LINGUIST List 7.550

Sat Apr 13 1996

FYI: Grants, Japanese-English MT, Black English--Correction

Editor for this issue: Ljuba Veselinova <lveselinemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Minchewact.org, Re: $23.0 Million in Challeng Grants for Technology in Educa
2. <poneill-brownbanyan.doc.gov>, JICST Japanese-English MT Service
3. Martin Matthew Jacobsen, Black English--Correction

 The following may be of interest to some members of this list.

 The Federal Register of 04-11-96 has details on the U. S.
 Department of Education's next round of Challenge Grants to
 "improve and expand new applications of technology to strengthen
 the school reform effort, improve student achievement, and provide
 sustained professional development of teachers, administrators,
 and school library media personnel."

 TO GET MORE INFORMATION: The Federal Register of 04-11-97 and
 according to Education *SOON* at

 http://www.ed.gov/Technology/chalgrnt.html

 and at gopher site

 gopher.ed.gov

 and by telephone to

 1 800-USA-LEARN (1 800-872-5327)

 and by fax request to

 202 708-6003

 HELPFUL INFORMATION about previous rounds of the Challenge Grants
 is available now on the web site above and could provide useful
 insights to prospective applicants.


 ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: Only consortia may receive grants. Consortia
 may include local educational agencies (LEA), state educational
 agencies, institutions of higher education, businesses, academic
 content experts, software designers, museums, libraries, AND MUST
 INCLUDE at least one LEA with a high percentage of children living
 below the poverty line.


 ESTIMATED FUNDS AND GRANT SIZE: $23.0 million, from which it is
 anticipated that approximately 23 awards will be made, ranging
 between $500,000 and $2.0 million a year for five years.


 DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS: July 2, 1996

 -----------------------------------------------------------
 Note: ACT is forwarding this information with the hope that it
 might help potential applicants who might not have otherwise seen
 the Federal Register notice. It is a U. S. Department of Education
 program. It is not an ACT program. If anyone has difficulty
 accessing the information, we will be happy to send an electronic
 copy of the Federal Register notice if a request is sent to

 minchewact.org

 AND IN NO CIRCUMSTANCE MAKE SUCH A REQUEST TO THE LIST.
 -------------------------------------------------------------

 Daniel
 -----------------------------------------------------------
 Daniel Minchew minchewact.org
 Director
 ACT * American College Testing 202 223-2318 - Telephone
 One Dupont Circle, NW, # 340
 Washington, DC 20036-1170 202 293-2223 - Fax

 JICST'S MACHINE TRANSLATION SERVICE 
 ON THE INTERNET 


A machine translation system, developed especially for translating
scientific and technical Japanese information into English is now
available via Internet. For users accessing the system from outside
Japan, translations can be obtained on a trial basis "free of charge"
until April 29, 1996. A Macintosh or IBM-compatible PC with a
bilingual OS (such as Windows 3.1J) is required.

The Japanese-English Machine Translation Network System has been
developed by the Japan Information Center of Science and Technology
(JICST), a public corporation established by the Japanese government
in 1957 as Japan's key center for scientific and technical information
services. JICST's machine translation system, an improved version of
a system originally developed in the 1980s through a joint project
between Kyoto University and the Science and Technology Agency, was
initially designed for internal use to produce English-language S&T
databases from Japanese-language databases. In January 1996, JICST
decided to make the translation system available via Internet.


HOW TO USE JICST TRANSLATION SERVICE VIA INTERNET: 

1. Steps to Follow for Translation: 

 - Enter JICST's "Translation Network Service" through 
JICST's World Wide Web Homepage (http://www-
jmt.jicst.go.jp/index-E.html ). 

 - Send the original Japanese document to JICST in text 
format utilizing a mail software such as Eudora. The Translation 
Network System processes the translation and sends the English 
output back to the customer's e-mail address. 

 - Open mailbox and download the English text. 

2. Translation Fees: 

One yen per character of the English translation output (plus 3%
Japanese consumption tax.)

 Example: 
 This is a pen --> 4 + 2 + 1 + 3 = 10 characters => 10 Yen 


3. Initial Registration Requirements: 

To use the translation service for the first time (including trial
use), submit a written application, via FAX, to JICST. To obtain an
application form and instructions, those who live outside Japan should
contact:

 JICST Overseas Service Division 
 FAX: +81-3-5214-8413 

Individuals residing in Japan should contact the closest JICST branch
office (see contact addresses at the end of this report).

4. Limitations: 

 - The original document must be less than 20,000 Japanese
characters in total length for each translation task. In other words,
longer documents must be divided into segments of less than 20,000
characters each.

 - Only JIS Kanji code can be used. 

 - Since translations are performed only by machine with no
pre-editing, post-editing or re-writing by human operators, users of
the system must be prepared to carry out these functions themselves.

PC-BASED MT SYSTEM: 

JICST has also developed their machine translation system for use 
on a Macintosh or PC. They announced on March 1, 1996 that a 
CD-ROM package of their machine translation program, combined 
with a dictionary of about 400,000 S&T terms, will be put on sale 
this summer for about $500. Although several commercial PC-based 
Japanese-English translation systems are available, most are 
designed for general office or daily use and have relatively 
small dictionaries. In terms of translation speed and quality, 
JICST's system is said to be about the same as many commercial 
systems. Thus, the JICST system may offer advantages for the 
translation of scientific and technical information. 

- Hardware requirements: 

 Computer: 
 a) Macintosh or Power Macintosh, 
 (running on bilingual System 7 
 or System 7.5 environment) 
 or 

 b) IBM-Compatible PCs with 
 Windows 3.1J or Windows 95 OS 

 Hard Disk: 300 megabytes or more 

 Memory: 16 MB or more 

 CD-ROM: A CD-ROM drive connected to the computer. 

Note that a bilingual (English-Japanese) language handling environment
is a must.


- Dictionary: 

The system will include a dictionary of 400,000 scientific and
technical terms.

JICST is also planning an auxiliary dictionary of about 200,000
medical terms (price yet to be decided).

 In addition, users can develop their own "user dictionary" 
 (a feature not available for the Translation Network System 
 on the Internet). 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

For further details, see JICST's Home Page at: 

 http://www-jmt.jicst.go.jp/index-E.html 

Or, FAX the JICST Overseas Service Division at +81-3-5214-8413. 

Posting by: Patti O'Neill-Brown, Japan Technology Analyst,
U.S. Department of Commerce

All,

I asked a question about the word 'individual', and mistakenly stated
that it functioned as different parts of speech when I meant to say it
represents different cases within the same sentence. My apologies to
anyone who mistook my meaning.

MJ