Communicate simple ideas to foreign scholars in botany (field/ethno-emphasis)

[Matt]

Dear group,

I'd like to introduce a simple idea for a web-based application. Some of this may have already been done, but I doubt in exactly the spirit I am proposing it here.

Let's say I am in Estonia and meet a botanist there. We do not speak each others language. Wouldn't it be nice to have an up-to-date, simple list of say 120 *basic* words and phrases that pertain to botanical field work for us to use to communicate? Things like "What is this plant called?" (Including a clear audio recording)

This application would NOT be a linguistic tour de force, but as simple as can possibly be, (even if it has to sacrifice some accuracy or correctness) it will also NOT be large or comprehensive (we may have "leaf" and "stem" etc. but not much more specificity than that, everyday words only--with a skew towards field/ethno botany)

A couple questions I like to pose:

1. What do you think of the idea? (the good and the bad)

2. Would anyone like to help? I can handle the database/web part of it. I would need: help defining the list of words/phrases, help translating, help recording words/phrases.

Thanks,

Matt Herman

[Peter Matthews]

Dear Matt,

This is exactly the situation I have faced in Japan. I arrived here at the age of 30 after studying many subjects but not Japanese. I was fortunate to work with researchers who were fluent in English, and over time, I have a acquired a basic (but not consciously defined) set of Japanese words related to plants. The general language still eludes me -- and the growing spaces between words in my head are a bit like the spaces between objects in the expanding universe. The process is inexorable, and nothing I can do can pull my scattered Japanese vocabulary into one coherent mass. A device or system such as the one you propose might help.

I recommend that you look at the LUCID system for classifying plants (and other things). See:

http://www.cbit.uq.edu.au/software/LucidID/default.htm

There is no reason why it could not be turned into a botanical-language learning tool, for multiple languages, rather than being used as a plant-identification tool for identifying multiple plants. It could even be designed to accommodate a range of second-language skill levels, from none to advanced, and to allow users to add new vocabulary and definitions (just as the taxonomic tools allow us to add new characters and character states).

Australian botanist Kevin Thiele invented the original concept and wrote the initial code while living in the bush in an old train carriage, in the early 90s, and the programme has matured into a beautiful tree with many branches in many fields. Much of the work with LUCID has been done at the University of Queensland, but it may also be in use in other countries.

You might be able to add another branch....

Cheers, Peter

[Peter Matthews]

Dear Matt,

Here is the main page for LUCID:

http://www.lucidcentral.org/Home/AboutLucid/tabid/203/Default.aspx

P.

[Matt]

Thank you, Peter. I will check out LUCID in more detail as soon as I can.