Accessing Foreign Language Materials as a Blind or Low Vision Student; An Informational Guide on Arranging for Assistive Technology, Accessible Formats, and Services in the Foreign Language Course*,, By Michele Scheib,, *Specific emphasis on Arabic, Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Persian/Farsi, Russian and Turkish,, Free Download at: http://www.miusa.org/ncde; Published by National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange,, Copyright 2008 Mobility International USA,, Although efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, MIUSA/NCDE cannot be held liable for inaccuracy, misinterpretation or complaints arising from these listings. Mention of an organization, company, service or resource should not be construed as an endorsement by MIUSA/NCDE. Please advise NCDE of any inaccuracies you may find. Table of Contents Introduction,, Overview of Critical Need Languages,, Case Examples of Two Students Learning Japanese,, Audio Materials,, Screen-Reading and Speech Recognition Programs,, Braille Materials,, Transcribing Braille Documents in Foreign Languages,, Large Print,, Readers and Scribes,, Considerations for Study Abroad,, Resources and References Introduction When Mr. Avraham Rabby was selected as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, he was the first blind person to serve. At the time, he spoke English and Hebrew, and during his career, he learned Spanish and French. Through the Foreign Service, Mr. Rabby experienced the world, completing seven jobs on five continents and witnessing historic events. The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) encourages people who are blind or have visual impairments to learn a foreign language and pursue international travel with a purpose. The NCDE works to increase access to these opportunities both at home and abroad. In their senior year of college, 53% of non-disabled students complete foreign language courses by their spring semester and 46% of blind or visually impaired students do, according to the National Survey on Student Engagement (2006). The type of languages that one chooses to learn has an impact on competitiveness for future employment. Because of changing economic and geopolitical influences, more courses and scholarships are being offered for people interested in learning what the U.S. government calls "critical need languages," such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Persian/Farsi, Russian and Turkish. With the goal of increasing U.S. citizen's skills in these languages, the U.S. federal government sponsors opportunities through the National Security Language Initiative's summer language institutes in the United States and abroad, or as added language enrichment funds for study abroad fellowships (http://exchanges.state.gov/nsli). Sixty-three percent of U.S. employers indicate that by 2011 the scope of work will make foreign language and cultural skills increasingly important for high school and college graduates-more so than any other basic knowledge area or skill, according to a 2006 research study conducted in part by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and The Society for Human Resource Management. The U.S. federal government requires 34,000 employees with foreign language skills, according to the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange. Foreign language speakers and translators are also needed in multi-national businesses, educational institutions, hospitals, scientific research, the media and other industries. Knowing a foreign language also increases opportunities to meet people from different cultures who come to the United States, and to share experiences as one explores educational, sports, professional or volunteer opportunities in a foreign country. The goal of the NCDE is to provide information, referral and technical assistance to increase participation of people with disabilities in a variety of international exchange programs. Interests in foreign languages can be a motivator and asset for pursuing these life-changing opportunities and international careers. Purpose of the Informational Guide The purpose of this informational guide is to support blind and low vision students to take a broad range of foreign language courses, from Arabic to Turkish, by providing the tools needed so that course materials can be accessed. This informational guide compiles information about the capability of commonly used assistive technology and software to handle foreign languages. Also, the informational guide includes guidance for locating audio, braille or large print materials in foreign languages, and tips on using readers and scribes. The Table of Contents allows one to browse this informational guide to find specific information. Helpful Hints are also provided throughout the document with useful supplementary material. Intended Audience The audience to find this information useful includes, foreign language students who are blind or visually impaired, and the disability providers, paraprofessionals, and teachers who work with them to create or obtain accessible formats and use assistive technology devices for their coursework. Specific Focus Primary emphasis of this informational guide is on accessing the reading and writing components of critical need languages, including, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Persian/Farsi, Russian, and Turkish. The information is also applicable to more commonly taught languages such as French, German, Italian, and Spanish. About the Publishers The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE), which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, and administered by Mobility International USA, works to increase the participation and inclusion of people with disabilities in international exchange programs. Foreign language learning often leads to these overseas study, work, teaching and volunteer experiences. The NCDE can be contacted at: 1+ (541) 343-1284 (tel/tty), clearinghouse@miusa.org, or http://www.miusa.org/ncde. Suggestions and Feedback Readers are also encouraged to submit their experiences via email to: clearinghouse@miusa.org. As information and updates become available, the NCDE will revise and add to this free document. Overview of Critical Need Languages The majority of disability providers will not have a solid knowledge of the foreign language that a student chooses to enroll in, but they often must transcribe lessons, provide services, or offer assistive technology support, so a student can access the coursework. Critical need languages, such as those listed below, have increased in importance due to national priorities, and the realization that few U.S. citizens have skills in these languages. Therefore, more critical need language courses are being developed at the K-12 and postsecondary levels. This section provides a basic overview of how critical need languages compare with English, especially related to written language. For more information on each language, search the Internet, or go to the websites where most of the following information was excerpted: * Languages of the World (http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/) * Language Differences (http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/index.htm) * Omniglot (http://www.omniglot.com) * Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) Arabic Modern Standard Arabic is based on 30 original consonants, four of which are long vowels. It also uses three newly established letters that represent the letters "g - hard", "p", and "v", commonly used in European languages. Arabic uses four short vowels, and three nunations (the sounds of: unn, ann, inn), commonly used on indefinite nouns and adverbs. The definite article is "al"; it precedes nouns, adjectives, and numbers. Two diphthongs, "aw" and "ay," are also commonly used. Vowel diacritics, which are used to mark short vowels, and other special symbols appear only in the Qur'an. They are also used, though with less consistency, in other religious texts, in classical poetry, in textbooks for children and foreign learners, and occasionally in complex texts to avoid ambiguity. Most punctuation marks used in the Arabic language are mainly borrowed from the Western system of punctuation, but some are modified. The Arabic language employs two sets of numerals: one is the Arabic numbers commonly used in the Western World, and another that may have been Indian in origin. All Arabic letters are written in cursive style in horizontal lines from right to left. All Arabic letters have independent shapes; however, most of them change their shapes, as they appear in the beginning, the middle, or the end of the word, or on their own. Arabic uses a root stem such as "k t b" (which means to write) becomes the source from which one can derive many expressions related to the idea of "writing", by varying the vowels, and adding pronoun endings or suffixes. Thus, kataba - he wrote; kitab - a book; al-kitab - the book; kitaban(i) - two books; kitabi - my book; maktabah - library; maktub - written or letter; katib(un) - male author; katibah(tun) - female author, etc. Arabic employs two main grammatical genders: masculine and feminine; neutral is not used in Arabic. All nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and numbers have singular, dual, and plural forms. One noun may have hundreds of synonyms, such as the word "lion", which has 500 synonyms. Chinese In spoken Chinese, words are made up of one, two or more syllables. In written Chinese, each of the syllables is written with a separate character. Each character has its own meaning, though many are used only in combination with other characters. Every character is given exactly the same amount of space, no matter how complex it is. There are no spaces between characters, and the characters which make up multi-syllable words are not grouped together, so when reading Chinese, the reader has to work out what the characters mean, and how to pronounce them, but also which characters belong together. There are approximately 400 syllables in Mandarin without the tones. When tones are added, the number is about 1100. In contrast, English has over 80,000 possible syllables. As a result, there are many homophones (i.e. syllables that sound the same but mean different things). These are distinguished by which of the four tones is assigned to them, or in written Chinese by using different characters for each one. A well-educated Chinese person today recognizes approximately 6,000-7,000 characters; some 3,000 characters are required to read a mainland China newspaper. The People's Republic of China government defines literacy amongst workers as a knowledge of 2,000 characters, though this would be only functional literacy. A large unabridged dictionary, like the Kangxi Dictionary, contains over 40,000 characters, of which less than a quarter of these characters are now commonly used (excerpted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language). Hindi/Urdu There are multiple languages spoken and written on the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. India and Pakistan), with English being the lingua franca when people do not know each other's language. Colloquial (or standard) Hindi and Urdu (also known as Hindustani) are very similar can be written either in Devnagri or Urdu scripts. Formal Hindi is Sanskrit rooted and written in Devnagri, and formal Urdu is Perso-Arabic rooted and written in Urdu. These are often used for governmental communications, writings, and literature. The Devngari script used for Hindi contains both 10 vowels and 40 consonants, and is characterized by bars on top of the symbols. Hindi/Urdu is highly phonetic; i.e. the pronunciation of new words can be reliably predicted from their written form. Like Arabic, nouns fall into two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. Also, some words are used to show respect and politeness. Japanese The noticeable phonological difference between Japanese and English is in syllable structure, where English syllable is basically closed (i.e. a consonant + a vowel + a consonant), and the Japanese syllable, open, ending in a vowel. All syllables receive the same amount of stress or emphasis, whereas English tends to stress the first syllable. Similar to English, the Japanese language uses diphthongs (i.e. putting 2 or more vowel sounds together at once). The most common are "ai", "ei", and "oi". Japanese is written with Kanji, Kana (which includes Hiragana and Katakana), the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals. Kanji are ideograms (i.e. one symbol represents one word or part or a word) imported from China (which is basically the same as Chinese characters), and Kana are phonograms derived from Kanji by the Japanese. While an alphabet represents a single sound with each letter, each Kana represents a syllable (which is a consonant and a vowel). Each Kanji can be also transcribed using Kana. When any part of a text is considered too difficult for the reader (e.g. children or foreigners), kana are often written above kanji to indicate the pronunciation. Korean Korean is not closely related to any other language, though a genetic kinship to Japanese is almost certain. Like Japanese, Korean has a subject-object-verb word order, and a complex morphology (e.g. many inflections and small function words called particles). Another characteristic of Korean (and Japanese) grammar is a system of honorifics-endings, and internal word markings that reflect social relationships. The sound system of Korean consists of 21 consonants and ten vowels. These are overlaid with a large number of sound alternations, including vowel harmony, glide formation, vowel contraction, and vowel deletion. Korean is the only language to have a true alphabet (called Hangul), completely native to East Asia. Hangul consists of 14 simple consonants and 6 simple vowels, which are grouped into syllabic or blocks of at least two and often three characters: (1) a consonant or a doubled consonant, (2) a vowel or diphthong and, optionally, (3) a consonant or consonant cluster at the end of the syllable. Persian/Farsi Persian and Farsi are the same language, only called by different names based on indigenous, historical, political and other reasons. Persian/Farsi is an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. The variant of Persian/Farsi spoken in Afghanistan is called: Dari, and in Tajikistan is called: Tajiki. Persian/Farsi spoken in Iran has six vowels and 23 consonants, including two affricates: "ch", and, "j". Modern Persian/Farsi and Dari are normally written using a modified variant of the Arabic alphabet with different pronunciation and more letters, whereas the Tajiki variety is typically written in a modified version of the Cyrillic alphabet. Suffixes predominate Persian/Farsi words, though there are a small number of prefixes. In modern Persian/Farsi script, vowels generally known as short vowels (i.e.: e, a, o) are usually not written; only the long vowels (i.e.: i, u, a-circumflex) are represented in the text. This, of course, creates ambiguities. The reader must determine the word from context. Russian The Russian alphabet, known as Cyrillic, consists of 33 letters and 5 vowel sounds, with no differentiation between short and long vowels. This contrasts with English, which has 12 vowel sounds (5 long, 7 short), plus 8 dipthongs. Russian has a similar number of consonants to English, but their sounds do not fully overlap. Like many other languages, Russian has no articles (e.g. the, an). Similar to English, Russian is read from left to right in rows. Russian is a largely phonetic language. This means that a word's pronunciation can be predicted from its spelling; however, it is difficult to master Russian pronunciation because the accent can be placed on any syllable, and each word has to be learned separately and may vary. Some words that are spelled alike are distinguished only by a different stress. In addition to the hard and soft consonants in Russian, the distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants is prevalent. Turkish Turkish uses a modified form of the same Latin script used in English. There are 21 consonants and 8 vowels. It lacks the: q, w, and x, of English. In Turkish, each letter of the alphabet retains its basic pronunciation, has only one sound, and two or more letters are never combined to make a different sound. The eight vowels can be divided into two groups, the undotted and the dotted vowels. Dotted vowels are pronounced at the front of the mouth (as the French language) while their undotted counterparts are pronounced at the back of the mouth (more like English). Turkish is an agglutinative language, which means that root nouns in even the simplest sentences can carry multiple suffixes (e.g. "Apparently, they were inside their houses" is a single word). There are more verb tenses than English. Irregular verbs, such as: "to be", or "to have", do not exist, and one single conjugation is used for almost all verbs. Sentence construction follows the subject/object/verb pattern, and when writing numbers, Turkish uses commas and periods in the opposite way from English numbers (excerpt from http://www.turkishlanguage.co.uk/about.htm). Helpful Hint Some foreign language instructors choose to use the phonetic alphabet to write complex languages in beginning level classes. For example, in Chinese it is called "pinyin", where the Chinese characters are transliterated into 26 letters of the Latin alphabet to aid in teaching pronunciation. Pinyin was developed in 1954 by the Chinese government and made into an international standard in 1979 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin). Hindi/Urdu tutorials also use transliteration into the Latin alphabet to teach words and pronunciation. Since English was a language used for a long time in India and Pakistan, transliteration in the Latin alphabet is often used for writing Indian languages. Even now people use software to will transliterate Latin-based input into Devnagri and other scripts. To learn more about transliteration, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Urdu. This issue of transliteration to the Latin alphabet is also one that is common to the majority of the Arab population, since many computer technologies do not accept the Arabic alphabet, although this is changing. Learn about the different systems at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Arabic. Also, UnisPers, or Universal Persian, is a method of writing Persian/Farsi with the Latin alphabet and was developed in Iran during the 1950s. Pársik or IPA2 (International Persian Alphabet) is a more recent method of writing Persian/Farsi with the Latin alphabet. Access the versions at: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/persian.htm. Case Examples of Two Students Learning Japanese Two National Federation of the Blind stories provide a good starting point in understanding what challenges and solutions arise when blind and visually impaired students study a critical need language that doesn't use the Latin alphabet. Cory Klatik As a freshman at the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL), Cory Klatik became interested in studying the Japanese language. It seemed a logical choice, since he was majoring in management information systems and international business, and was also very interested in doing a year of study abroad. He had the same concerns that other students have about this prospective study, competitive grades and the expenses of travel, but what concerned Cory even more was his vision, and the related obstacles that he would face in pursuit of his dream. Cory has optic nerve hypoplasia, which affects him differently every day, leaving him with vision that ranges from enough sight to navigate without the use of his cane, to absolutely no vision. Studying a complex foreign language and living in another country might have seemed impossible to some students, but not to Cory. After speaking with the study abroad coordinator in the Center for International Studies (CIS) at UMSL, Cory started to tackle the first challenge - learning the Japanese language....; Cory used a CCTV to enlarge everything that was presented in his textbooks. Sometimes this worked very well, and on other days, when his vision was low, he was able to read only a couple sentences to a paragraph. Cory dedicated one to two hours a day to his studies, as well as an additional hour spent with a private tutor who would walk through his homework assignments, verbalizing each printed word. Unlike his classmates, Cory did not have the visual prompts and punctuation cues printed in the text. "Forty percent of the learning process came through hearing, vocalizing, and memorizing what the tutors read or said. I would mimic the sounds in order to learn." Cory would have had to translate the verbal and written Japanese into Japanese braille, and he learned both the Japanese language and the Japanese braille code at the same time, so braille was not an option. When it came to the written aspect of the language, many enlargements were made, sometimes as large as one symbol per sheet of paper. Each day provided its own unique experience in handwriting symbols, and determining the size necessary for that given moment. Many times tutors used hand-over-hand demonstration to assist Cory with muscle memory. Working closely with his instructor, Elizabeth Eckelkamp, Cory was not only passing his Japanese class, he was getting an "A" and was ready to revisit [the study abroad office]....; [To prepare to study in Japan] he spoke intensively with the disability access office at UMSL and spent two and a half weeks preparing a document that detailed each aspect of every accommodation he was using. For example, Cory described why he needed written items enlarged and exactly how it was done (e.g. font size, step-by-step copying directions, percentage of increase of size, etc.), even converting our standard measurements to metric. In addition to the accommodations provided by Obirin University [in Japan], which included personal emails each morning with lecture material and handouts, Cory relied on his own CCTV for text-enlargement. Cory's knowledge and familiarity with assistive technology was one of the key elements that made study abroad possible. Digital files are widely used in Japan, and rarely were paper copies handed to him. He relied heavily on JAWS with a Japanese synthesizer, which he purchased on his own. He also used ZoomText to read some Japanese Web sites that JAWS was unable to make accessible. In Cory's opinion, without the features of these assistive devices along with his extensive knowledge of their capabilities and uses, study in Japan would have been nearly impossible. (Excerpted from a full online article in Braille Monitor, June 2007, "From St. Louis to Japan: A Study Abroad Experience" by Rachel Sommerer found at: http://www.nfb.org under: Publications, Braille Monitor, Online Archives 2000 to Present) Catherine Mendez Catherine Mendez, as a student at Cornell University and the president of the New York Association of Blind Students, always did things that forced her out of her comfort zone and challenged her. [In 2005], Catherine visited Japan, where she had an outstanding study abroad experience. Here she shares a story from that trip. Making the decision to study in Japan was actually quite simple. In fact, it was probably the easiest part of the entire study abroad process. I started at Cornell [University] as a Political Science major with a focus on International Relations and East Asian Studies and, although by the time my junior year rolled around my academic interest had shifted to Linguistics, I was still taking six hours of Japanese a week and filling my elective slots with courses on Asian history and religion. That being the case, it seemed quite natural that I should spend my semester abroad at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, which offers a fully bilingual, multi-disciplinary curriculum in addition to intensive Japanese language courses....; I could tell that the academic staff at ICU was a little bit concerned; several blind Japanese students were attending the university at the time, but until that point there hadn't been any blind international students. They wanted to know how I was going to survive with limited Japanese language skills; it's an extremely difficult language to master, and even with two years of fairly intensive instruction, my vocabulary and communicative skills were limited to a range of basic topics. They were worried about how I was going to access my textbooks and other classroom materials...;. My Japanese teachers seemed to relax after I aced my fifth or sixth straight grammar quiz and got full marks on the midterm....; Academically things proceeded without any real problems. The Japanese course at Cornell uses a Latin form of the language for the first two years of instruction, so accessing the material in braille had never been an issue. However, in Japan, of course they were using a textbook written entirely in Japanese characters, which posed something of a translation problem. There was no program like [Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic], at least not one that I had access to as an international student, but my professors were tremendously supportive. They recorded the Japanese language textbooks onto cassettes for me, and were willing to give me my exams orally. Several times a week the class practiced kanji, the Japanese graphic writing system, and during those times, I was able to arrange for one of the other blind students to teach me Japanese braille. I never did get fast enough to do my Japanese coursework in braille, but I did learn enough to enable me to read the signs on elevators, restrooms and the ticket machines at the train station. Because ICU offers courses taught in both English and Japanese, I was able to take four mainstream academic courses in addition to the ten hours a week of language instruction. Accessing the textbooks and research materials for those classes was easy, since I had brought my computer and scanner with me from the States and everything was in English. (Excerpted from the Student Slate, in spring/summer 2005, from the article "Two A.M. in a Foreign City" by Catherine Mendez at: http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/slate/slss0508.htm). Audio Materials Since many students with visual impairments are not braille readers, they use sound recordings to access their print materials. Audio versions may also be a good supplement for braille readers who cannot access braille in the foreign language, either due to lack of understanding of the braille code, or because of unavailability of braille materials or software that works with the language. Many foreign language teachers may also already be using audio files for some of their lessons. Availability of Audio Texts and Players in Foreign Languages Since many students who are blind or visually impaired utilize national libraries to obtain audio textbooks for school, they also can turn to these places for books recorded in the foreign language. Some cassette and digital audio formats require a special machine for listening. For example, sound recordings may use the DAISY (i.e. Digital Accessible Information System) format. Books produced with DAISY are different from typical CD books. DAISY allows the listener to locate the chapter, line and page that one wants to read with one button click. DAISY books are produced and distributed in over 40 nations and in many languages around the world including, Chinese, Hindi, and Japanese. The DAISY website's "Members and Friends" page lists the countries in which the member organizations and companies are based (http://www.daisy.org/). Information about DAISY production and playback tools that support languages other than English include: EasePublisher, and Dolphin Publisher by Dolphin, and LpStudio Pro, and Sigtuna DAR 3 from the DAISY Consortium. The DAISY Consortium developed Obi, an open source DAISY authoring/production tool that is available to everyone, at no cost on the DAISY website. To create DAISY formats, the new "Save as DAISY XML" add-in, designed for Microsoft Office Word 2007, Word 2003 and Word XP, allows users to save Open XML-based text files into DAISY XML navigable books. It can be download by Office Word users for free (http://www.openxmlcommunity.org/daisy). This XML output can then be processed through the DAISY Pipeline, a free downloadable transformation suite that supports the seamless conversion of DAISY XML into DAISY Digital Talking Book format. Together these technologies provide a comprehensive solution for converting text documents into accessible formats for people with print disabilities. Users can download the DAISY Pipeline from the DAISY Project page (http://www.daisy.org/projects/pipeline/). For playback/DAISY players, AMIS, (which stands for Adaptive Multimedia Information System), is a free software DAISY player which can be downloaded from the Internet (http://amis.sourceforge.net/). AMIS has a full internationalization component and can thus be customized to any language. The Korea Braille Library has developed the KBLL Reader 1.0 with the Sims Line, a software developing company in Korea. KBLL Reader supports only Korean audio and NCC DAISY books. The software is able to set book marking, control speed and volume, and allow the reader to move to chapter, page, or sentence. KBLL Reader can also search by word and number (e.g. page number). This is provided to users, libraries and schools or by download free of charge at http://infor.kbll.or.kr/lib01001/maintext.asp. They are considering supporting other languages, but it does not handle a text with both Korean and English in its current version. The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), Section of Libraries for the Blind (http://ifla.jsrpd.jp) The IFLA provides information about libraries or centers overseas that loan or exchange accessible formats of print materials. Sound recordings from the sources in other countries are recorded for native speakers, and may include a dialect that is different from the one used in the foreign language course. Some students may find it difficult to use these recordings for these reasons. The audio books from abroad are offered in various formats and languages depending on the country. * India's talking book library has 4200 holdings in Hindi, primarily in standard compact cassettes, but about 16% are in DAISY format. A larger Indian talking book library with 35,000 holdings loans standard compact cassettes, 2 track cassettes and open reel tapes in Hindi and other languages of India. Electronic text is also available for those with screen-reading software (read more in the next section); * Pakistan offers minimal audio books in Urdu and Arabic on standard compact and 2-track cassettes; * Lebanon holds and produces a small collection of audio books on 2-track or standard compact cassettes in Arabic, but will only loan to people within the country; people in the United States have to buy the books; * Saudi Arabia has a couple of talking book libraries with about 20,000 holdings in Arabic, which are loaned out on standard compact cassettes. * Turkey provides several hundred audio recordings in Turkish also on standard compact cassettes; * In Iran, a blind center listed in the directory loans out 2,775 sound recordings of Persian/Farsi and Arabic books on records, 2-track cassettes, and open reel tapes or in electronic text; * China loans 4-track cassettes from its national library collection of 1,200 audio books; * Japan's 20 libraries provide thousands of recordings on primarily standard compact cassettes, although two libraries have significant portions of their holdings available in DAISY format; * Korea provides all the formats mentioned above totaling 25,000 holdings at their talking book/magazine and braille libraries; * Russia has over a half million talking books and magazines available through its libraries in all the formats mentioned above except DAISY formats. Requests for interlibrary loans of sound recordings or electronic text from abroad, must be handled by the libraries/institutions that are registered in the directory. If a student's local library/institution is not listed, then a registration form is available on the directory web page in order to join. Further questions can be emailed to the IFLA member organization in Japan that maintains the directory: ifla.jp@dinf.ne.jp. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) (http://www.loc.gov/nls/foreignlanguage/index.html) The NLS provides audio versions of their materials in many of the critical need languages. All foreign-language titles in the NLS collections, and in the collections of cooperating libraries and institutions, appear in the NLS International Union Catalog. The specific instructions for accessing this catalog are on their foreign language web page. NLS produces the majority of its titles on cassettes, although it will begin offering digital books by the end of 2008. Hundreds of audio books from the NLS are recorded in the foreign language, but only one or two relate to learning the foreign language. Between sound recordings and electronic text, the NLS has the following amount of holdings available in critical need languages: Arabic (88), Chinese (175), Hindi/Urdu (58), Japanese (200), Korean (30), Persian/Farsi (2), Russian (630), and Turkish (30). Students who study abroad can register with the overseas librarian at the NLS to receive books while overseas. A two-pronged adapter to use with a 220-volt current can also be supplied by NLS for the audio player if needed. Read more at: http://www.loc.gov/nls/overseas/hb4borrow.html. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Library of Congress Washington, DC 20542 888-657-7323 202-707-5100 TTY: 202-707-0744 braille@loc.gov; The Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RfB&D) (http://www.rfbd.org) One of the leading libraries of audio textbooks in the United States is RfB&D. Its database catalogs many Russian language textbooks, and a couple of Arabic language books. Another leading talking book supplier, Benetech/Bookshare, which is expanding its collection of educational materials, currently does not have any audio books in languages other than English and Spanish, nor do they offer foreign language textbooks. In the RfB&D database, the novels brought up from the keywords search of "Russian" and "Language" are about the Russian language, but spoken in English. To get books spoken in the Russian language or about learning Russian, it is better to put "Russian language" in the Subject field rather than the two keywords fields. The database also shows a few language textbooks recorded for Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese using this Subject field. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic 20 Roszel Road Princeton, NJ 08540 866-732-3585 custserv@rfbd.org; Helpful Hint If a book cannot be ordered from the libraries above, then try searching: * The repository of accessible formats in the American Printing House for the Blind's Louis database (http://www.aph.org/louis.htm). It has some foreign language textbooks available in audio versions of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. * The Association of American Publishers' online database to determine if electronic versions of foreign language books are available from American publishers ((http://www.publisherlookup.org). * Librivox website with free audiobooks in MP3 format, including a few book of literature in Chinese, Japanese and Russian (http://www.librivox.org). Books can also be requested for a volunteer to record in their native language. * Project Gutenberg provides e-text and audio versions of thousands of books for free on its website (http://www.gutenberg.org). While not foreign language textbooks, it includes up to 50 works of literature or non-fiction in Chinese, Japanese and Russian. It also has a Korean-English dictionary. A final option is the library or disability office could hire a foreign language speaker to record the book for the student. The Accessible Media Producers Database (http://www.aph.org/ampdb.htm) lists some people who will do Russian and Japanese sound recordings. Screen-Reading and Speech Recognition Programs Screen-reading programs produce audio versions of electronic text and speech recognition programs change what is spoken into an electronic document. Blind and visually impaired foreign language learners can use these types of software programs to access and produce many critical need languages documents. It just requires the right preparation and combination of software programs or equipment. Scanning Print to Produce Electronic Text If one has acquired an electronic text version of the foreign language material from a teacher or publisher, then using screen-reading software can help to access an audio version of the text. However, if one does not have an electronic copy of the print textbook or handout, then scan the physical pages with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software programs, such as ABBYY FineReader or Nuance OmniPage. Before scanning, turn on the language options of the OCR program. Nuance OmniPage supports 119 languages, but only Russian and Turkish of the critical need languages. ABBYY FineReader 9.0 has capabilities of recognizing letters, script and characters in 184 languages, including the critical need languages, and can have dictionary capabilities in 38 languages. It automatically detects the language of a document, and allows users to select any combination of languages to recognize multilingual documents. Read more at: http://finereader.abbyy.com/?param=137542. Some students use products such as Nuance's Open Book to scan and read materials from class on their own. The two scanning OCR software programs mentioned above are used with Open Book, and utilize the RealSpeak Solo voice mentioned next: all of which provide recognition of various critical need languages if the student selects the right combination. A Sampling of Common Screen-Reading Programs' Foreign Language Options Kurzweil 1000/3000 has been used for blind students in Dutch, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Swedish, but not critical need languages. Window-Eyes screen reading program offers five common foreign languages, but has a list online of distributors in other countries that have adapted it for their local languages (http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/Non-English_Languages/). While none of the critical need languages are currently included in this list, this may expand in the future. JAWS has been translated into 17 languages and used in 50 countries. If a student has Windows NT 4.0 or later, then the unicode version of JAWS should be installed when upgrading to 6.10. Unicode, allows JAWS to provide seamless support for languages with non-Latin alphabets, complex scripts, or special reading orders. With the purchase of an appropriate SAPI-compatible speech synthesizer, JAWS users can now access information in a number of other languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Russian, and more. Eloquence is the default synthesizer installed with JAWS and only covers the most common foreign languages. An alternative plug-in with JAWS is RealSpeak Solo, which has more options for critical need languages. Since many beginning level foreign language textbooks have both English and the foreign language on the same page, JAWS can handle this according the JAWS 6.0 help file: "As you navigate or read text in a document containing multiple languages, and if you are using Eloquence, JAWS automatically switches languages appropriately. If you are not using Eloquence, the synthesizer in use still alerts you to the language change by speaking the language name in the Message Voice before the text in that language. Say Line, Say Sentence, and Say Paragraph, all honor language detection and switching. We recommend you have all Word language modules that you intend to use installed before using this feature." As with all screen-readers, JAWS does not translate foreign languages into English, it will only announce the text with the correct phonemes for the language it is written in. A selection of high quality, SAPI 5, voice samples are maintained by several developers. For a student using RealSpeak Solo, it supports 30 languages and dialects including: Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Turkish. Although it doesn't have Arabic or Persian/Farsi, their website explains Nuance is able to develop custom languages and voices on demand (http://www.nuance.com/realspeak/languages/). Text Aloud offers many languages including: Arabic and Turkish (http://nextup.com/acapela.html). NeoSpeech offers: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, voices (http://www.neospeech.com/). If a student needs a good electronic dictionary, and uses JAWS, Jerry Neufeld has a scripted version 4.3.4 of Ultralingua, a specialized foreign language dictionary and grammar program, for which multiple language modules are available (though mainly in Romance languages). The scripts only work with this version of the program, and if the student wants the JAWS scripts that make it usable, write to Jerry at: jerry.neufeld@rogers.com. Many critical language speakers overseas use JAWS. For example, people in Hong Kong can get a JAWS Chinese version from this website: www.kanhan.com/sales/jaws/. Sometimes for cost-effectiveness or performance, they will also use screen reading programs developed in their own countries. Screen-Reading Programs Developed Overseas In Egypt, Sakhr and Harf software products have been developed, and distributed in North America, including the Ibsar Reading Machine, which gives Arabic- and English-using blind and low vision users customized voice command of their computers, audio of their keystroke, use of the Internet, and access to scanned text. This company also has an OCR program that handles the Arabic written language (More can be read at: http://aramedia.com/ibsar.htm). The Ibsar Reading Machine removes the step of needing to add in the diacritical (short vowel) marks that are not typically represented in written Arabic. It automates how to resolve the ambiguity of the words and selects the proper pronunciation of the input undiacritized text. Based on Sakhr Text-To-Speech engine, it involves a three-step process to achieve this: the Linguistic Module that converts the input text into a phonetic transcription, the Phonetic Module that calculates speech parameters, and the Acoustic Module that uses these parameters to generate synthetic speech signals. Once complete, it is fully compatible with Microsoft Speech APIs version SAPI 5.0 to create a natural sounding speech output. In India, the National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi, and a Lucknow-based software development company built a Hindi screen reader that can handle electronic text in Hindi at a fraction of the cost of JAWS (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/590412.cms). The Japanese BRLTTY screen reader added new functions such as Japanese voice synthesis, using the software voice synthesis library developed by Create System Development Company Ltd.. It also supplies detailed read functions using voice during Japanese Kanji composition input method, enabling Kanji homonyms to be inputted. It is currently being developed to handle both English and Japanese. The beta-version screen reader and its source code are openly available from http://www.sourceforge.jp. There are several Chinese screen readers used by native Chinese blind people, but the student may need to be more advanced in understanding or instructing it. If a textbook for a Chinese course includes information also in English, then the Chinese Text Reader may work (http://www.clavisinica.com/duwen.html). Speech Recognition Programs for Foreign Languages If a student uses the keyboard to type in the foreign language, go to the discussion under "Braille Materials" that follows for how to install foreign language fonts and keyboards. If not, then speech recognition programs can do the task. For example, Via Voice automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech functions can function in Korean, Chinese and Japanese: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/pervasive/embedded_viavoice/about/. J-Say Pro (http://www.ngtvoice.com/products/software/tandt/jsay/) is an interface product by Next Generation Technologies that enables using Dragon NaturallySpeaking with JAWS. Dragon NaturallySpeaking comes in a few common foreign language versions, with Japanese being the only critical need language. These versions are available in foreign countries, primarily the European market. Nuance, makers of this software, have an international marketing department listed at: http://www.nuance.com/international. The Japanese version includes acoustic models and vocabularies developed specifically for Japanese speakers. The vocabularies include regional words, such as, location names, and proper nouns. Although it automatically selects whether to use Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji, the user can purposely select from the three writing scripts by using specially designed voice commands. Once the students train the speech recognition system with their own voice and pronunciation, it will accurately record it. Speech-to-text engines work in that they listen to individual phonemes instead of words. The program then seeks the highest probability of what words fit into a common phrase that sounds similar to what the student spoke. In a number of cases, a student could incorrectly pronounce a word and still have it come out correct. However, if this doesn't work, the student must know enough of the language's spelling to correct the program and train it. If the program is purchased from a foreign country then the foreign language versions may be more accurate than the American English version, shortening the training curve significantly. The user will also get correct accent marks or punctuation, in their proper places without having to specifically name the grammatical mark to be inserted. Helpful Hint If ordering software from overseas, it is likely that the version's commands will be in the foreign language, which may be difficult for a beginning language student. However, one could create a cheat sheet for the program with the foreign language commands besides the matching English commands. Braille Materials Foreign language courses often use textbooks, workbooks, or online materials in their lessons to teach reading and writing, to follow dialogues in class and to support speaking and listening skills. Students with and without disabilities need equal access to written materials that support learning the language. If a student is a braille user, then the following information will help in understanding how best to access braille in the foreign language being taught. Amount and Availability of Foreign Language Braille Materials Many students who are blind or visually impaired utilize national libraries, often though their disability offices and memberships, to obtain braille textbooks for school. They also can turn to these places for books written in the foreign language. Many countries worldwide have similar braille publication collections that loan out books, and U.S. students can still access the U.S. libraries if studying the language overseas. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (http://www.loc.gov/nls/foreignlanguage/index.html) The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) lists non-English braille materials produced and offered by NLS, by NLS cooperating libraries, and by other organizations, foreign and domestic, on its website. The specific instructions for accessing this catalog are on the NLS foreign language web page. Also, on this page the NLS has links to other places to search for foreign language materials, and links to available resources listed by language. Titles have limited quantities, and a reserve process is used when loan requests are greater than the number of copies available to circulate. Many report that, "Availability is restricted to those meeting the eligibility requirements of the holding agency." Hindi and Russian foreign language books in uncontracted braille are the most available due to stronger library collection in India and Russia or Eurasia. Many books listed are not foreign language textbooks (as is in sync with the entire NLS collection). The NLS is better for advanced language courses focusing on literature. The Arabic language has the Qur'an in braille, and only a couple of texts are available in Japanese and Chinese. No Korean, Persian/Farsi, and Turkish, braille materials appear currently in the NLS catalog. Helpful Hint If a student is studying abroad in a country that does not provide braille materials for international students, then U.S. citizens can sign up before they leave the United States with the overseas librarian at NLS to receive books (email: nlsoverseas@loc.gov). More information on how to receive books once overseas can be found in its patron handbook, newsletter, or on its website: "NLS Services for American Citizens Living Abroad", at: http://www.loc.gov/nls/overseas/index.html. American Printing House for the Blind (http://www.aph.org/louis.htm) Other braille printing houses in the United States may also have books available in foreign languages. One can check whether a braille book has already been done by someone else, through the Louis database from the American Printing House for the Blind. A quick search using the keyword "Arabic language", for example, turns up many textbooks meant for learning the Arabic language. Chinese is currently limited to large print and sound recordings, but the Louis database has many braille language textbooks in Japanese and Russian. The remaining critical need languages are not currently available. If a book does not exist already, then one can use the Accessible Media Producers Database (http://www.aph.org/ampdb.htm), which allows one to select from a few people or companies who can produce accessible formats in variety of languages (including braille for Arabic, Japanese, and Russian). American Printing House for the Blind 1839 Frankfort Avenue Louisville, KY 40206 800-223-1839 info@aph.org; International Federation of Library Associations, Section of Libraries for the Blind (http://ifla.jsrpd.jp) The International Federation of Library Associations, Section of Libraries for the Blind, online directory has full descriptions of what is available at braille libraries located outside the United States. Japan lists 20 libraries for blind people that loan braille publications. The China Braille Publishing House in Beijing has 11,000 braille titles, Russian State Library for the Blind has 32,575 titles, Milli Kutuphane National Library in Turkey has 5,000 titles, and Korean Braille Library has 5,275 titles; all which loan, exchange or give for free to people who are blind or visually impaired, and are exchanged between libraries or institutions registered in the directory. Additional collections are also available at other libraries in each country. Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, have very few Persian/Farsi or Arabic books in braille through their schools for the blind, and do not lend them out. The emphasis in those countries seems to be more on their audio book collections. Other Options (http://www.loc.gov/nls/overseas/outlook/2003jul_dec.html) The NLS Overseas Outlook newsletter lists other sources for electronic files in a variety of formats, ranging from plain text to digital audio and digital braille. Most can be downloaded and read offline, and electronic braille materials can also be embossed. Web sites vary with regard to accessibility. Each entry lists the telephone numbers, and web site and e-mail addresses, for further information. Transcribing Braille Documents in Foreign Languages* * Thanks to Joanna Venneri for assistance in writing portions of this section. If a foreign language book cannot be located through contacting a braille library or printing house, then either the library will braille it for the student, or it will be done at the educational institution or other transcription services. Before deciding to transcribe the entire textbook into braille, it is necessary to check with the professor to see which specific sections are covered. In many foreign language courses, one textbook is used for the first three levels, which are taken over a few terms. Also, students may need to reference the glossaries or verb tables at the back of the book. If the student already has a braille dictionary for the foreign language, this may be sufficient. Helpful Hint Some students will have portable braille displays that they can bring to class to refer to readings or to use for note-taking. A braille display is a piece of equipment that mechanically raises dots to represent the braille codes. As the document is read, the display refreshes and the mechanical dots reconfigure to the next phrase. A foreign language student should have at least a 32-cell display since words in other languages can be lengthy. This device can come in handy for finding vocabulary translations at the back of the textbook or in a dictionary. However, it is not as useful as embossed paper for reading passages or dialogue aloud in class. An example of a device that works with some foreign languages is PacMate. PacMate's combo boxes allow the user to select a primary and a secondary language for braille to allow reading braille in two different languages. Braille languages can be set to any combination of the available languages, which are primarily European languages, though also include Arabic. Braille Overview The origin and basic construct of braille characters is well known and documented on a variety of web sites, including many of those cited in this document. Because of its physical nature as a tactile medium, there are inflexible constraints on the size of the characters and the size of the individual dots. The number of different characters that can be formed is finite and specific. Braille is not a language. Braille is a set of symbols that, given appropriate equipment, can be written down and read. Like the Latin alphabet, it can be used for any number of languages. Many of the individual braille symbols have several different meanings that are determined only by the context, or relative proximity to surrounding characters and what those surrounding characters are. A print equivalent of this type of situation is letters: s, p, and o. In most fonts, it is difficult or impossible to tell whether they are upper or lower case when standing alone; placed in surrounding text, the meaning is instantly apparent. Consider the upper case: "I". Is it a Roman number or the word: I? Or is it simply the upper case letter: I? This can only be determined by the context of surrounding text. There is no print equivalent to braille contractions. Contractions are formulated and used according to rules, like spelling, and cannot be changed by the individual user and still be considered correct or even readable. Contractions make reading more efficient by shortening the word, and also serve to save some space. Some contractions consists of a single character (or a pair of two characters) that stands for an entire word, or a commonly used combination of letters used as part of many words, like: T-I-O-N, I-T-Y, A-N-C-E, S-H, T-H, etc. Some contractions are a single alphabet letter and others are letters preceded by special indicator symbols that have no print equivalent. Some whole words are contracted as a single alphabetic letter; other whole words are represented by a single braille character that has no print equivalent. The: "and" contraction is an example. The word: "and" is always shown in braille by a single character that has no print equivalent. Words such as sand, band and abandon, are also shown in braille with the: "and" character, so that sand and band are written as two characters instead of four and abandon with five characters instead of seven. Other braille contraction symbols mean a specific whole word when standing alone or a letter combination when used within a word. These symbols also have no print equivalent. The: ch symbol, is a single braille symbol that means the word: child, only when standing alone. In the word: childish, only the: ch, is shown by this symbol, and the rest of: child, the: I-L-D, is spelled out letter for letter. There are several other type of braille contractions, some of which are punctuation when appearing at the end of words, but letter-combination contractions when appearing in the middle of a word. These do not relate to foreign language braille; the use of contraction symbols in foreign language braille is discussed later on. Languages in the Latin Alphabet All the foreign languages that in the Latin alphabet, with the exception of Dutch, use accented letters in addition to the conventional alphabet. Sighted students have probably seen such letters in foreign words and in general reading. Such letters are easy to identify and remember because they look exactly like English letters with a visual embellishment and they look the same in every language that uses them. The: é acute, for instance, looks the same when used in Italian as it does in French and Spanish. Latin alphabet foreign languages are transcribed in uncontracted braille, letter by letter, for two reasons. First, the rules for using contractions apply only to English braille and second, contraction characters are used to designate the special accented letters used in the foreign language. This is necessary because there is no way to change the physical appearance of a letter in braille. In print, an accent mark can simply be typographically added to the accented letter. Since this is not possible in braille, the accented letter itself is treated as a unique character that includes both the letter and the accent. It is not necessary for the braille reader to have a visual description of the accented letter, but it is critical that each be identified by name. These letters are usually identified as letters followed by the type of accent they carry, i.e.: é (e acute); à (a grave); î (i circumflex); ç (c cedilla); ñ (n tilde); and so forth. The braille symbol for: é (e acute), tends to be the same for all the languages that use it, but this is not always the case. Both Turkish and French use the: â (a circumflex), but the braille symbol used for it in French is different from the one used for it in Turkish. The same braille symbol used for the: ä (a umlaut), in German is used for the: â (a circumflex), in Turkish, where the: ä (a umlaut), does not occur. A list of each braille symbol and the identification of the accented letter it represents must be given at the beginning of every volume of a foreign language transcription. This is standard procedure. Dutch, like English, uses no accented letters except for those that occur in foreign words. (There is provision for such letters in Dutch braille.) Dutch is simply brailled letter for letter. "Nu is het duidelijk, dat het duratieve aspect in de feitelijke handeling moeilijk tot zijn recht kan komen". Reading this in braille would be about the same as reading it in print. Even though there are no accented letters, no contractions are used because this is not English. Of the critical need languages, only Turkish uses the Latin alphabet with several accented letters. The regular braille letters are used with contraction characters designating each accented letter. Learning the braille code for Latin alphabet languages is essentially the same experience for blind readers as sighted readers. The sighted reader, who knows how to read English, can appreciate the visual appearance of the various accented letters, learn their names, and become accustomed to recognizing them. The blind reader understands that English contractions are not used. When a contraction symbols is encountered the reader knows this means a particular accented letter that can be identified by referring to the list of symbols at the beginning of the braille volume. This symbols list gives the blind reader the means to identify each accented letter and to have the same access to the material as the sighted readers. As long as the reader can name the accented letter, there is a common means of communication with the teacher and the others in the class. The visual appearance is not necessary because the blind reader does not use visual appearance in order to read. Languages Not Using the Latin Alphabet The visual appearance of non-Latin alphabet letters is of no concern to the blind reader, although braille readers with low vision may choose to learn it as in the case examples provided earlier in this informational guide. Languages that have braille code provisions also have Latin names or designations for the letters. When such identifiers are paired with their corresponding braille symbols, the braille reader can refer to the print letters when conferring with the teacher and other students. It is not necessary for the non-Latin alphabet letters to be transliterated into Latin-letter equivalents, but it is necessary that non-phonetic notations systems be modified to be phonetic. This has been done with languages that have provision for braille symbols. The critical need languages all have braille provisions, as do Hebrew and Greek. Languages that are read in columns and/or right to left are brailled left to right in rows top to bottom. Learning the braille codes for the foreign language under study presents the same issues for blind and sighted students. An unfamiliar alphabet for sighted students may be more of a challenge for them than it is for blind students, because the physical appearance of the letters is new. For braille readers, it all looks like braille. The symbols are all familiar. Braille readers are long accustomed to symbols assigned to various usages depending on context, and the issue of learning new symbol assignments in foreign language is a familiar task. A list of each braille symbol and the identification of each letter of the non-Latin alphabet it represents must be given at the beginning of every volume of a foreign language transcription. Print to Braille Conversion In the United States, English print to braille conversion using braille "translation" software can yield accuracy on the word level that approaches 100%. It is possible for a person who does not know braille to produce decent, usable and useful braille. This is particularly critical in educational settings, where students need braille in a timely manner in order to keep current with their studies. However, like any other computer tool, such as spell checkers, this is not foolproof. The quality of automatic braille conversion results varies. Issues relating to print to braille conversion are even more critical in the area of foreign language braille because the reader is actually in the process of learning the language itself, and the complexity of the material may make the conversion process less reliable. Duxbury DBT software, for example, says it converts many foreign languages, including: Arabic, Persian/Farsi, Russian, and Turkish. While not all critical need languages are listed, Duxbury provides a contact email and assurance that they can work with users to "translate" languages that are not listed on their website: http://www.duxburysystems.com/nations.asp. The term translation is often used in connection with software that automatically converts print text into braille. This is a slightly misleading term because, as already stated, braille is not a language. What is being translated are the contractions. Modern braille software can and does "translate" print into braille using contractions, rather than just letter for letter. It is useful to understand this process as conversion rather than translation. Automatic conversion is an invaluable tool and resource, but it is not a panacea, and it does not eliminate the need for skilled intervention from a knowledgeable person when quality braille is the desired outcome. Foreign language braille presents unique quality control issues that require a certain amount of skill and specialized knowledge from the braille provider. Ideally, the braille provider is a certified braille transcriber. In the case of Latin-letter foreign languages, it is generally not necessary for the transcriber to know the foreign language because the alphabet is familiar, and it is easy to compare braille with the print for accuracy. However, in the case of non-Latin letter alphabets, knowledge of the language is necessary. Helpful Hint When braille is used to write Chinese, it represents the sounds of the language rather than the Chinese characters. It is written from left to right in horizontal lines running from top to bottom. Each syllable is made up of three braille letters: one for the initial, one for the final and one for the tone, though the tones marks are rarely used. Words are separated by spaces (excerpted from: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/braille_chinese.htm). To prepare a document for Chinese braille, choose one of the following, (according to the High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges): (1) Write out the characters in Microsoft Word according to the letter/sound equivalents specified (e.g. use the letters "b-l-e" for the "eng", sound), then run that document through the braille translation software. (2) Use the ASCII braille code to enter the ASCII equivalent of the braille code into a Word document and take that document into the braille software as braille (so it will not translate it). In the ASCII system, # (number sign) would be the "eng", sound. (3) Use six-key entry and enter the braille manually. In this system, dots 3,4,5,6 would be the "eng" sound. For in-depth understanding of producing Chinese braille, read this article: http://www.braille.ch/pschin-e.htm. Also, examples of Chinese braille can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_braille. Print to Braille Software Programs Developed Abroad Software developed in other countries for native speakers of the languages may also be options depending on if the functional menus are also in the foreign language or available in English for the disability service provider or beginning language student to understand. Contact information for each country's braille authorities or blind organizations for learning more about their braille systems and available conversion programs is found online at: http://info.rnib.org.uk/exe/Agencies/browse1.pl or http://www.miusa.org/orgsearch. The IIT Madras software, which may be available to U.S. students, can be used for students taking Hindi or other languages of India. It "has taken a phonetic approach to representing Indian language text, and so it is quite easy to convert the text prepared using the Multilingual editor into braille codes. Just a simple table look up procedure is all that one would require and the program converts text in the vernacular, (a .llf file as prepared with the editor), into appropriate braille codes for use with an embosser connected to a computer. It is possible for one to prepare a bilingual braille document where Bharati braille applies to text in Indian languages, while standard [contracted] translation applies to text in English." Read more at: http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/disabilities/br_intro.php. In Japan, "a beta version of the screen reader (BRLTTY Plus) for Linux expanded the functions available for Japanese braille output. The Japanese braille 'translation' was able to display high-definition Japanese braille using the EXTRA for Linux, automatic braille 'translation' engine developed by Jun Ishikawa. The software is compatible with almost all braille displays currently used in the world." Learn more at: http://www.sourceforge.jp. Libbraille, a computer shared library that makes it possible to easily develop braille displays, also provides a free online conversion tool for foreign languages from unicode text to braille. Unicode is a computer industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's writing systems developed in tandem with the Universal Character Set standard. It is possible to select the braille alphabet for many foreign languages, including: Arabic, Bharati-Devanagari, Korean, and Russian. It is free software and open source, and provides downloads and how-to instructions at: http://libbraille.org/translator.php. All of the above programs conversions need to be verified for accuracy before embossing. Someone who knows the foreign language and braille transcription should check the documents, and include a list of each braille symbol and the identification of the accented letter it represents at the beginning of every volume. Location of Instruction: What are the Rules? In discussing foreign language braille, English tends to get lost, but it is a major factor in most foreign language braille transcriptions. Foreign language instruction material typically has considerable amounts of English in it, especially at the beginning, to present vocabulary, to explain the lesson, for exercise directions and for translation exercises. In these cases, the English is contracted. This is discussed further below. In the United States, braille standards and rules are set by BANA (Braille Authority of North America), a voluntary consortium of some 16 organizations of and for the blind, representing braille readers, transcribers, and educators. The relevant rules books are: * NBA Interim Manual for Foreign Language Braille Transcribing, available from National Braille Association (http://www.nationalbraille.org); * Braille Formats: Principles of Print to Braille Transcription 1997, available from American Printing House for the Blind (http://www.aph.org). The foreign languages rules specify the braille symbols to be used, and the procedures for presenting instruction material, usually textbooks. Procedures for presenting such things as exercises, vocabularies, and translations are given. Braille Formats covers general rules for all textbooks and anything not covered specifically for foreign languages in the Interim Manual. English adjacent to the foreign language is not an issue for sighted readers, because the switch from one language to the other can be seen at a glance, particularly in the case of non-Latin alphabets. This is obviously not the case in braille, and these transitions are potentially awkward. Ample provision for this is made in the Interim Manual. Many languages are covered, and the symbols designations and identifying names are generally in accordance with those used in the countries where the language is spoken. In cases of variance, a single standard is given. For instance, punctuation usage differs among the various Spanish-speaking countries. In the United States, conventional English punctuation, (used by some Spanish-speaking countries too, but not all), is used. When using software, such as Duxbury, to convert text, all three Spanish entries in their translation tables are designed for native speakers in countries where Spanish is the national language. A Spanish book in the United States would be produced using the English/American table, with Spanish as a secondary language. In the case of languages not covered in the Interim Manual (like Arabic), it is recommended that the braille symbols designations be researched and when determined, used in conjunction with the other general provisions the Interim Manual and Braille Formats. Sometimes the student will travel to the country where the language is spoken to take courses. The braille codes for the various countries outside North America are provided by the designated organizations or entities in that country, a central agency or commission for the blind, or a university perhaps. If braille for foreign language study is provided locally, it would no doubt conform to the braille code of that country, rather than BANA provisions. However, the English part of the transcription may or may not be an issue. In order to follow the lessons and fully participate in the instruction, the English part of foreign language instruction must be high quality braille, and that means fully contracted English, where appropriate. On the other hand, if the foreign language braille is done according to BANA rules, it doesn't impact instruction. If the braille corresponds to the print foreign language correctly, it doesn't matter which braille symbol is used for the period or the question mark as they already match. All that is needed is the exact braille equivalent to the print instruction material. Helpful Hint If you have questions related transcribing the critical need languages into braille, the National Braille Association (NBA) has an online expert, Joanna Venneri, who is an independent consultant and NBA Foreign Language Braille Committee Chair, who will answer questions through their online forum (http://nationalbraille.org/forum). National Braille Association Braille Materials Production Center Three Townline Circle Rochester, NY 14623-2513 (585) 427-8260 nbaoffice@nationalbraille.org; Converting Foreign Language Braille into Print If a student writes homework assignments that need to be turned in for grading to a sighted foreign language instructor, then certain steps need to be taken to ensure the proper symbols unique to the language appear properly, (as this usually is graded). This is possible to do using uncontracted, 8-cell computer braille code characters, and using ASCII characters. For step by step instructions on how to do this and the ASCII character numbers for the accented symbols in commonly used languages, go to the online presentation: http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/2001/proceedings/0219kapperman.htm. To avoid the process of computer translation of braille to print, or relying on an underwriter, some students may use a regular keyboard instead of a braille display to type up their test or homework, (and a screen reader described in the previous section to ensure it is typed correctly). In order to find the appropriate characters or symbols in the foreign language, student will need to first select the language in Microsoft Word, under the Tools menu, choose Language, and then select the language. Full instructions, including where to go if the foreign language is not shown in the menu, is available at: http://www.wellesley.edu/Computing/ForeignLangSupport/keyboard-setup.html. Next, the student adapts a standard American English keyboard to type in the foreign language, and learns the new key patterns. A braille labeler could be used to mark the new keys. A sample of foreign language keyboards for all the critical need languages is easily found through an Internet search. Free foreign language fonts can be downloaded at: http://www.vistawide.com/languages/foreign_language_fonts.htm. Large Print Low vision students may find that enlarging the print of certain foreign language lessons, such as grammar and spelling instruction, will be more helpful than audio versions alone of the same material. Availability of Large Print Books in Foreign Languages The International Federation of Library Associations, Section of Libraries for the Blind, and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, also provide large print versions of their materials, (find their contact information and descriptions under Audio Materials). However, if ordering materials from the overseas libraries, the color paper, or size and type of font, may be different than what a student is use to reading. The Library Reproduction Service (http://www.lrs-largeprint.com/home.html) has a database of educational materials in large print, which allows one to search by subject. It has both foreign language textbooks and foreign language literature listed. One can search through the title field using the word: "Chinese", for example, and bring up both dictionaries and language textbooks. Aside from Chinese, both Japanese and Russian, are available. The other critical need languages do not appear currently. Library Reproduction Service 14214 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90061 800-255-5002 lrsprint@aol.com; If a book cannot be ordered from the library, then the Accessible Media Producers Database (http://www.aph.org/ampdb.htm) lists individuals who will produce Chinese and Russian large print. Tools for Enlarging Foreign Language Text Closed Circuit Television Systems (CCTVs), enlargement through photocopying, and magnifiers are the low technology solutions for producing large print in a foreign language. Advances in technology, however, have opened new opportunities for people who are visually impaired to use optical scanners that read different scripts and characters (see previous discussion under Audio Materials), and an array of devices and software that work with standard personal computers to create large print. If a student is learning a script that is unfamiliar, then using a computer to change fonts or spacing may help. For example, a visually impaired student learning Russian found the Cyrillic alphabet difficult to read because of its squat and square shape to the letters, so she made adjustments on her computer before reading it or printing it out. Some blind students learning Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese, used Kurzweil 3000 to electronically enlarge text. ZoomText enlarges text size on the computer screen, and has a screen-reading function in multiple languages or is compatible with software, such as JAWS or RealSpeak, which may provide more accurate pronunciations than what ZoomText supplies on its own. With the release of ZoomText version 7.02, the international versions of ZoomText Level 1 and Level 2's main program and setup can be translated into foreign languages. All menus, dialog boxes and messages can be translated using the ZoomText Translation Kit, available upon request from Ai Squared (http://www.aisquared.com/Support/Contact%20Us.cfm). If the documents include graphics of single Chinese characters, for example, that need to be learned by the student, and enlarging the character is not helpful, then tactile versions could be made using such technologies as Duxbury System's TGD-Pro (http://www.duxburysystems.com/tgd.asp?choice=pro); or University of Washington's Tactile Graphics Assistant (http://tactilegraphics.cs.washington.edu/). In class, Sewell's Raised Line Drawing Kit, (http://www.shopsftb.org/servlet/the-409/Drawing-Kit-(Raised-Lines)/Detail) can be used. It is a Mylar-like film that is deformed when a notetaker writes on it with a pen, which creates raised drawings. Helpful Hint For classroom tasks, a low vision student may find it difficult to read what the teacher writes on a board. Wacom's pen tablets (http://www.wacom.com/pendisplays) in various sizes can be used by a sighted student to write down what is written on the board, such as specific characters being taught. Then this is sent via wireless connection to appear on the visually impaired student's laptop during class. The notes can also be saved and printed out later. Readers and Scribes If none of the above options can be arranged for a student, then a reader and scribe may be the only choice. On the other hand, some students may prefer this option, especially if they are overseas and want another way to connect with local people. Considerations Unique to Foreign Language Courses Foreign language courses often require students to achieve spelling or written stroke accuracy, and correct grammar and structure. Teachers will often grade on this aspect of written work and tests, so the student must learn it at some point while being read to. One would need to hire a reader or scribe that knows the language to the level required, especially in the foreign languages with non-Latin script. On a test that will be graded for spelling, punctuation, spacing, capitalization, and grammar, the purpose of the scribe is to first write verbatim what the student dictates, and then only edit what the student tells him or her to edit. For example, the scribe should not assume the student knows that a phrase he or she spoke in Turkish is written as a single word, instead of with spaces as it would translate to in English. The student would have to indicate to the scribe that it was to be written as one word, if the teacher would be grading on this aspect. It would take more time for the student to be clear when dictating to the scribe, and often requires a separate testing place. If the student has not been required to learn or had access to the written script or characters for a language, then a scribe would translate the student's spoken words into the correct written symbols. The teacher, however, would need to take mistakes by the scribe into account when grading, as the student would not be able to correct accuracy of the written symbol. In Chinese, where many like-sounding words are only differentiated with tones or the ideogram that is selected and written; the student would have to define the word being spoken so the scribe selects and writes the correct character. Often, however, these classes will have students write in the Latin alphabet version of the language (e.g. pinyin) and focus more on grading vocabulary and content, until students advance in the written form. Finding Qualified Readers and Scribes To determine how many trained readers or scribes in the area have foreign language skills, a disability provider can send out messages to group lists of readers and scribes, the blind community, or to foreign language instructors. If this turns up someone qualified, then it is helpful to record this information in a database of reader and scribe contacts. Working with the database designer to add a foreign language field, facilitates this information being easier to find in the future. If necessary, one could train someone fluent in the language in the role of being a reader and scribe. Another option would be to use a reader or scribe outside the area, but who knows the language, to provide services remotely with distance learning technologies. Once someone is found who knows the language, then it would be necessary to ask the foreign language instructor to assess this person's level of understanding in relation to the level of the course. Providing extra preparation time for the reader or scribe to learn the lessons before each class, increases accuracy when reading or transcribing. If the reader has a similar dialect to the professor, this makes it easier for the student. Of course, if the student is taking the language course overseas, then more native language speakers, and hopefully at least some of them trained in reader and scribe roles, are available. The reader and scribe services may not need to be a paid role, although it may be necessary to ensure reliable services. Some people overseas may be happy to assist someone who is learning their language, in exchange for receiving English tutoring. Contacting blind organizations in the host country is a first step to finding reliable leads (http://www.miusa.org/orgsearch). Considerations for Study Abroad To improve foreign language skills, students, like those mentioned in the earlier case examples, may choose to study abroad. By the spring semester of their senior year of college, 13% of blind or low vision students will have studied abroad, compared to 21% of non-disabled students, according to the National Survey on Student Engagement (2006). Some of these students may choose to study in countries where critical need languages are spoken. Arrangements are needed to make the educational experience accessible. This informational guide has already addressed: * How to obtain alternate formats of books while abroad from national libraries; * Where to search for blind organizations in the host country; * What software developed both in the United States and abroad can handle critical need languages, which the student may purchase or bring abroad. Other considerations for study abroad include: * Utilizing vocational rehabilitation funding and maintaining social security benefits while studying abroad (http://www.miusa.org/publications/brochures/ssa); * Planning for travel with a guide dog (http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/servicedogs/); * Ensuring that any electrical equipment brought overseas is adapted to the voltage of the host country (http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/powerchairs/); * Preparing for the study abroad experience and finding support in adjusting abroad (http://www.miusa.org/publications/books/ss); * Arranging for accommodations and services overseas and working with the study abroad office (http://www.miusa.org/publications/books/bb_html). For more information, read the following section on the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange. Resources and References With advances in technology and information sharing, studying critical need languages is within reach for students with low vision or who are blind. The suggestions and resources shared in this informational guide provides a starting point to put in place the necessary combinations of assistive technologies, accessible materials and services for a foreign language course to be accessible. Additional Resources through the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange The other component of access focuses on adaptations foreign language teachers can make in designing their methodologies and curriculum. The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) has available tipsheets, resource links, and teletrainings online for teachers to learn some of the techniques to improve universal access for students with disabilities in their classrooms (http://www.miusa.org/ncde/spotlight/foreignlanguage). The A World Awaits You journal on accessing foreign languages also provides information for making foreign language classes inclusive both in the United States and overseas (http://www.miusa.org/ncde/away). Students who are going abroad to learn a language, can also browse the NCDE website (http://www.miusa.org/ncde) about: * How to find a language program or professional opportunity in a country where the foreign language is commonly spoken; * Logistical questions in preparing to go abroad, such as traveling with diabetes or a guide dog; * Contacts with blind organizations in the host country; * Ways to connect with others who share the student's international interests. The NCDE, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Mobility International USA, provides free informational services by emailing clearinghouse@miusa.org, calling 541-343-1284 (tel/tty), or Windows instant messaging clearinghouse_miusa. The NCDE seeks to increase people with disabilities participating in international exchanges, and provides information for people with disabilities interested in international careers through a free online publication (http://www.miusa.org/publications/books/pic). Critical Need Language Scholarships The U.S. federal government's National Security Language Initiative provides many scholarships for people to learn foreign languages, both in the United States and by going overseas (http://exchanges.state.gov/NSLI/). People with and without disabilities are encouraged to apply for these opportunities as part of their study abroad programs or as separate experiences. The NCDE website also lists overseas scholarships that could be used towards language learning (http://www.miusa.org/ncde/financialaid). Learning More about Critical Need Languages in Braille Many of the critical need languages include thousands of written characters, like in Japanese, or a script with more consonants than the English language, like in Hindi/Urdu. How does the braille system work for these languages considering the standard six-dot cell only allows for 64 different combinations to make unique codes? The answer is transliteration (i.e. writing complex languages phonetically). In 1953 UNESCO developed the World Braille Usage guide, which was later updated in 1990 with support from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. This guide represents the International Phonetic Alphabet and sounds in most foreign languages using six-dot braille codes. (See pages 3 to 7 in the online PDF: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000872/087242EB.pdf.) It explains, "Braille symbols have typically been developed for particular sounds rather than for letters, especially for languages whose tradition is oral instead of written or whose language contains a large number of complex signs." Bharati braille is based on mapping Hindi characters to Latin braille with the assumption the reader will understand and interpret the language, (both words and structure), because they are familiar with the language. "Bharati braille, (the braille scheme adopted by India and some South Asian countries), has taken the best approach to presenting Indian language text through conventional braille [six-dots] by using phonetic equivalents from standard English braille to the extent possible. However, since there are only 63 different combinations available, only the basic vowels and the consonants of the Indian languages, about fifty in number, have been accommodated. Medial vowel representations are not possible and in Bharati braille, just the consonant followed by the vowel is written, and this is acceptable as a representation for a syllable....; Bharati braille achieves uniformity in a remarkable way and the recommendations apply to all the regional languages of India, along with Urdu and Sinhalese." (More information is at: http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/disabilities/bh_brl.php). In Japan, the six-dot standard braille code is typically used also with some modifications. The basic coding is to use the three dots in the upper left corner to represent a vowel, and those in the lower right corner to represent a consonant. These are combined to give a syllable and prefixes are used to modify the consonant value. For full details, read: http://homepages.cwi.nl/~dik/english/codes/braille.html#Japanese. Japanese braille is a purely sound-based (phonemic) script; there is no attempt to write kanji using braille. Learners will find similarities between the conventions for Japanese braille similar to those of English and other European languages. Japanese braille is explained at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_braille. In order to transcribe Japanese sentences to braille, two levels of work must be done. First, change Kanji to Kana. Secondly, transcribe Kana to braille based on Japanese braille code. (More details at: http://www.hi.sfc.keio.ac.jp/access/arc/NetBraille/etc/brttrl.html). Acknowledgments The information in this informational guide was acquired through various online websites, forums, and listservs, and through some of the online articles referenced in the text with direct links. Thank you to all who contributed by sharing their experiences, contacts, and editorial comments. A special appreciation to: Sandra Freels, Christie Gilson, Susan Goldberg, Saroj Primlani, Joanna Venneri, and professors in the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures at Portland State University, Oregon. For specific references or to contribute to updates of this informational guide, contact the NCDE at clearinghouse@miusa.org.