Word of the week
Soon it will be a new year…
…and what the hell are you reading a blog for? Go out, get a life… Live!
Missing UN Diplomat
At sometime in December, I’m not too sure about the date, a Canadian diplomat and his aide went missing in Niger.
When it broke this was a big story in Canada, but it has since cooled. This is commonly done in the Canadian press to lower tensions and ease rescue/release in kidnapping cases. However, I didn’t really hear of the details of his trip or the circumstances of his visit to Niger until I saw this interesting edition of UN Plaza at bloggingheads.tv.
Word of the week
I’ve decided to move my semi-weekly vocabulary posting to the blog. Maybe this will encourage me to blog more?
I’ve seen 92 out of these 213 films. I have no life :(
This is a silly exercise, but supposedly, if you have seen more than 85 films in this list, you have no life. Which is funny, because I would think that the real ‘no life’ test would be doing this test in the first place. Eh,
(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
() Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
() Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
() Joe Dirt
() KING KONG which version?
Total so far: 5
() A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving -MAS
() Flubber Orignial version only
Total so far: 7
(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
(x) Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 10
() The Day After Tomorrow
() Child’s Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
() Si teen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 13
(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremacy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled both versions
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 22
(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bron Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
(x) ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far:27
() Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She’s All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
() Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 34
(x) x-Men
(x) x2
(x) x-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
() The Little Mermaid
() Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
() Shrek 2
Total so far: 42
() Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
() The Notebook
() K-Pa
() Kippendorf’s Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 44
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 50
() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
() Elf
(x) Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History x
() Three
Total so Far: 52
() The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
() Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
() Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far: 56
() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
() Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
(x) Orgazmo
() Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 59
() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 61
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 67
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
Total so far: 75 (it’s not looking good for me)
() Battle Royale
() Battle Royale 2
(x) Brazil
() Contact
(x) Cube
() Dr. Strangelove
() Enlightenment Guaranteed
(x) Four Rooms
(x) Memento
(x) Pi
(x) Requiem for a Dream
(x) Pulp Fiction
(x) Reservoir Dogs
(x) Run Lola Run
() Russian Ark
(x) Serenity
() Sin City
(x) Snatch
(x) Spider
() The Sixth Sense
(x) The Village
(x) Waking Life
() Zatoichi
(x) Ikiru
(x) The Seven Samurai
() Brick
(x) Akira
I’ve seen 92 out of these 213 films. I have no life 
One Year!
Hey, I almost forgot… This December marks the one year anniversary of this website/blog. It was one year ago that I uploaded my first Tigrigna/English dictionary and published my first Tigrigna lesson.
I always believed that what I’m doing is nothing special. I am only doing what anyone with a ‘passing familiarity’ and some incomplete references could have done too. I am not educated or formally trained in Tigrigna, nor can I even communicate well. It started when I asked myself: “Why isn’t there an easily accessible Tigrigna reference,” so I made one for myself. And essentially, this is the key that drives me to build this site. I want to learn more, I want to organize my thoughts and I want future learners to have an easier time than I.
Now, it’s been one year since I started. It’s been a very uneventful year, but there is still much work to be done. There needs to be a bigger expansion of “the project”, more lessons need to be added, more people need to be involved. There is a great need for an easily accessible Tigrigna reference.
But then I think “Why stop there?” Why stop at Tigrigna? Why not expand into other neighboring languages? Why not Tigre? That is a very important Eritrean language, one that needs to be documented and preserved. If we don’t do this, who will? What about Saho-Afar? or Blin? Kunama? In fact, why stop at Eritrean languages? Why not Somali? Amharic? Oromo? Why can’t we ‘hack everything.’
However, I calm down. Realistically, I am just one man (with a very small group of readers). I can’t do everything. I can only do what I can do; but I promise, I will do it well. Cheers, and here’s to many years more.
Modern Dictionary with New Methods - part 2
Well, it appears that there is more to this story then first thought. Shaebia.org has wrote another article on Dr. Kidanemariam Zerzghi and his new Tigrigna reference dictionary. It is in interview format and they ask him a few questions (ones strangely similar to the question I asked in my last blog entry) about his methods. Here is an excerpt:
What was the new method you found? And was it practical?
The Tigrinya alphabets differ on structure. So, based on such difference, I tried to reduce the 41 alphabets into 21 which were easier for ordering and memorizing. When I started to teach my soon using this way, he began to recognize the alphabets within 4-5 days. We also introduced it in two schools in Washington and students were able to memorize the alphabets within a week to a month. Then, some Eritreans in the Diaspora encouraged me to publish it for interested people for it was helpful for learning Tigrinya.
I still don’t agree that making changes like this is the best way to facilitate Tigrigna literacy, however I will recognize that one of the main problems, of those who are learning Tigrigna, is the length of the fidelat. But that is why God created flash cards (right-hand side). With flash cards a mildly dedicated person can learn all the letters in a few days (it took me just one afternoon). In a few days they should be able to start reading sentences. Knocking off some letters is unnecessary and creates even more problems down the road.
*addition*
I think an ideal solution would be to teach people the reduced set first, then move on to the full set when they are ready. That system makes the most sense, as it keeps the diversity of our Fidel and still helps language learners gain literacy.
OK I’ve made a mistake…
The old forum is back. I got a couple of emails from a user who has conviced me that people need and use it. I kinda tore it down on a whim. I now think that was wrong. So, here it is. Sorry ’bout that, my bad.
The forum is no more
I decided to get rid of the forum because it was a lot of work to maintain, but hardly anyone ever used it. Maybe later I’ll bring it back, but for now it’s gone. Instead, I’ll try to focus on the core parts of this site.
New dictionary section
There it is. The new section. I had some difficulties setting it up and loading the Tigrigna/English dictionary; but it’s done now… well mostly done. Anyways, I got the idea to redo the dictionary section when asmarino set up a user generated dictionary of their own. Through their example I saw how easily I could organize my own dictionary, so I downloaded Glossword and decided to go for it.
There’s a lot of cool things you can do with with this new software that I am just finding out. First, not only is searching easier but categorizing and labeling the words are simpler too. It also enables me to juggle many different dictionaries at a time, so that means I have an easier time expanding it in the near future.
Second, and I get many emails about it, it enables people to add or suggest new words for the dictionary. I always thought this was important too and now it can be done.
Thirdly, although I haven’t finished it yet, I am able to create links from one translation to another. This is important because it can link you directly with one of the definitions to that word. Since one-to-one mappings of words is impossible, having access to many definitions is important.
As I said before, I am not quite finished developing these dictionaries, but I hope you will find them useful while I work on that.
