I’d certainly be intrested in doing some Koine readings, especially since it wouldn’t be viewed as authoritative. I have plenty of New Testament verses memorized that I would feel comfortable reciting (they made us memorize them in school in Greek).
I think as long as the forum is clearly marked as “Textkit User, contributions”, with the usual legal type lingo, "the views expressed in this forum do not necessarily reflect the Textkit Website…kinda like the disclaimer they put on TV shows that are somewhat controversial…I think that would be great. Even a name like…Textkit User Audio Forum…would give that sort of impression…with a big sticky up top that says the aforementioned blurb…I think it’s a great idea.
I think that it would also be worth noting, especially in the case of Greek files…that Greek pronunciation is something that is hotly debated in scholarly circles (as it has been in these forums), and that individual files are simply an interpretation of how the author of said file believes the language should be pronounced. It also might be worth having a couple of our more learned scholars here (who would be willing to spend the time) listen to and approve audio files, so we don’t end up with really crappy files…but that would take volunteers, and volunteers who are objective enough to take into consideration the current different scholarly pronunciations. I would be willing to review Koine files if no one else steps up to the plate…but classical is wholly outside my realm, especially when you have verse in meter (I totally suck at reading in meter).
Those are the only things that I think would be helpful in establishing an audio forum, that although it wouldn’t be perfect, would still be quite respectable.
If this can be seen as a workshop so that visitors clearly understand that not everything is perfect.. and perhaps just plain wrong… then I’m in.
We need now to develop the details of how this tool will work.
Yes, details!
I guess some important questions, as mentioned by annis toward the beginning of the thread, include
Who will be in charge of this thing?
Who will take care of the technical details likethe uploading mechanism?
Where will the audio section be located?
a) as a subsection of the forum? (this is where my vote goes)
b) in a separate section of the website?
Who gets to upload audio files?
a) anyone?
b) people who prove that they are responsible, serious, and
trustworthy?
How will the files be organized?
a) if via a forum
i) then separate posts for each author?
ii) a big sticky post for the overall catalogue of available files,
organized by author?
iii) separate posts for each recording?
b) if via a separate part of the webpage
i) by user?
ii) by author?
These are just some prompts to start discussion. Most important, I guess, we need people not only who can provide ideas but who also can implement them. Helpers, in other words.
On your fourth question, bellumpaxque, I think this willl be sort of a self-help area (according to Jeff’s last post), so I’d say anyone can register and upload files for us to provide help on pronunciation. We could also set up Skype sessions if anyone would prefer that to a response in the forum.
On file organization, I think a webpage might work best. We could have a search mechanism to find files by both author and user to make things easier for everyone (since some people might want to find recordings of a particular author).