{'This version of Transitional English is intended for individuals proficient both in English and their own native language. This version is intended to help them adapt this text to speakers of the translator's language, who may desire to learn English faster and easier than heretofore was possible. Anyone who is interested can make these lessons freely available to his compatriots by adapting this text to his native tongue. All that one needs to do is translate all the English passages into the language of his neighbors. In the vocabulary lists, and in the exercises found in the lessons, the translator who makes this text available to his compatriots, besides translating the directions into his native language, should also supply the equivalents of the exercise sentences in his own language and place them within the single quotes that are found in the exercises: ' ' , and thus throughout the text. '

'To seek help with the portions to be translated, the translator can consult the Spanish version of Transitional English that is to be found at the Web Page: http://www.uky.edu/~globlec. For additional help you may contact the authors at the e-mail address to be found at the end of this lesson.'

'Therefore, please translate from English all the directions, and supply all other appropriate passages into your native language, and then make copies of your adapted text available freely to your compatriots. We thank you for your interest in helping others. -- The authors'}

'Transitional English for Everyone is based on Standard English, which is the most widespread of the world' s languages. This text of simplified English is based on real usage. This is a useful form of English for interpersonal and intercultural face-to-face communication around the globe.'

'Read this complete lesson; learn the vocabulary and the dialogue by heart, and then, try to write the exercises.'

'We will begin with the Transitional English alphabet. The Standard English alphabet can be seen as the last item of Lesson 10, where it is given with the respective names of the various letters. Here, in the representation of the Transitional English alphabet, we are restricted in the use of the phonetic symbols by the limitations imposed currently by the inadequacies of the Internet software programs.'

'The Transitional English alphabet has 29 sounds':

'If you click on the underlined letters you will hear their pronunciation along with their names. [Then click on the play button in the Sound Recorder window that appears on the monitor.]'

'Some of these symbols, like the digraphs, sh and ch, have special values. The digraph sh has the sibilant palatal sound heard in the English shorts {Translate to your native language.}, or in the French ch as in chanter {Translate to your native language.} 'to sing' , or as the final s in Portuguese nos. The zh has the value of the French j as in the word jour, or as the Portuguese g in the word fugir. The American English h is pronounced like the Cuban Spanish glottal j (without velar aspiration). The digraph th has the sound of the Castilian Spanish c as in the word ceceo, and the digraph dh has the sound of the Castilian Spanish d as in lado. Both th and dh are interdental sounds (with the tip of the tongue held between the front teeth, the difference between the two is that th is unvoiced, while the vocal chords do function for the pronunciation of the dh. The Transitional English jh has the same phonetic value as the Castilian Spanish letter, a velar aspirate, and the same as the German ch seen in the famous composer' s name Bach'.

'Another special letter is the j. The j begins as an occlusive d and ends as a palatal aspirate zh. The j is the voiced counterpart of the unvoiced ch, which begins with a t and ends with a sh. The j is described linguistically as: consonant, affricate, alveolar-palatal, occlusive-aspirate, voiced.'

'The distinction between an unvoiced and a voiced consonant depends on the vibration of the vocal chords. The chords do not vibrate for the unvoiced consonant, but do so for the voiced, in the same manner as they vibrate for the vowels.'

'The stress accent is indicated in our text by the sign [']. This sign appears only on vowels. The quantity, or durative accent, that is, the prolonged duration of a vowel is indicated by two points above the vowel, or as this diacritical mark is sometimes called, by the 'umlaut' [ä].

Hence we indicate two types of vowels in American English: (1) the vowels a, e, i, o, and u are short; click here to listen to the pronunciation of the short vowels; and (2) the vowels ä, ë, ï, ö, and ü are long (in which the umlaut shows the prolonged vocalic quantity); click here to listen to the long vowels.'

When a word has no stress marking it is understood that the stress falls on the first syllable. Unusually a long vowel needs to be marked also for stress, in this case the ^ sign is used, as in sikstîn.

'There is also a neutral vowel.'

'When the American English vowels are not accented, they often take on a neutral value. In linguistics, this weakened vowel is usually referred to as a 'schwa' . In our text, the neutralized, or weakened, vowels are marked by a grave sign: à è ì ò ù

In the unusual case that a schwa needs to be marked for stress it is marked as `á, `é, etc.. as in rip`úblik.

Pacific Ocean coast near Bandon, OR

'When the vowels, a e i o u, are combined with the semiconsonants y and w, such a combination constitutes only one syllable (see some examples below)'. 

{'In the vocabulary lists that follow, the parentheses will indicate the normal orthography of American English. Each entry will be in three parts. The first part of each entry is the pronunciation of the word presented in Transitional English spelling; the second part is the normal English spelling, and the third part, placed within single quotes ' ' is the meaning of the word given in your own language -- which is in anyone of the more than six thousand seven hundred languages that are spoken around the world at this time'.

{'The proper names are usually to be left in the orthography of the original language, with their pronunciation being indicated within square brackets, v.g. John [Jon].'}.)

àráwnd (around), prep. ' between parentheses, supply meanings in your own language'
ov (of), prep. ' '
ay (I), pron. ' '
bànánà (banana), n. ' '
bùt (but), conj. ' '
bay (bye), n. ' '
bed (bed), n. ' ' ; bed and brekfàst (bed and breakfast), fr. ' '
bak (back), n. ' '
bï (be), v. ' '
bred (bread), n. ' '
brekfàst (breakfast), n. ' '
dhen (then), adv. ' '
dhat (that), adj. ' '
dhat wòns (that ones) pron. ' '
dey (day), n. ' '
dinèr (dinner), n. ' '
dhis (this), adj. sing. and pl. ' '
drink (drink), v. ' '
dü (do), v. ' '
eg (egg), n. ' '
and (and), conj. ' '
eni (any), adj. ' '
Ashlànd (Ashland), p.n. ' '
färm, n. ' '
färmèr (farmer), n. ' '
fayn (fine), adj. ' '
faktòri (factory), n. ' '
for (for), prep. ' '
frend (friend), n. ' '
from (from), prep. ' '
giv (give), v. ' '
gow (go), v. ' '
gud (good), adj. ' '
Jon (John), p.n. ' '
Jow (Joe), n. p. ' '
haw (how), interr. ' '
helów (hello), n. ' '
hambùrgèr (hamburger), n. ' '
hav (have), v. ' '
hièr (here), adv. ' '
in (in), prep. ' '
Inglish (English), p.n. ' '
ïst (east), n. ' '
ït (eat), v. ' '
it (it), pron. ' '
kòm (come), v. ' '
kònstr`úkshòn (construction), n. ' '
kùp (cup), n. ' copa, taza'
Kòvingtòn (Covington), p.n. ' '
kaynd (kind), adj. ' '
Kent`úki (Kentucky), p.n. ' '
kofi (coffee), n. ' '
Korbin (Corbin), p.n. ' '
krïm (cream), n. ' '
lùk (luck), n. ' '
lùnch (lunch), n. ' '
Leksingtòn (Lexington), p.n. ' '
lèrn (learn), v. ' '
luk (look), v. ' '
Lüivil (Louisville), p.n. ' '
Meksikàn (Mexican), p.n. ' '
Meksikow (Mexico), p.n. ' '
meybï (maybe), adv. ' '
milk (milk), n. ' '
mörning (morning), n. ' '
mowtél (motel), n. ' '
neym (name), n. ' '
nïd (need), v. ' '
nörth (north), n. ' '
Oháyo (Ohio), p.n. ' '
ownli (only), adv. ' '
or (or), conj. ' '
òríjìnàli (originally), adv. ' '
pepèr (pepper), n. ' '
pïses (pieces), n. pl. ' '
pleys (place), n. ' '
plïz (please), v. ' '
rayt (right), adj. ' '
restàrànt (restaurant), n. ' '
rip`úblik (republic), n. ' '
Sùndey (Sunday), p.n. ' '
sùpèr (supper), n. ' '
sawth (south), n. ' '
sandwich (sandwich), n. ' '
Satùrdey (Saturday), p.n. ' '
shugàr (sugar), n. ' '
shuèr (sure), adv. ' '
sï (see), v. ' '
sirïàl (cereal), n. ' '
skrambèled (scrambled), v. ' '
Slowvak (Slovak), n. p. ' '
sow löng (so long), fr. ' '
sölt (salt), n. ' '
Spanish (Spanish), p.n. ' '
spïk (speak), v. ' '
Teksàs (Texas), p.n. ' '
teyk (take), v. ' '
thangk (thank), v. ' '
thangks (thanks), n. ' '
towsted (toasted), adj. ' '
tu (to), prep. ' '
tü (two), adj. ' '
tü (too), adv. ' '
tùdéy (today), n. ' '
tùmórow (tomorrow), adv. ' '
wòn (one), adj., pron. ' '
wànt (want), v. ' '
wàt (what), interr. ' '
wel (well), adv. ' '
welkòm (welcome), adj. ' '
weèr (where), adv., interr. ' '
west (west), n. ' '
wil- (will), v. ' '
wòrk (work), n. ' '
yestèrdey (yesterday), n. ' '
yü (you), pron. ' '

DAYÀLOG (DIALOGUE)	'Title'
In ' Bed and Brekfàst' mowtél (In a ' Bed and Breakfast' motel)	' '
John.-- Gud mörning. (Good morning.)
Joe.-- Helów. Haw bï yü? (Hello. How be you?)
John.-- Fayn. Thangk yü, and yü? (Fine. Thank you, and you?)
Joe.-- Fayn. Thangks. (Fine. Thanks.)
John.-- Ay bï Jon. Wàt bï ov-yü neym? (I be John. What be of you name?)
Joe.-- Ay bï Jow. Wer yü from. (I be Joe. Where you from?)
John.-- Ay bï from Oháyo, and yü? (I be from Ohio, and you?)
Joe.-- Ay bï from Teksàs. (I be from Texas.)
John.-- Wel, ay kòm òríjìnàli from Slowvak Rip`úblik. Ay bï Slowvak. Ay spïk Slowvak. (Well, I come originally from Slovak Republic. I be Slovak. I speak Slovak.)
Joe.-- Wel, dhen, ay kòm òríjìnàli from Meksikow. Ay bï Meksikàn. Ay spïk Spanish. (Well, then, I come originally from Mexico. I be Mexican. I speak Spanish.)
John.-- Wen yü kòmed hièr? (When you comed here?)
Joe.-- Ay kòmed Satùrdey. And yü? (I comed Saturday. And you?)
John.-- Ay kòmed yestèrdey-- Sùndey. Wàt yü ït for brekfàst? (I comed yesterday-- Sunday. What you eat for breakfast?)
Joe.-- Tùdéy, ay ït ownli sirïàl with milk and bànánà. Ay not layk drink kofi. And yü? (Today, I eat only cereal with milk and banana. I not like drink coffee. And you?)
John.-- Ay wil-ït wòn skrambèled eg, tü pïses ov towsted bred, and kùp ov kofi with krïm and shugàr. Dhïz egs nïd sölt and pepèr. Plïz, giv tu ay sölt and pepèr. (I will eat one scrambled egg, two pieces of toasted bread, and cup of coffee with cream and sugar. These eggs need salt and pepper. Please, give to I salt and pepper.)
Joe.-- Shuèr. Hièr. (Sure. Here.)
John.-- Thangk yü. (Thank you.)
Joe.-- Yü welkòm. (You welcome.)
John.-- Wàt yü dü hièr? Way yü kòm hièr? (What you do here? Why you come here?)
Joe.-- Ay kòm luk for wòrk, and lèrn Inglish. (I come look for work, and learn English.)
John.-- Ay dü seym thing: luk for wòrk and lèrn spïk Inglish. (I do same thing: look for work and learn speak English.)
Joe.-- Wàt kaynd wòrk yü luk for? (What kind work you look for?)
John.-- Eni kaynd -- färm, faktòri, restàrànt, kònstr`úkshòn, yü neym it. (Any kind -- farm, factory, restaurant, construction, you name it.)
Joe.-- Ay luk for wòrk on färm. Ay bï färmèr. (I look for work on farm. I be farmer.)
John.-- Yü kòm tu rayt pleys. Dheèr bï gud färm wòrk àráwnd Lexington. (You come to right place. There be good farm work around Lexington.)
Joe.--  Yü ölsow luk for wòrk in Lexington? (You also look for work in Lexington?)
John.-- Yes, bùt if ay not wòrk in Lexington [Leksingtòn], meybï ay go west tu Louisville [Lüivil], or ïst tu Ashland [Ashlànd], or sawth to Corbin [Korbin], or north tu Covington [Kòvingtòn]. (Yes, but if I not work in Lexington, maybe I go west to Louisville, or east to Ashland, or south to Korbin, or north to Kòvingtòn.)
Joe.-- Wel, gud lùk. (Well, good luck.)
John.-- Thangk yü. Gud lùk tu yü tü. (Thank you. Good luck to you too.)
Joe.-- Sow long. Sï yü tùmórow. (So long. See you tomorrow.)
John.-- Wel, meybï tùnáyt ay wil-bï bak for sùpèr. Bay. Hav gud dey. (Well, maybe tonight I will be back for supper. Bye. Have good day.)

'Language has to do with things (nouns) and actions (verbs). Transitional English normally omits the definite [dhè = (the)] and indefinite [a = (a)] articles. These, of course, will be learned later when you pass to Standard English.'

'The function of any word in Transitional English is determined by its position in the sentence. The order is always: subject (S) --verb (V) -- object (O). As stated earlier, both the definite and indefinite articles are normally omitted in Transitional English. The lack of articles is seen in many other languages, including those of Chinese and of the Slavonic branch.'

'To the singular noun, (eg) ' ' , we add an -s in order to form the plural (egs ' ' ). If the word already ends in -s in the singular, then we form the plural by adding an -es [s. pïs (piece) ' ' , pl. pïses (pieces) ' ' ], even though this plural ending is often pronounced with a schwa vowel, [-ûs].'

'The pronouns remain unchanged for all cases: subject, direct and indirect objects, possessive, etc.: ay (I) ' ' , yü (you) ' ' hi (hi), etc.'

'To demonstrate the various tenses of an action, we add the appropriate endings to the verb' s root. The root of a verb is its infinitive form: ït (eat), luk (look), skrambel (scramble), towst (toast)'.
 

'To form the PRESENT tense of a verb with any pronoun, we merely make use of the infinitive form without any change: ït ' ' , luk ' ' , towst ' ' . These forms describe the action at the moment of its occurrence.'
 

'To form the PAST tense, we add the suffix -ed to the verb - root ït, luk, skrambel, towst: ïted (ate) ' ' , luked (looked) ' ' , skrambèled (scrambled) ' ' , towsted (toasted) ' ' . This tense shows a completed action.'
 

'To form the FUTURE tense we use the prefix wil- before the root - verb. [This tense indicates an action still to begin.']

'PAST':

'FUTURE':

'Each noun and verb follows the rules indicated above WITHOUT EXCEPTION. Every Standard English irregular verb like eat, ate, will eat is regularized in Transitional English to: ït (eat) [present tense], ïted (eated) [past tense], wil-ït (will-eat) [future tense].'

'There is no grammatical gender in Transitional English. There are no masculine, feminine, nor neuter nouns, as happens in many languages. While Transitional English avoids using articles, even Standard English (henceforth SE) uses only one definite article (the [dhè]) which remains genderless and numberless, being the same for all genders and for both singular and plural nouns. Hence SE (the salt) becomes in TE simply sölt.'
 

Plïz giv tu ay [dhè] sölt and pepèr. (Please give to I [the] salt and pepper.) 'Place translation in your language between these single quotes.' The word between the brackets is omitted..
 

'THE POSSESSIVE': The possessive form is expressed with the preposition ov (of) ' ' . Thus 'your name' in TE becomes ov-yü neym. 'My name' in TE is ov-ay neym ' ' . An alternative form consists of the pronoun plus an apostrophe and s: yü' s neym 'your name' , ay' s neym 'my name' , etc.
 

'THE INTERROGATIVES': Questions usually begin with the interrogative words: haw (how) ' ' , wen (when) ' ' , wer (where) ' ' , way (why) ' ' . 

ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY (2):

'THE INFINITIVE: In TE the infinitive also serves, without change, for the conjugated personalized forms in the present tense: hav, (have), ' ' ; kach (catch), ' ' ; meyk (make), ' ' ; drink (drink), ' ' ; forgét (forget), ' ' .'

'THE INFINITIVE can be preceded by the preposition tu (to) and connected to the verb by an underline: tu_dü (to do), ' ' ; tu_hav (to have), ' ' ; tu_meyk (to make), ' ' , etc.'

'SOUNDS: With the exception of the digraphs, each letter in TE has but one sound value. Here are some tips for the production of certain sounds, but it is important to remember that English has no specific rules for word accentuation and, like the tones in Chinese, in English the stress and/or durative accent needs to be learned along with each individual word. Often, the English word is monosyllabic and hence there is no problem with the stress accent, and in words of two syllables the accent is frequently found on the first syllable.'

'When the words are polysyllabic, more often than not the accent falls on the first syllable. Since the accentuation of each word needs to be learned with each separate word, in our text we will try to indicate the accent in every word of more than one syllable. Remember that the umlaut over a vowel indicates that the vowel is a long one.'

'WORD ORDER'

'Unlike many other languages, the word order in English and in TE is not flexible.'

'TE adheres to a strict word order in a sentence: SUBJECT - VERB - OBJECT. Ay stùdi Inglish. (I study English.) ' ' . '

'STUDY AID (1-8) Study this first lesson with care. Then write the following exercises in TE using the TE alphabet presented in the lesson on page 1. You can check your answers with those found at the end of the lesson. As an aid, you will find the SE equivalent in parentheses, followed by a translation into your language. You are to translate your language into Transitional English with the help of the Standard English form in parenthesis.'

1. (Friend will-eat cereal.) 'Place here equivalent of learner's language.'
            'Example': Frend wil-ït sirïàl.

2. (I eated eggs Sunday.) ' '

3. (I eat eggs with salt and pepper.) ' '

4. (You will look for work Saturday.) ' '

'TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO YOUR LANGUAGE. (NOTICE THAT THE TRANSITIONAL ENGLISh IS FOLLOWED BY THE EQUIVALENT STANDARD ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHY WITHIN PARENTHESES)':

5. Frend kòmed tùdéy. (Friend comed today.)
            'Example: in learner's language.'

6. Ay wil-luk for wòrk. (I will look for work.)

7. Yü drink kofi with milk and shugàr. (You drink coffee with milk and sugar.)

8. Yü kòmed from Slowvak Rip`úblik, ay kòmed from Meksikow. (You comed from the Slovak Republic, I comed from Mexico.)

'After writing these sentences, write out the exercises in the following section. If you do not understand something, do not hesitate to ask someone who knows English to help you out. Those who have a computer can send their questions to the authors by means of electronic mail [e-mail] to the address given at the beginning of these lessons, and also found at the end of this lesson.'

'EXERCISES -- LESSON ONE'

'Using the examples below, write the following sentences in Transitional English'.

'Examples': [Translator: The sentence below, within the single quotes, should be placed in the learner's own language.]

'Notice that both the definite (the) and indefinite articles (a) are normally NOT used in Transitional English'.

'EXERCISES (1-18)':

'WRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES IN TRANSITIONAL ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHY':

1. 'Translation in learner's language to be found here.' (Hello, how be you?)

'Example' : Helów, haw bï yü?

2. ' ' (Of-I name be John).

3. ' ' (Of-you name be Joe.)

4. ' ' (I come from Texas.)

5. ' ' (Originally, I be from Mexico.)

6. ' ' (I not speak English good.)

7. ' ' (I learn English.)

8. ' ' (When you comed here?)

9. ' ' (Today be Sunday; I comed Saturday morning.)

10. ' '(Today I eat only cereal, two pieces of toasted bread, and coffee with cream and sugar.)

11. ' ' (I do [the] same.) [The square brackets indicate that the word the is omitted in Transitional English.]

12. ' ' (I look for farm work. I be farmer.)

13. ' ' (Mexico be south of U.S.A.)

14. ' ' (Yesterday I eated in restaurant.)

15. ' ' (Tomorrow, I will-eat one scrambled egg.)

16. ' ' (Bye. Good luck.)

17. ' ' (Kentucky be good place.)

18. ' ' (You and I drink coffee with milk.)

'Remember that answers to the preceding exercise can be found below.'

'ANSWERS TO THE STUDY AID (1-8)'

1. Frend wil-ït sirïàl.

2. Ay ïted egs Sùndey.

3. Ay ït egs with sölt and pepèr.

4. Yü wil-luk for wòrk Satùrdey.

'ANSWERS CONTINUED'

5. '[Translator: translate in your, or in the learner's, language, if they are the same.]'

6. ' '

7. ' '

8. ' '

'ANSWERS TO EXERCISES (1-18)':
1. Helów, haw bï yü?
2. Ov-ay neym bï Jon.
3. Ov-yü neym bï Jow.
4. Ay kòm from Texas [Teksàs].
5. Òríjìnàli, ay bï from Mexico [Meksikow].
6. Ay not spïk Inglish gud.
7. Ay lèrn Inglish.
8. Wen yü kòmed hièr?
9. Tùdéy bï Sùndey. Ay kòmed Satùrdey mörning.
10. Tùdéy ay ït ownli sirïàl, tu pïses ov towsted bred, and kofi with krïm and shugàr.
11. Ay dü seym.
12. Ay luk for färm wòrk. Ay bï färmèr.
13. Mexico [Meksikow] bï sawth ov U.S.A.
14. Yestèrdey ay ïted in restàrànt.
15. Tùmórow ay wil ït wòn skrambèled eg.
16. Bay. Gud lùk.
17. Kentucky [Kent`úki] bï gud pleys.
18. Yü and ay drink kofi with milk.

'NUMBERS AND COLORS'

'At this stage you can learn some NUMBERS and COLORS. In Transitional English, the numbers, as all other adjectives, precede the nouns to which they refer, or those that they describe.'

'The words that are used as adjectives are placed before the noun that they modify: wayt milk--' ' , brawn kofi--' ' , gud tïchèr--' .'

'TELLING TIME': Wàt taym bï it? (What time be it?) ' '
It bï nayn o' klok, 35 minùts, 10 sekònds. (It be nine o' clock, 35 minutes, 10 seconds.) ' ' 

Wàt bï tùdéy? (What be today?) ' ?'
Tùdéy bï Fraydey, Disémbèr 2, 1994. (Today be Friday, December 2, 1994.) ' .'

'You have now been exposed to about one fourth of the grammar you need to know in Transitional English to be able to communicate in the language. Under Standard English instruction you would require a great deal more time in order to learn this much of the English language.'
 

'By the time you reach Lesson Ten you will have been exposed to rather sophisticated English which can be heard and used around the world.'
 

'If you have any difficulties with this and later lessons, please seek the help of anyone who knows English and have him help you get in touch with the authors of Transitional English at the following e-mail address': lihani.prof@prodigy.net, or at: globlec@pop.uky.edu.