An Application for Greek Transcription

An Application for Greek Transcription

Practice is the only way to learn a new language. However, when learning ancient languages, such as Greek, it can be difficult to get immediate, reliable feedback on practice work. This is why Professor Pablo Alvarez in Papyrology is working with Duderstadt Center student programmer Edward Wijaya to create an app for students to practice transcribing ancient Greek manuscripts into digital writing.

The app is divided into three modes: Professor/curator mode, student mode, and discovery mode. The professor mode allows the curator to upload a picture of the manuscript and post a line by line digital transcription of the document. These are the “answers” to the document. In student mode, these manuscript are transcribed by the students. When they click the check button, the student is given a line by line comparison to the curator’s answers. Furthermore, the discovery mode allows individuals with no Greek training to learn about the letters and read descriptions in the notations used.

A wide variety of fragile manuscripts which are often inaccessible to students are available on the app allowing the students to  gain experience with diverse handwriting and histories

Duderstadt Center takes 1st and 2nd Place in Mobile Apps Challenge

Duderstadt Center takes 1st and 2nd Place in Mobile Apps Challenge

In December of 2012, The University of Michigan held a mobile app competition to showcase new apps developed within the university and encourage the developer community to create innovative mobile designs. U-M students, faculty, and staff submitted a variety of apps from many different disciplines and genres. The event was sponsored and judged by individuals from Computer Science and Engineering, Google, Information and Technology Services, and Technology Transfer.

1st Place – PainTrek
Ever have a headache or facial pain that seemingly comes and goes without warning? Ever been diagnosed with migraines, TMD or facial neuralgias but feel that the medication or your ability to explain your pain is limited? PainTrek is a novel app that was developed to make it easier to track, analyze, and talk about pain.

2nd Place – PictureIt: The Epistles of St. Paul
The app will give you the feel of what it was like reading an ancient Greek book on papyrus, where the text is written without word division, punctuation, headings, or chapter and verse numbers. To aid the reader without knowledge of ancient Greek the translation mode will give a literal translation of the Greek text preserved on these pages (with addition of chapter and verse numbers), with explanatory notes showing where this text is different from the Standard text.