If you want, you can also comment on anything from the first session.

Steps to Respond with a Video on a Padlet Board:

1. Open the Invitation Link:

   • Click on the invitation link that I sent you. This will open the Padlet board in a browser or the Padlet app.

2. Click on the "Plus" (+) Icon:

   • Locate the "+" button or "Add Post" option on the board. It’s usually at the bottom right or along the edge of the board.

3. Choose Video Recording:

   • After clicking "+", a post creation window will open.

   • Select the camera icon or "Video Recorder" option (this may appear under "More" or "Media" depending on your platform).

4. Record Your Video:

   • Allow Padlet to access your device’s camera and microphone if prompted.

   • Record your video directly in Padlet. (If your video is pre-recorded, you can upload it instead by choosing the file upload option.)

5. Add a Caption or Description (Optional):

   • You can add a short description or title to accompany your video.

6. Submit Your Response:

   • Once satisfied, click Publish, Post, or the equivalent button to add your video to the board.

7. Interact with Others:

   • After posting, you can grade or comment on other posts.

Each of you will help evaluate our class by reviewing your classmates’ posts and assigning a grade from 1 to 5. Here’s how to rate them:

5: Outstanding
4: Good
3: Fair
2: Needs improvement
1: Not sufficient

The more feedback you receive, the more accurate your overall grade will be. We’ll also give extra points to those who actively read and rate their classmates’ posts, so please take time to provide thoughtful feedback. Please grade honestly and avoid giving scores out of laziness or with hidden motives. Let’s learn from each other and stay accountable!

The same link will be used for all sessions.

Occurs every week on Monday for 12 times

Meeting summary with AI Companion

Quick recap

Sara and Melvin, friends of D and Ari, coincidentally met at the Passion Conference in Atlanta, while Julie led a course on Zoom organized by Marcia Suzuki and Roz Young of Wycliffe. OBT expressed excitement about a new AI-assisted Bible translation project and shared her passion for Bible translation, while also discussing the organization of the class and the importance of multi-modal Bible translation processes. The conversation ended with Marcia sharing her personal story of leaving her tribe and the importance of oral Bible translation, followed by a prayer led by Julie.

The “problem” the team faces in orally translating the Bible is remarkably complex. The source passages were produced thousands of years ago in linguistic, cultural, and pragmatic contexts to which we have only partial access.

The best chances we have to get this done correctly is by doing a proper oral exegesis of the passage together as a team and then relying on the translator’s expertise in their language and culture.

To create team interaction dynamics in which the translators are in the center of the process and have freedom to thrive, we must let go of our assumptions about expertise and believe in the power of collaborative knowledge. This is not an easy task—it requires humility, practice, and trust in the work of the Holy Spirit.

In collective sensemaking, a group of people “intentionally come together for the purpose of using their varied perspectives and cognitive abilities to make sense of an issue or problem they are mutually facing.”

Through today's lecture, I realized how important orality is. It is surprising that our method can be applied to languages ​​that do not have any written system. I have no expertise in translation or language. One idea that crossed my mind is to use videos or pictures when collecting language data. Record some actions (for example, a male adult is eating) and ask one native to explain about it verbally and record the explanation. Record other people's explanations and collect audio data about the actions. A bilingual native or AI will identify common sound units and match a sound unit to a certain meaning unit. In this way we can expand a phonetic dictionary.

Make a list of meaning units used in the Bible, match the sound units of a certain language using the above method, and create a database for the sound units that the AI ​​will use.

Through today's lecture and manual, I discovered that culture is more important than a language itself (a language carries culture), and that an environment where local people can respect and freely talk is the most important starting point and foundation. We should not spare time, resources, and patience for this.

It is important to accept the concepts of language and culture that local people have. It means giving up and putting down the same concepts in my language and culture, accepting their concepts, and expressing and processing all phenomena according to them. The concept of eating as overcoming is a unique concept of the Suruwaha tribe. It is a concept that does not exist in my culture and language. The fact that Jesus ate death is interpreted by them as meaning that Jesus conquered death. In today's song, an important message is conveyed that Jesus conquered sins. We must be careful when translating the word eat in the Bible. For example, the expression of eating bread and wine in the Eucharist can lead to misunderstanding. All expressions and meaning units in the Bible must be reexamined in their culture and language. It was said that the Suruwaha tribe sees illness as a spiritual phenomenon. Through the fact that Jesus heals various illnesses spiritually in the Bible, we can accept that Jesus is more powerful than a witch doctor. Every time I meet local people, I should pray: "God, please take away my preconceptions about language, culture, and theology during this time. Make me a good listener."

I think the biggest concern as part of the SBS is to stay true to the message.

We learn at SBS that the text will not mean what it never meant. So good interpretation is always connected to the original hearers. The basic question will always be what it meant to them. For this we need cultural, historical and literary context. Without these elements we don't have the message. Now all this has to be worked into the culture of the people in order to make the connection and then work out a good application. It seems to me that the example Suzuki gave about the person in Africa who saw the importance of the woman in the book of Ruth is more about application than interpretation. Perhaps we'll have to work more with these ideas and concepts.

But I also noticed in the material that the oral translation follows very serious steps to confirm that the translation is faithful to the original message.

we'll need a humble heart and an open mind.

1. Click the image above and intetract with it. Learn the principles and teach them to someone in your base, using the gestures and movements.

2. Practice some intra-language translation: Translate a Bible chapter into the your own language, tailoring it for a specific audience, like mid-school children or imigrants who speak it as a second language. Then record a video letting us know how it went.

   
   

3. Use the Translation Help app below to investigate about a specific concept and theme in the Bible, and reflect on how you would use the tool to support a translation team. Share your thoughts here.

Record here your video-reactions about "Embodied Principles of Bible Translation", the OBT Handbook, or any other topic related to the session 4.

This app will not translate the Bible for you, it is meant to help oral bible translation teams to deeply process the biblical concepts, themes and stories, to they can better translate it into their mother tongues. It has also been used by consultants or translation advisors to enrich their conversational exegesis with the teams.

It was a great shock to me that if we do not use chant, the story being conveyed will not be truly accepted by the Samoan people. Many chant will have to be used to translate numerous historical narratives in the Old and New Testaments into the Samoan language. I must abandon my preconception that chant has the characteristics of poetry like the lyrics of a song and is far from a narrative form. I realized once again that it is really important to accept the culture of the local language as it is.

The interactive webpage that implemented the principles of translation that I learned today was really cool. If I had internet access, I would be able to remind myself of the principles at any time. The linked quizzes helped me internalize what I learned today.

On the BT Helper page, it directed me to ChatGPT, when I asked about the concept of 'grace', it showed me one of the prodigal son in the Gospel.

Below are some photos of Bryan in Jerusalem, leading a training workshop with YWAM Bible Translation mentors. All these mentors had been learning Hebrew for at least two years and had a chance to practice it Jerusalem!

Record here your video-reactions about Conversational Exegesis, AI for Bible Translation, the OBT Handbook, or any other topic related to the session 2.

Record here your video-reactions about "Embodied Principles of Bible Translation", the OBT Handbook, or any other topic related to the session 4.

Record here your video-reactions about "The Translation Village", the OBT Handbook, or any other topic related to the session 7.

My biggest take away from Bryan was that God knew and knows the limitations of communicating who He is through language. And that somehow those limitations are a part of His plan. This is encouraging to me, because the more I study different languages, the more Bible translation feels like an insurmountable task. Because often there is no perfect translation from one language to the next, and even today, we still don’t have a perfect understanding of the Biblical languages. We are always learning more about how to better and more accurately translate certain concepts and meanings. On top of all that, every language is changing from one generation to the next - which means that every translation needs to be updated from one generation to the next…

That last comment has helped me to realized that the task of Bible translation will never be fully completed. We will always be learning more and languages will always be changing, thus there will always be a need for ongoing Bible translation.

Outside of the original texts, I don’t think there is a perfect translation. But God works through imperfect people, so it makes sense that He would work through imperfect translations as well. As the people of God become more sanctified, it is hopeful that our translations will also become more “sanctified” to reflect the true meaning of the originals.

Also I think it's really interesting for me to think/share more through "Story telling" than other ways, it's so foreign for me but I'm excited to learn more about it!

I really really appreciated his teaching style and how helpful he was breaking down the processes of Oral Bible Translation. I thought it was kind of ironic that I got so much out of his visuals and graphics explaining holistic oral bible translation, because being able to physically see a PowerPoint helps my western mind understand concepts better than hearing it explained audibly. But in the same way, I was truly challenged by the fact that my oral storytelling skills and my retention of stories told to me audibly have some serious lack. When he told the story about how the tribe that he was with had poor homes, but that the people would buy really expensive chairs and patio furniture for their neighbors or even strangers to come and swap stories, i was so moved. They truly understand what it’s like to sit and commune with others. They understand what it’s like to be patient and not do things on an expected timeline. I find myself getting sometimes annoyed when I have to stop for 30 seconds to talk to my neighbor when I’m walking my dog, so I was so humbled by these people and their ability to value listening to others stories for so long. I think this also challenged me in terms of “waiting on the Lord”. I say I do, but in reality

I feel convicted that I truly don’t know patience or how to sit in the silence of waiting to hear God speak. I am so exited to hear more later today and see how God convicts us even more!

I also appreciated how much he emphasized humility again, and how it is NOT “our” project, but Gods project and the translators project. It’s such an honor to even assist in any small way and we should take that with such humility and prayer!

-Keslyn

Sorry, I'm sideways 😄

So now I choose to do it also over YouTube!

I have been really enjoying the last session and the OBT vs. OMT video!

This exercise aims to introduce you to different methods of oral Bible translation. Even though we’ll remain within the same language (English), this activity helps you experience the cognitive processes involved in various translation strategies. This is crucial for understanding how translators deal with linguistic challenges, cultural nuances, and real-time language processing. Practicing these methods, even within one language, sharpens your comprehension, critical thinking, memory, and orality skills.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Group Formation

Divide yourselves into groups of three students each. Each member will rotate roles to experience all five translation methods.

Step 2: Find the Passage to Translate

Locate below a list of short Bible passages provided by your instructor. You will need both the written and the audio Bible.

Step 3: Roles Assignment

Each group member will rotate through the following roles:

• Translator: Performs the oral translation according to the method assigned.

• Facilitator: Assists by providing the text/audio and ensures that the instructions are followed.

• Observer: Notes down observations and feedback on the translator’s performance.

Rotate roles after each method.

Perform the activity for each one of the five meehods

1. Read & Translate

   • The Facilitator provides a written Bible passage.

   • The Translator reads each sentence aloud in English, pauses, and then orally rephrases the sentence in their own words in English.

   • Observer records the translation and commenst on accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.

2. Listen & Translate:

   • Facilitator plays an audio Bible passage (in English) sentence by sentence.

   • Translator listens to each sentence, pauses audio, and then immediately paraphrases orally.

   • Observer notes the translator’s ability to retain information and accuracy in conveying meaning.

3. Study & Translate:

   • All group members listen together to an audio passage, discussing and clarifying meaning, context, keywords, and challenging expressions.

   • Translator then listen again to each verse and orally paraphrases each verse or segment based on their study.

   • Observer provides feedback on understanding of context, meaning, and clarity.

4. Internalize & Translate:

   • Group listens together to an audio Bible passage and engages in discussion about meaning, context, and key terms.

   • The group organizes the content into meaningful segments and then the translator listen to each segment and orally paraphrases it with necessary cultural or linguistic adaptations.

   • Observer notes how effectively content was culturally adapted and segmented.

5. Internalize & Perform:

   • The group listen multiple times to different audio or oral performances of a specific Bible story or passage.

   • The group engages in a conversational exegesis, experiencing the passage deeply with their heart, mind and body.

   • Translator internalizes the story deeply, practicing severla times with the help of the team. When ready he does an expressive performance (retelling) in their own words, aiming to communicate naturally, emotionally, and engagingly.

   • Observer evaluates storytelling effectiveness, emotional engagement, audience connection, and cultural sensitivity.

BIBLICAL PASSAGES

Example:

Original passage:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Paraphrased passage (clear and fully explained):

"If you're tired, stressed, or weighed down by life's struggles, come to me. Partner closely with me—let me guide and teach you. My way is gentle and humble, bringing relief and peace to your spirit. Following my way is not meant to burden you but to make your life lighter."

Here are suggested Bible passages for your group:

1. Read & Translate

Passage: Psalm 23 (Comforting, poetic, easy to segment)

Encourages clear comprehension and simple oral translation.

2. Listen & Translate

Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son)

Good length, familiar story, clear narrative structure.

Ideal for practicing active listening and real-time conversion.

3. Study & Translate

Matthew 5:3-12 (The Beatitudes)

Requires thoughtful discussion on context, theological meanings, and cultural implications.

Encourages deeper linguistic flexibility and analytical thinking.

4. Internalize & Translate

Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd)

Deep, symbolic, culturally rich content.

Ideal for internalization, contextual interpretation, and cultural adaptation.

5. Internalize & Perform

Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus Calms the Storm)

Short narrative with strong emotional and dramatic elements.

Excellent for storytelling, emotional engagement, and audience connection.

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Reflection and Feedback

After completing all methods, discuss within your group:

• Which method did you find easiest/hardest and why?

• Which method required the most linguistic or cognitive effort?

• Share any cultural or linguistic insights gained.

Class Debrief

After the exercise, each group will share highlights of their experience with the class. Discuss:

• Differences in translation strategies

• The value of internalization and storytelling even in the same language

• Practical applications of these translation methods outside Bible translation contexts

Objective: This exercise aims to expand your understanding of translation as more than linguistic conversion—highlighting its role in enhancing cognitive, cultural, and communicative skills.

Paulo: Facilitator. Jintae: Observer

target group: younger elementary kids living in a city.

Observer: Gaylene (her comment is the recording in a chat below)

facilitator: Jintae

Observer: Jintae: This translation is very lively and smoothly expresses the progression of events. Words are reconstructed into simpler words and sentences. The part where Jesus rebukes and asks about 'faith' is well expressed in the situation.

Reflection & Feedback for all methods:

(Jintae) We felt that it was not easy to change words and expressions during translation. Especially when translating Beatitudes, we found it very difficult to change one implied expression of the Bible into another implied expression, and this process was always beneficial. Through the last fourth and fifth methods, we realized that it is really important to discuss important concepts, words, and expressions, and that it is a difficult but necessary process to reflect the culture and context of the people who will use the translation.

Facilitator: Maggie

Observer: Abby