Forum:Competition

Just a thought I had for the community that seems to slowly build up here now (finally)

How about a translation competition where a sentence in english is picked (perhaps one per person?) of reaosnble lenght and complexity then people get to translate it? The more original and unique it is the higher points it gets while more direct is less points? The Emperor Zelos 11:44, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Is that a bit unfair towards non-native speakers ? (That's not my entry, it's a question :P) Razlem 12:49, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Nevermind, I misunderstood. Do we get to choose our own sentence or is it an assignment? Razlem 13:07, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * This is still just random thoguht to work out, I was thinking perhaps 5 sentences picked from 5 people (or 4, perhaps the winner in each round gets to pick 2 sentences or more?) The idea is one write the direct translation, then bit by bit translation, dative form etc, then a direct translation from it into english, the more creative solutions are the higher rated. words such as I/You/he/she/it is on the other hand not point taking as nearly all languages have them in some form or antoher The Emperor Zelos 13:18, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * I am not sure if a winner can be established in a meaningful way, but I like the idea. Here's what I think it should look like:
 * Each participant offers one "challenge sentence". Look for something short, but "interesting" in terms of the ways it exercises the language.
 * Everyone translates each sentence into their conlang, providing a translation, a grammatical/morphological analysis of it, and a word-to-word translation back into English.
 * The success it determined by how elegantly your conlang handles it, and how well and precise you are able to convey the meaning.
 * Does that sound cool? Adagio burner 15:58, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * Sounds good. I can come up with a few complex sentences if need be, way more complex than the ones found in "Translations" Razlem 16:12, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * "Winner" could be done by votes as said its just for fun and exercise. But i think you also should add "Interesting ways of expressing things" Because otehrwise a english cipher will get too high points The Emperor Zelos 17:01, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * I think the sentences need not be artificially very complex. I would prefer something that feels natural and could come form a book or a dialog. My conlanging experience tells me that sometimes the most common phrases are the hardest to translate.
 * And yes, I agree, "interesting ways of expresing things" should definitely be one of the criteria. To make the competition fun, we can even give grades each of these categories. Adagio burner 17:37, May 6, 2010 (UTC)

To summerize as people seem to like this idea, how about we do this way,
 * we have 2-4 sentences to translate into a conlang
 * they are translated, then analyzed and directly translated back into english
 * other people get to grade on a few criterias, perhaps tehse
 * Originality, interesting ways of expressing rather than direct meanings
 * Accuracy, does the meaning strive off too much or not? Naturally it cant be 100% but it should preferibly not be too far off
 * Elegancy, how well is it done?

I can create templates for the grade thing just to make it look nice, how about? Other criterias can be suggested here The Emperor Zelos 18:38, May 6, 2010 (UTC)

Razlem 12:31, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Sounds cool. Maybe have a variety of subject matter for the sentences (science, literature, etc.) I'm anxious to start :) Razlem 23:04, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * alright, I want 1 medium sentence and 1 complex sentence, the complex may contain at max 3 subclauses
 * Medium: Maybe if the lazy engineers complete that massive project, our town would be able to provide for itself.
 * Complex: The frontal lobe, located anterior to the parietal and temporal lobes, appears to be vital to many cognitive functions such as long-term memory, while the occipital lobe supports visual processing.
 * Complex: The frontal lobe, located anterior to the parietal and temporal lobes, appears to be vital to many cognitive functions such as long-term memory, while the occipital lobe supports visual processing.

Razlem 12:34, May 7, 2010 (UTC)

Medium is decent but complex is too technical, it needs to be something more general that fits close to any culture but i´ll start antoehr thread