Finally, the results for the 2014-15 Tumblr Conlang Relay are nearly ready for presentation. However, there were never any final translations back into English. If anyone is interested in contributing some, it would make for a nicer finished product with a more conclusive feel.
Please let me know by commenting in a reblog or sending an ask if you would be interested in translating a conlang text back into English. There are five texts under a paragraph long, and three texts with 2-3 paragraphs. The materials are ready for translation and ideally all final translations would be finished within the next 3 weeks. If you have any questions, please send an ask here or to my main. Thank you for your support!
Hello, everybody — I am going to reblog this a few times as well as send an email to participants in the hope that most people will actually see this. My last attempt at making this point seems not to have worked, adding to the apparent radio silence on the TCR front. Contents below the cut.
So, in late December/early January TCR4 hit a tricky combination of expected and unexpected time away from the internet on my part, and a fair number of people failing to check in with me in any way. Basically the relay hit a dead end and I was unable to chase up on anyone; then, with only mobile internet access, it was very difficult to figure out how far back to go, where files were, who'd sent what where, etc. The lack of communication from participants at this stage was also discouraging. Then I met with some personal problems and it became too much to get things back into order.
I'd like to apologise for this, especially for not replying to a couple of participants' last emails, and failing to send through torches that I had promised to dig up. Due to the stress and feelings of letting people down the whole thing was overwhelming and when I finally made an update on tumblr... it disappeared. Even more discouraging! But now I've got computer access back and can write up a proper post.
That's what's been going on over the last month and a bit. Where to now?
Two main options seem to be the best to me. First would be to just end things where they are. This would be a shame, and would mean a lot of people missed out on their turns even after registering. It might be a sour end to the relay, but if the relay has petered out, it might be better just to cut it off officially. In this case I would run a slightly different relay in the middle of the year in the hopes of making up to people who didn't get a proper go.
A second option is to see who still wants to take part — no problem if people want to drop out. However many people still want a go, we can work out a roster to finish the relay. In order to bring things to a tight finish, the options might need to be more limited. When I email all people who registered, I will be seeing if anyone would still want to have their go, and when they are free now (since availability will probably have changed in the last few months).
If you have any thoughts, please send an ask here, reply to this post, or send in an email. I'll try to get on to this over the next week. Again, sorry for the lack of communication. Whether the relay continues or not, I will definitely post up the results and alert everyone that they are there. Thanks for your patience everyone and hope to hear what you think.
The fourth Tumblr Conlang Relay is under way and rolling along well. Each torch is with its third or fourth translator, and most torches have been sent along on time or even ahead of time! Great job everyone. With the number of torches and participants, I won't be posting updates every time one gets sent along. But I will try to post more regularly. For those who are taking part - you'll receive detailed instructions through email, rather than generalised instructions getting posted here at this stage. Please keep an eye on your email inboxes for planning when you'll get something to work on, what you'll do, and when it needs to be done. There are a lot of emails going back and forth. Please chase me up if I've promised to get back to you and haven't after a day or so. If you've received your texts to translate but I haven't told you what to do or who to send them to, tell me so asap. If you don't get an email from the person before you by your starting date (allowing for time zone differences) then drop an email to both them and me. If I haven't contacted you at all yet, your turn will still be a couple of weeks away, but feel free to get in touch to check or clarify what times will suit you. Just to clarify - This is the Tumblr Conlang Relay but most of the relay actually goes through email, because 1) tumblr messages are unreliable and 2) the relay contents often involve attachments or at least rich text. I'd referred to inboxes in the past to suggest this but forgot that tumblr has inboxes too..! Sorry for any confusion. If going through email will be a problem for you, drop me an ask/reply/email and we can sort something out. Thanks and keep up the great work! I can't wait to share your translations so far, and the variety of fascinating conlangs.
My apologies for not posting as much as I'd planned in the leadup to TCR4. Been a bit of an intense time for the last few weeks of my thesis, and various technology troubles on top of that. Here's the news:
The relay will still be starting on the 1st of November! It currently looks like it will finish sometime in January 2015.
I will be sending out emails in the next couple of weeks to finalise the schedule. If you don't hear from me by the start of the relay, don't panic — you won't be in the first few weeks of the relay, and I will be in touch to confirm your schedule at least a fortnight before your turn.
We have a record number of participants, so it is going to be really important that you remember your rostered dates and keep an eye on your nominated inbox.
Sorry that I haven't posted up information such as example torches. At least something will go up in the first week of the relay (and emailed to you if you are getting your turn is in that first week).
I'd also like to say good luck to those who are heading into their exams and final assessment periods in October/November, and those who are busy studying for December finals. You can do it!
Thankyou to everyone who has signed up so far — 15 people have already joined!
The fourth Tumblr Conlang Relay will start on the 1st of November this year. Anyone with a constructed language can join in on the challenge. If you join, you will translate one or more short texts out of somebody else's conlang into English, then into your own conlang(s). As everyone does this to the texts in turn, the meaning changes in all sorts of interesting and often bizarre ways.
If you want to get hands-on with some other people's conlangs, and test and share your own, sign up for TCR4 any time until November 1st.
Thank you to all who have expressed interest and weighed in on the upcoming TCR4. Based off current feedback we are looking at a likely start date of November the 1st, with a number of small texts that may be slightly longer than those used in the previous "mini" relay. This is still not set and further input is welcome. The next stage will be a proper sign up process - I don't currently intend to start that until perhaps mid-September at the earliest. In the shorter term I have had and been given some ideas that I'd like to discuss that might add a little something to the relay experience. Keep tabs on this blog for further news :)
Hello everybody, I'd like to grab your attention for a second to get planning into gear on a fourth tumblr conlang relay! If you are potentially interested in participating this year, please send an ask or email, or comment on this post, with the following information: - What format are you most interested in? Looking back at the texts used in the last 3 TCRs, are you more keen to try very short, medium length, or long texts to translate? Anything you want to avoid? - When do you think you might be free, or have time over a few days, in the general range of September to January? This will obviously be very tentative but will help show when common holiday and exam periods are, for example. - If you would want to join but have concerns about the stress or pressure, or would otherwise be unsure about participating due to e.g. health problems, I am very open to discussing this privately. The relay format imposes a certain level of time pressure and social contact but I hope to make this as accessible an event as possible with your feedback. Feedback on past TCRs is also more than welcome. I will be reblogging this for a while. At present I am not opening a call for sign ups - that will come after the initial planning THIS post is kicking off! Thank you :)
