Esperanto@UIUC: Update and Request for help with LK plans

I’m delighted to be able to let you know that there is now a totally web-based development system for BASIC.

Over the years, from time to time I have urged my students to get familiar with the BASIC computer programming language. Versions of it have been available for download from the web for a number of years now. However, I have often wished for a totally on-line (i.e., web-based) development/demo/playground environment for this language where you could just go to and do stuff without having to do a tricky download of various files, and then hunt for a user’s manual, and in general have to keep track of a bunch of stuff even to write and run the “hello world” program. Just now (1.Apr.2012, and no, this is not an April Fool’s joke), however, I ran across exactly such a website for BASIC. It is called “Quite BASIC”. It is by Nikko Strӧm. Here is a simulated screen shot of the first part of the webpage:

> Quite BASIC

Quite BASIC is an all web-based classic BASIC online programming environment.
* Click "Play" and see what happens!
* Or start coding right away! Just edit the BASIC program below!

And here is the link:
http://www.quitebasic.com/

This is totally cool!

And here is the link to my Ipernity blog where I also mention this:
http://www.ipernity.com/blog/101198/384185

(1.Apr.2012, Taiyuan, China)

Language Project

It occurs to me that an even faster and easier way of getting something along this line up and running would be to simply dump the phrases into a database (specifically, that of Microsoft Access), and define queries for retrieving subsets for special purposes, much like the idea of English for Special Purposes (ESP). To show you what I mean, I have created a stub, which I have uploaded to my ipernity account (where I go by the name of Michael Esperanto Jones), which is downloadable from there (if you’re a “pro” member of ipernity). I have also emailed a copy to Bill Harris at the Esperanto-USA Central Office.

I call this database “Saywhat”. For illustrative purposes, it has a few plugs for Esperanto, and a few phrases of use to a school administrator, that’s all. It has 3 queries defined: one to display the plugs for Esperanto, one to display the phrases of use to a school administrator, and one to display all phrases in the database. So, you could take this database, add more phrases and more queries (and rename the database if you wish), and have something possibly of interest to a funding committee, or even fund-generating on its own.

Saywhat is written in Microsoft Access version 2003.

Any rights I have to this work are hereby put into the Public Domain.

Regards,
- Mike Jones

Subject: fund-raising

Estimata Samideanino Darsi Ross,
Saluton el Ĉinio!
If you were to add a great app to the university’s website, the university would, presumably, be very kindly disposed to your request for travel funds. With the manpower (your students) and materiel (especially the university’s computing facilities) that you have at your disposal, this might be quite feasible.
What I have in mind is that you spearhead a project within the ESL industry, while at the same time advancing the cause of Esperanto (by showing it to be useful in a very specific way, that is, as the royal road to English).
A long-standing dream of all those faced with the task of composition is to be able to specify an idea, and then have fitting text for it be given to them on a silver platter. This dream is shared by both native speakers of a given language (English, in this case), and, even more so, by foreign learners of that language. Of course, attempts have been made along this line. I recall seeing a notable print-based example, but its drawback was that it gives too little results for the considerable amount of manipulation (page-turning look-ups) that it requires of the user. Of course, what is really called-for is an analytic, computer-based, attempt at this functionality, but I am unaware of any such attempt. (If you google for “phrase finder”, you get a lot of hits, but all of them seem to be purely descriptive approaches.) Such an attempt is precisely what I am suggesting that you and your students make.
At the low end of such functionality is that of finding synonyms and antonyms for individual words. This functionality, of course, has long been mature. At the high end is the ability to ask for an essay on a given topic. This functionality, while not done totally by computer, is lucrative enough that from the user’s point of view it may as well be. The attempt made by the book that I referred to, that of supplying a phrase or a sentence for a given idea, is in what let’s call the middle range. It is precisely this middle range that I am recommending for your consideration: Help people pick the phrase or sentence that they are looking for.
My suggestion is that you take an analytic approach, instead of the descriptive approach that everyone else seems to be using. I am suggesting that you give micro-searchability to a(-n expandable) pool of data. The steps are as follows:
1) Obtain a list of phrases/sentences
2) Categorize each phrase/sentence regarding its properties
3) Write a computer program that INCREMEMTALLY QUERIES THE USER as to the properties of the phrase/sentence being sought, and then displays the list of all hits (or near-hits, based on some kind of appropriate metric).
So, where can you obtain a list of phrases/sentences? One way would be to create it yourself, with the help of your students. However, even though you are native speakers of English, you might find it surprisingly difficult to come up with a non-trivial corpus on fairly short notice. Another way is to use an existing corpus such as the American National Corpus (which you can read about by googling for it). However, for your purposes what would be ideal would be a corpus that already exists, is large enough to be non-trivial, but small enough to be manageable regarding all the categorization work that has to be done, and is in the Public Domain (somewhat along the lines of what the American National Corpus website calls an “opportunistic” corpus.) Such a corpus does in fact already exist in the Public Domain. How do I know? Because I wrote it and put it there. I call it the “One-Liners” file (not because the entries are jokes, but because each entry, when printed, takes up only one line). It has 12 thousand entries (12610, to be exact). I created this file while at Taiyuan University of Technology (TUT), and I put it into the Public Domain. The administration of TUT valued it highly enough (for the help it would give their English students) that they translated it into Chinese and posted it (the original file together with the Chinese translation) on their website. So, you could simply use this file in your “version 1.0.0” attempt at this functionality.
The bottleneck on the road to this functionality is the categorization of the entries in the file. The trickiest part is to decide upon the categories. Enough categories have to be offered to provide good coverage of topics, but not so many as to overwhelm the user. Once you have decided upon the categories, applying the categories to the entries of the file of phrases/sentences (e.g., the One-Liners file) will be a very time-consuming task, but this is where your human resources come into play. You have immediate access to ten or twenty people, namely, your Esperanto students. You could parcel the work out to them. Moreover, since this task does not even involve any knowledge of Esperanto, you could potentially parcel it out to a wider work-force, especially if you could convince the university of the viability of the project and obtain funding to pay those doing the categorization work. This could be the start of something big!
If it takes five minutes to categorize one entry, then the time to categorize twelve thousand entries would be 60 thousand minutes, or a thousand hours which, divided among 20 people is 50 hours per person. If each person could spare 5 hours per week (especially if paid to do so), that would be 10 weeks. So, let’s call it 3 months.
The last step is to write a computer program that does the incremental querying that I mentioned. As I see it, this would be a fairly straightforward task, simply going through the list of properties and then displaying the results. You would not have to wait until the categorization task is done to start writing the program. It could proceed in parallel with the categorization process. In order to show more clearly what I have in mind regarding the incremental querying, I have created a small mock program in QBASIC for one specific example (using some shoot-from-the-hip categories that I thought up, which you probably would want to change). Here is where your access to the university’s computing facilities would come into play. Undoubtedly they have Visual BASIC available, and you could write a really nice-looking program in that language to interact with the user (or hire someone to do it, if you have succeeded in obtaining university funding). Of course, since you would be using university resources, the university will claim copyright/patent to whatever you do, but that should not matter. It you are successful, they will surely look most kindly upon your request for travel funds, and indeed, your resume (re: job prospects) would positively glow.
So, in three or four months you could have this app ready (in beta, of course) for the university’s website.
The One-Liners file can be downloaded from the TUT website, or from my ipernity account.
Below is the listing of the mock QBASIC program that incrementally queries the user. The first question that it poses to the user is the choice of language in which to proceed, namely, in Esperanto or in English. Native speakers of English, and learners of English with at least a faltering command of English, will probably want to proceed in English, but the Esperanto option allows someone with NO knowledge of English to pick a phrase or sentence in English. Thus, Esperanto lowers the bar to English, indeed, all the way to the ground. Students of English need no longer jump, but simply step across. This is what I am getting at when I refer to Esperanto as the royal road to English. Also, if you want to extend the language interface options, you could use Esperanto do accomplish this. For example, if you wanted to add Bulgarian to the list of languages that the user could proceed in, you could simply ask the Bulgarian Esperantists to translate the Esperanto interface into Bulgarian.
The mock program below delivers the sentence: “That shopping center has a free shuttle bus for its customers.” in response to a selection of categories of “marketing / trade”, followed by “appraisal” followed by “convenience”.
As you may know, QBASIC is downloadable from the web. It is a subset of QuickBASIC. Programs in QBASIC are of limited size, whereas programs in QuickBASIC can be of unlimited size. A quick-and-dirty approach to getting something up and running real fast would be to write the incremental – querying program in QuickBASIC (having obtained permission/cooperation from the university’s computing department) that does no file access, incorporating all the data examination within itself. The savings in time regards pruning the learning curve. QuickBASIC is easier to learn that Visual BASIC, and not having to learn file access techniques reduces the learning curve even more. In order to speed things up even considerably more, you could use a very small data set, say, only one third of the One-Liners file (that is, only about four thousand entries). Once viability is proven, and funding obtained, you can go back and have the program completely re-written, and use the entire data set.
So, we could say that your mission, should you choose to accept it, would be to convert the “mock” program into a “Mach” program.
My contribution to this project, this idea, this memo, etc., is completely in the Public Domain, so you don’t have to factor in any compensation for me when discussing this project with the university.
Best of luck in your endeavor.
Regards,
Mike Jones

REM MOCK PROGRAM TO DEMONSTRATE INCREMENTAL QUERYING OF THE USER
REM FOR PHRASE-FINDING
REM WHEN YOU RUN THE PROGRAM, YOU WILL BE ASKED WHICH LANGUAGE
REM YOU WANT TO BE QUERIED IN. SELECT EITHER ENGLISH OR ESPERANTO.
REM THEN SELECT ITEM 5 FROM THE MENU.
REM (THIS WILL BE MARKETING /TRADE, IN ENGLISH,
REM OR MERKATUMADO / KOMERCO IN ESPERANTO)
REM THEN SELECT ITEM 3 FROM THE NEXT MENU (APPRAISAL IN ENGLISH,
REM TAKSADO IN ESPERANTO) THEN SELECT ITEM 3 FROM THE NEXT MENU
REM (CONVENIENCE, IN ENGLISH, OPORTUNECO IN ESPERANTO)
REM THE SENTENCE MATCHING THESE CRITERIA WILL THEN BE DISPLAYED.
TOP.OF.LOOP:
CLS
PRINT "BONVENON AL LA VORT-GRUP-TROVILO DE LA UNIVERSITATO"
PRINT "DE ILLINOIS CXE URBANA-CHAMPAIGN!"
PRINT
PRINT "WELCOME TO THE PHRASE-FINDER OF THE UNIVERSITY"
PRINT "OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN!"
PRINT
PRINT "BONVOLU SELEKTI LA LINGVON EN KIU DAUXRIGI."
PRINT "PLEASE SELECT THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH TO CONTINUE."
PRINT
PRINT "1. ESPERANTO"
PRINT "2. ENGLISH"
INPUT SELECTED.LANGUAGE$
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "END" THEN END
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "end" THEN END
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "1" GOTO MENU.1.ESPERANTO
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "ESPERANTO" GOTO MENU.1.ESPERANTO
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "esperanto" GOTO MENU.1.ESPERANTO
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "2" GOTO MENU.1.ENGLISH
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "ENGLISH" GOTO MENU.1.ENGLISH
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "english" GOTO MENU.1.ENGLISH
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
MENU.1.ESPERANTO:
CLS
PRINT "VI SELEKTINTAS PLUIRI EN ESPERANTO"
PRINT "BONVOLU SELEKTI LA KATEGORION ELDE LA SEKVANTA MENUO"
PRINT "(ENIGU NUR LA ER-NUMERON, NE LA PRISKRIBON MEM)"
PRINT
PRINT "1. DOMAJXOJ"
PRINT "2. POSTEN-RILATAJ AFEROJ"
PRINT "3. LERNEJ-RILATAJ AFEROJ"
PRINT "4. LA POLITIKO"
PRINT "5. MERKATUMADO / KOMERCO"
PRINT "6. TRANSPORTADO"
PRINT "7. LA SCIENCO"
PRINT "8. LA TEHXNOLOGIO"
PRINT "9. LA MATEMATIKO"
PRINT "10. PROVERBOJ"
PRINT "11. SXERCOJ"
PRINT "99. MONTRU CXIUJN TRAFOJN GXIS NUN (T.E. LA TUTAN"
PRINT " DATENBAZON)"
INPUT CATEGORY.1$
IF CATEGORY.1$ = "5" THEN
CATEGORY.1$ = "MERKATUMADO / KOMERCO"
GOTO MENU.1.5.ESPERANTO
END IF
IF CATEGORY.1$ = "B" THEN GOTO TOP.OF.LOOP
IF CATEGORY.1$ = "b" THEN GOTO TOP.OF.LOOP
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
MENU.1.ENGLISH:
CLS
PRINT "YOU HAVE SELECTED TO PROCEED IN ENGLISH"
PRINT
PRINT "PLEASE SELECT THE CATEGORY FROM THE FOLLOWING MENU"
PRINT "(ENTER ONLY THE ITEM NUMBER, NOT THE DESCRIPTION ITSELF)"
PRINT
PRINT "1. HOUSEHOLD ITEMS"
PRINT "2. JOB-RELATED ISSUES"
PRINT "3. SCHOOL-RELATED ISSUES"
PRINT "4. POLITICS"
PRINT "5. MARKETING / TRADE"
PRINT "6. TRANSPORTATION"
PRINT "7. SCIENCE"
PRINT "8. TECHNOLOGY"
PRINT "9. MATHEMATICS"
PRINT "10. PROVERBS"
PRINT "11. JOKES"
PRINT "99. SHOW ALL HITS SO FAR (I.E., THE ENTIRE DATABASE)"
INPUT CATEGORY.1$
IF CATEGORY.1$ = "5" THEN
CATEGORY.1$ = "MARKETING / TRADE"
GOTO MENU.1.5.ENGLISH
END IF
IF CATEGORY.1$ = "B" THEN GOTO TOP.OF.LOOP
IF CATEGORY.1$ = "b" THEN GOTO TOP.OF.LOOP
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
MENU.1.5.ESPERANTO:
CLS
PRINT "VIA UNUA KATEGORIO ESTIS ", CATEGORY.1$
PRINT
PRINT "BONVOLU SELEKTI LA NEKSTAN KATEGORION ELDE LA"
PRINT "SEKVANTA MENUO"
PRINT "(ENIGU NUR LA ER-NUMERON, NE LA PRISKRIBON MEM)"
PRINT
PRINT "1. ACXETADO"
PRINT "2. VENDADO"
PRINT "3. TAKSADO"
PRINT "99. MONTRU CXIUJN TRAFOJN GXIS NUN"
INPUT CATEGORY.2$
IF CATEGORY.2$ = "3" THEN
CATEGORY.2$ = "TAKSADO"
GOTO MENU.1.5.3.ESPERANTO
END IF
IF CATEGORY.2$ = "B" THEN GOTO MENU.1.ESPERANTO
IF CATEGORY.2$ = "b" THEN GOTO MENU.1.ESPERANTO
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
MENU.1.5.ENGLISH:
CLS
PRINT "YOUR FIRST CATEGORY WAS ", CATEGORY.1$
PRINT
PRINT "PLEASE SELECT THE NEXT CATEGORY FROM THE FOLLOWING MENU"
PRINT "(ENTER ONLY THE ITEM NUMBER, NOT THE DESCRIPTION ITSELF)"
PRINT
PRINT "1. BUYING"
PRINT "2. SELLING"
PRINT "3. APPRAISAL"
PRINT "99. SHOW ALL HITS SO FAR"
INPUT CATEGORY.2$
IF CATEGORY.2$ = "3" THEN
CATEGORY.2$ = "APPRAISAL"
GOTO MENU.1.5.3.ENGLISH
END IF
IF CATEGORY.2$ = "B" THEN GOTO MENU.1.ENGLISH
IF CATEGORY.2$ = "b" THEN GOTO MENU.1.ENGLISH
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
MENU.1.5.3.ESPERANTO:
CLS
PRINT "VIA UNUA KATEGORIO ESTIS ", CATEGORY.1$
PRINT "VIA DUA KATEGORIO ESTIS ", CATEGORY.2$
PRINT
PRINT "BONVOLU SELEKTI LA NEKSTAN KATEGORION ELDE LA"
PRINT "SEKVANTA MENUO"
PRINT "(ENIGU NUR LA ER-NUMERON, NE LA PRISKRIBON MEM)"
PRINT
PRINT "1. MEDI-EFIKO"
PRINT "2. PLENDOJ"
PRINT "3. OPORTUNECO"
PRINT "99. MONTRU CXIUJN TRAFOJN GXIS NUN"
INPUT CATEGORY.3$
IF CATEGORY.3$ = "3" THEN
CATEGORY.3$ = "OPORTUNECO"
GOTO DISPLAY.RESULTS.ESPERANTO
END IF
IF CATEGORY.3$ = "B" THEN GOTO MENU.1.5.ESPERANTO
IF CATEGORY.3$ = "b" THEN GOTO MENU.1.5.ESPERANTO
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
MENU.1.5.3.ENGLISH:
CLS
PRINT "YOUR FIRST CATEGORY WAS ", CATEGORY.1$
PRINT "YOUR SECOND CATEGORY WAS ", CATEGORY.2$
PRINT
PRINT "PLEASE SELECT THE NEXT CATEGORY FROM THE FOLLOWING MENU"
PRINT "(ENTER THE ITEM NUMBER ONLY, NOT THE DESCRIPTION ITSELF)"
PRINT
PRINT "1. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT"
PRINT "2. COMPLAINTS"
PRINT "3. CONVENIENCE"
PRINT "99. SHOW ALL HITS SO FAR"
INPUT CATEGORY.3$
IF CATEGORY.3$ = "3" THEN
CATEGORY.3$ = "CONVENIENCE"
GOTO DISPLAY.RESULTS.ENGLISH
END IF
IF CATEGORY.3$ = "B" THEN GOTO MENU.1.5.ENGLISH
IF CATEGORY.3$ = "b" THEN GOTO MENU.1.5.ENGLISH
GOTO ABORT.DEMO
DISPLAY.RESULTS.ESPERANTO:
CLS
PRINT "VIA UNUA KATEGORIO ESTIS ", CATEGORY.1$
PRINT "VIA DUA KATEGORIO ESTIS ", CATEGORY.2$
PRINT "VIA TRIA KATEGORIO ESTIS ", CATEGORY.3$
GOSUB PRESENT.OUTPUT
GOTO WRAP.UP
DISPLAY.RESULTS.ENGLISH:
CLS
PRINT "YOUR FIRST CATEGORY WAS ", CATEGORY.1$
PRINT "YOUR SECOND CATEGORY WAS ", CATEGORY.2$
PRINT "YOUR THIRD CATEGORY WAS ", CATEGORY.3$
GOSUB PRESENT.OUTPUT
GOTO WRAP.UP
PRESENT.OUTPUT:
PRINT
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "1" THEN
PRINT "FINO DE PRIDEMANDADO ATINGITA"
END IF
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "2" THEN
PRINT "END OF QUERYING REACHED"
END IF
PRINT
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "1" THEN
PRINT "LA JENA ERO EL NIA DATENBAZO AKORDIGXAS"
PRINT "KUN VIAJ SELEKT-KRITERIOJ"
END IF
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "2" THEN
PRINT "THE FOLLOWING ITEM FROM OUR DATABASE MATCHES"
PRINT "YOUR SELECTION CRITERIA"
END IF
PRINT
PRINT "#8906: That shopping center has a free shuttle bus for its customers."
PRINT
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "1" THEN
PRINT "PREMU NA POR ELFARI PLIAN TROVON"
END IF
IF SELECTED.LANGUAGE$ = "2" THEN
PRINT "PRESS TO DO ANOTHER FIND"
END IF
WRAP.UP:
INPUT DELTA$
IF DELTA$ = "FINO" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "fino" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "HALTU" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "haltu" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "END" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "end" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "STOP" THEN END
IF DELTA$ = "stop" THEN END
GOTO TOP.OF.LOOP
ABORT.DEMO:
PRINT "DEMO ABORTED"
INPUT DELTA$
END

data record #8906:
marketing / trade > appraisal > convenience

(end of document)

In addition to going to events, don't forget the possibility of bringing events to you! :) You could announce an Esperanto weekend at UIUC and invite E-ists from around the country to visit. And you've already got a good attendance count just from the number of local people, it sounds like!

As for ways to fund going to the LK, you could contact the organizers and see if you can get a rebate in exchange for helping out in some way -- running errands, manning the registration booth, contributing to the program, or something?

I think accomodation will cost more than getting there, but if you can find floor space for sleeping bags and air mattresses, that's the cheap way to go. As far as transportation, I would think you can scrounge up a van or a minivan from somebody (or their parents). Even a couple of regular sedans could move four people each. I remember going back and forth from Beloit, Wisconsin to New Jersey numerous times, and it was usually in somebody's car with two or three other people. Four people, and their luggage and guitars, in a Ford Pinto is a little too crowded, even for college students, but any larger car could handle it. If you borrowed somebody's Toyota, you could go really really fast, and you'd have a handy excuse for the state trooper that finally stops you. Sharing a car is not only for college students, of course. Four of us drove from NYC to Montreal in 2008 in a car. Anyway, a car for several people in which they all share expenses is still a pleasant, affordable way to go.

Scott

When I was in Brazil, almost everyone came to the congress on chartered buses. They would get together in a group of 30 or 40 to charter a bus. I don't know the economics in the US, but it might be worth looking into.

You probably don't have enough people in Champaign to do it, but a bus that collected people from Chicago and Champaign and picked up people all along the way to Washington might be cost-effective.