My knowledge is 20 years old and I have not kept up with the subject. But
20 years ago, at least, there were at least two versions of contracted
Braille in Spanish. I remember that the differences were small but
noticeable. I also do not know what is used in Spain. I used to read
magazines from Spain, and they were all in uncontracted Braille. I heard
that one Latin American system was from Argentina and the other was from
either Mexico or Columbia, I can't remember which. But at the time I was in
Latin America, in many countries, Braille was handed down through the
generations on a fairly informal basis, and regional differences and
idiosyncracies sort of cropped up because of this traditional way of
teaching. I myself learned contracted Spanish Braille from a sheaf of
papers that came from I know not where.
There are probably better methods of teaching uncontracted Braille now in
Spanish-speaking countries, but I'm not at all sure the concept of
contracted Braille has caught on. I don't believe that any of the versions
I ever saw for contracted Spanish Braille are used in the USA, and probably
not in any other predominantly English-speaking countries either. As far as
I know, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
handicapped does not publish any Spanish contracted Braille here in the U.S.
If this problem with inconsistencies and regional differences still exists
in contracted Spanish Braille, then it wouldn't surprise me that machines
like the BrailleNote wouldn't support it. I think that one problem that at
least used to exist was that Spanish was spoken in so many countries which
were both poor and very hard to get around. I hope this isn't true any
more, but it sounds like maybe the situation hasn't changed that much. If
contracted Braille is either variable or just not widely used, then I
wouldn't really expect the BN to support it.
Hope this helps, but who knows!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 11:19 AM
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] RE: [Braille note] Spanish Multi
LingualPackFeatures
Thanks Kevin for backing me up.
Terry Powers
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Chao [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 9:08 PM
To: Braillenote List
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] RE: [Braille note] Spanish Multi
LingualPackFeatures
Well, I would like to toss my knowledge in on this topic of
Spanish Braille. There are no contractions used in Spanish
Braille, it is essentially grade 1 Braille with a few additional
symbols due to the few tildes and various other accent marks. I
hope this information may help you.
Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lindsay Yazzolino" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:54:24 -0700
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] RE: [Braille note] Spanish Multi
Lingual PackFeatures
Hi Brian,
No, the BrailleNote will not translate Spanish into contracted
Spanish
Braille. Honestly, I am not sure as to whether contracted
Spanish Braille is
used very much, at least, I have never seen it used in my Spanish
textbooks,
but that is a separate matter which probably would best be left
alone on
this list to avoid getting off-topic. I am not an expert on the
topic but
the only difference I have seen between Spanish computer Braille,
and
regular grade 1 Spanish uncontracted Braille are the punctuation
marks. My
bottom line is that I have never experienced the need for
contracted Spanish
Braille, and although it would be nice if one day the BrailleNote
could
support regular uncontracted Grade 1 Spanish, this limitation has
not posed
a major problem for me. I'm sure there are people on this list
who know more
about this topic than I do, so please feel free to correct me if
necessary.
Hope this helps.
Lindsay
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AIM: LindsayYazz
MSN Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288 ...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Lingard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 5:36 PM
Subject: [Braillenote] RE: [Braille note] Spanish Multi Lingual
Pack
Features
Ottawa Canada
Dear Lindsay:
Thank you for the prompt response to my query about the features
of the multi lingual pack.
You mentioned the Spanish pack supports Spanish computer
Braille.
So I take it the pack doesn't translate Spanish text into say
contracted Spanish Braille.
Thanks for the info that it includes a spell check dictionary.
True enough, you cannot comment on the features the other
languages have as you haven't use them.
Thank you for the speedy reply.
Brian
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.4.0/304 - Release Date:
07/04/2006
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
___
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
