Logbook
 
February 2006
  • Finishing moving the website to the new web surfer with new address ("www.djerma.nl")
  • Book review added of Sandra Bornand's book about "Discourse of the genealogical storyteller by the Zarma of Niger".
  • Photo session added about traditional salt extraction and making of salt bars.
  • Sitemap of photos and drawings added.
  • Check performed on broken links, link to Rosetta project and Language corner restored. New sites added about the 5th Games of the Community of Francophone and recordings of cultural events in Niger, with a special pages with sound recordings in Zarma.

November / December 2005 - January 2006
  • Started with moving the website to the new web surfer with new address ("www.djerma.nl")
  • Added lesson 12 plus exercises, answers to the exercises and update of dictionary with new words (o/a body parts introduced in Lesson 10).
  • Activated links to Lesson 12 in Lesson 6 and Grammar fact sheet "the verb to be".
  • New links to interesting websites, about the Songhay drink "donu" and the personal search for ancestry by the Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts.
  • (submersed) links to dipongs.html and doubledconsonants.html restored
  • links to Lesson 11 activated or specified in Lesson 7, Lesson 9 [submersed], Lesson 10.
    In Grammar fact sheet "conjugation of verbs", links to Lesson 10 and 11 activated.
    Added (submerged) link message "choose "cancel" to continue when pop-up appears." to all Grammar fact sheets.
  • Added text in Lesson 7.D.5 about expressing the idea of a definite article for nouns ending on "yan"
  • Index of grammar subjects extended; o/a suffix "yan" in relation to gerund.
  • Corrections:
    • Lesson 5, exercise 2: Alboro kuku fo => A tall man

 


September - October 2005
  • Added lesson 11 plus exercises, answers to the exercises and update of dictionary with new words (o/a: fatta, fattandi).
  • Mini photo dictionary, five new photo's added (bundu, mudun, tafe, tako, tamu)
  • Examples of pronunciation in Pronunciation Guide restyled and repaired.
  • Links to sound recordings of pronunciation examples in Lessons 1, 2, and 3 reactivated.
  • New (French) links added, one about Kassey a mythical woman in Songhay oral history, and one about polygamy among Zarma.
  • Credit page: added reference to Channel 2 Today.
  • Lesson 8.D.3, Table 5, "Boroyan si no habu." in stead of "... si ba ..."

 


July - August 2005
  • Added lesson 10 plus exercises, answers to the exercises and update of dictionary with new words (a/o: "turi nya", "nankulu, nangu kulu").
  • Mini photo dictionary, four new photo's added (buru, ciri,fakara, fobu)
  • New links added; a link about the marcanda (ritual of insulting) and website of Abdoulmoumine family (Dosso, Niger)
  • Old links checked and updated
  • Changed
    • "nyano" to "nyaŋo",
    • Lesson 6, exercise 5: "tali kuu si" to "tali kulu si"
  • Dictionary:
    • Letter A rearranged and put into alphabetical order.
    • words of Lesson 26 vocabulary indicated with "p" where relevant
  • Word added: "Almasihu" to Lesson 9 vocabulary and Dictionary

May- June 2005
  • Added lesson 9 plus exercises, translations of introduction, answers to the exercises and update of dictionary with new words.
  • A mini photo dictionary created using the photos published on this website.
  • Grammar help is extended with a fact sheet about the verb "to be".
  • Section about the negative of the verb "to be" in Lesson 8 has been extended with a topic about the negative of "ga".
  • New link is added to website with photos of Niger.
  • New symbol introduced in Dictionary (~) to indicate a difference between spelling of a word and its pronunciation. Added to gondi, words with hantum, konda, and ga ti.
  • Correction of errors in warnings with respect to lack of navigation when visiting a stand alone page.
  • Correction of errors in page with general information about the course. Some text added or clarified.
  • Correction of Zarma sentence attached to "fondo, fonda" (Lesson 5, pop-up).
  • Correction of under water text of content (Lessons 6-8).

Mars - April 2005
  • New lay out of menus at the main start page, answer book, pronunciation guide and dictionary. Warnings adapted with respect to lack of navigation when visiting a stand alone page.
  • Pronunciation guide: more accurate description of diphongs
  • Lesson 8: new photo attached to "zaama";
    correction of numbering of subsections of Grammar section.
  • page with credits supplemented with credits to designer of menu
  • Link to Savannah monitor website added to "list of animals".

February 2005
  • Added lesson 8 plus exercises, translations of introduction and answers to the exercises.
  • Links to lesson 8 activated (Grammar: conjunction of verbs; lesson 4.D.3; lesson 6.D.5).
  • Dictionary English - Zarma contains all words used in lessons. Names of animals listed in Lesson 5 are included.
  • Exercises of lessons place in separate web page, navigation remains the same (visually is seems one page), but:
    • faster loading of lesson web page and
    • ability to print the exercises only.
  • Intro of lesson 3 placed on separate web page to significantly increase the speed of loading this lesson.
  • Revision of page with links to other websites.
  • Revision and update of grammar content page and index page, now easier to search.
  • Update of site map.

January 2005
  • Course available for working off-line (download)
  • Search box added to dictionary start page
  • Selection "search in dictionary only" added to all search boxes

December 2004
  • check for spelling errors in all web pages with MS FrontPage
  • Introduction page to the lessons and credits page are rewritten
  • Zarma word bon rewritten to boŋ
  • Lesson 2.C.3 revised (transitive versus intransitive verbs and direct object)
  • Dictionary, letters A-F expanded, and intro has been rewritten.

 


Last updated: 09 maart 2006