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!

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

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!