August 20: Day 4 of Word Collection

Thursday’s highlights:
Morale among the Shilluk people is high, and productivity continues to be high, as well. At the current rate of output, I expect them to pass the goal of 10,000 words even before I leave for the airport on Monday. Thursday, however, was an exhausting day for me, so I did not get this entry posted to my blog before the power went off at 10:30pm. Read on for more details.

Each of the six groups has now understood pretty well the concept of thinking in their own language and using the English in the questionnaire as a guide, rather than a crutch. Today again, they collected almost 2000 words, so our 4-day total is just shy of 7,000. I expect that we’ll have a similar day again tomorrow (Friday), so that the minimal goal of 10,000 will be reached sometime on Monday, probably by lunchtime, just before I am scheduled to leave for the airport, so we’ll be able to have a celebratory cheer together before I leave. The second goal will be for them to exceed 15,000. This appears to be do-able, but is by no means guaranteed, as the topics that are covered last tend to be less fruitful than the ones covered first.

But whether the Shilluk get 15,000 words or not, this workshop seems destined for certain success. That is especially interesting in light of our experience the first day, when it seemed that many who attended the training last week had forgotten a great deal of what we thought they had learned, and it looked like this workshop might be a total disaster. However, the hard work that Leoma, Christine, and I invested, as we sought solutions to the seemingly unending challenges that arose that day, eventually paid off, and the subsequent days have been the complete opposite of Day 1. Now we’re anticipating better results here than in any of the other workshops I’ve led. On Day 1, it looked like we were destined for a record low.

It is really good to see everyone working contentedly in his or her role. The record-keeper is doing an excellent job; the glossers are working hard, and even though they’re not able to keep up with the pace that the word-collection groups are setting, they are not discouraged; the typists are happily pecking away; and the word-collection groups are “in a groove” now, though some still struggle to understand the English, which keeps them from being as productive as other groups.

Lino (LEEN-oh) - record-keeper

9 glossers, plus "Doctor Leoma"

A member of one of the most productive groups shares their "secret"

One of the word-collection groups is working in the open-air gazebo

The others work at tables in a room with screened windows and fans

A typist has a question for the group that wrote one of the words she is supposed to type

Results are reported each morning before the new day of word-collection begins

In addition to reporting numerically, the results are also presented pictorially: cows in a pasture

A closer look at the cows -- each one represents 100 words

In the evening, Leoma helped me prepare a meal of quinoa and vegetables for supper. Afterward, I talked to Rachelle on Skype and learned the good news that her financial aid came through. Then I showed Christine a bit about how the Hermit Crab parser works in FLEx software and how this might help with some of the languages she consults on.