The Bible Translation Podcast Jack Campbell

Have you ever wondered what it takes to write down a language for the first time? In this episode, we interview Mike Cahill, the Orthography Services Coordinator for SIL. He helps us walk through the factors that need to be considered when creating a writing system, or orthography, for a language. When an orthography is usable and acceptable, it goes a long way in making a Bible translation usable and acceptable as well!
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This month's episode covers Oral Bible Translation, the method of translation that maintains an oral format in order to put the Bible out in an audio format. This is different than oral story-telling! In our discussion with Kris Toler, we talk about the advantages this method brings, including a more natural-sounding translation, as well as some of the aspects that are still being studied. We hope that this will continue to broaden your understanding of what Bible translation can look like in different contexts.

Show Links:

Overview of the Oral Translation Process
Kris Toler's Thesis on Oral Bible Translation
Questions to ask when considering Oral Bible Translation
An example of how an audio presentation can convey more than written - throat singing in Mongolia
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In this episode, we're talking with Jed Carter, a language surveyist working in Papua New Guinea. He shares with us that, although the work of language survey is necessarily research-oriented, it also must be very relational in order to be successful.

Thanks for joining us for a new season of the Bible Translation Podcast!
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People all over the world are moving away from their language communities to find safety or simply for more opportunities. This diaspora is allowing access to languages that would otherwise be unreachable by outsiders. In this episode we are talking with Trevor Deck and Sunny Hong about how we can engage this diaspora communities to help with Bible translation and to train them as missionaries to their own people. This is one way that we can take advantage of strategic opportunities that are available for successful Bible translation projects around the world.
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In this episode, we talk with Aaron Wade, a linguist working in Papua New Guinea. He helps us understand why having a good linguistic base for a language is critical for Bible translation. This includes creating a good orthography (writing system), understanding their culture from an insider's point of view, and building relationships with them that help give a good Bible translation footing to work from. Aaron dives into the general principles of linguistics as well as sharing some of those things that he has learned from the language he works with in PNG.
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John Chesnut is the President and CEO of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. He joins us for the special episode, where we sit down with him to discuss the ways that Wycliffe partners with organizations all over the world of all shapes and sizes to help Bible translation impact more people. He is such a great guy and so passionate about working together with others to make sure we're doing the best job at getting the Bible to those who don't yet have Scripture in their language. Enjoy this interview with John Chesnut!

Here's some more information about the Wycliffe Global Alliance and what it takes to be a part of it.
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