SignWriting List Forum| Message 270 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] | Message Index |
|
SignWriting List Forum |
|||
|
|
From:
"Angus B. Grieve-Smith" Date: Sun Jul 19, 1998 11:41 pm Subject: Re: Menu question | ||||||||||||
|
Sorry this is a few days late. I had trouble sending it off and then had to go out of town. Valerie Sutton wrote: > In the Preferences Box you can also choose: > > Menus in Signs > Menus in Signs and Words > Menus in Words > > So...if you choose "Menus in Words" and your country is USA, then the words > will be in English, such as File, Edit, Cut, Copy, Paste etc. If your > country is Spain, the words will be in Spanish, etc. In this beta testing > version, we will start with English, but add the other 8 spoken languages > as soon as everything seems to be working well. Valerie, I think it's a great idea to have the menus available in signs. Too many people have the unconscious assumption that the only way to discuss signs is in a spoken language. I have one concern: to me, a sign is a "word" just like words in spoken languages, only signed. I think maybe "menus in spoken language" would be better. Also, rather than arranging it by country, it might be better just to have the menus available in any of the languages supported by SignWriter. For example, I know a hearing American whose two best languages are English and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). Why should he need to know Spanish in order to use SignWriter? Similarly, there may be native ASL signers who want to write BSL, but would rather have the menus in ASL. So instead of having to choose from a list with only two languages on it (once the other countries are supported), a user would be able to choose any two languages from the fifteen signed and eight spoken languages available. Can this be done? -- -Angus B. Grieve-Smith Linguistics Department University of New Mexico | ||||||||||||
|
|