of initiating new Bible translation projects there. While there, the bus he was on was involved in an accident, but God mercifully spared him.
He is currently with our colleague Mark, who is doing the Transcelerator demo in Thailand.
Joylily and Amy with the JAARS youth worship band during the annual JAARS Has Got Talent Show
In February we went to check out Asbury University and stayed with our friends the Putmans.