What I've Done  

I originally joined Wycliffe in 1995, expecting to be a Bible translator and linguist, thinking that I would play a direct role in bringing the Word of God to a Bibleless people group. It turns out though that He had other plans.... Along the way, I have worked in many different aspects of the Bible translation task.   

I spent my first term, from 1997-1999, as a language surveyor, assessing the needs for future projects in the West African countries of Togo and Benin.  For more information, see Language Survey in Togo and Benin.

As I was finishing up my first term, during discussions with various supervisors, I was encouraged to think about becoming a "linguistic specialist" so that I could come alongside translation teams who were being challenged in the area of linguistics.  You may not realize it, but each of our translation teams must wear a number of different hats at different stages of the project.  They must be language learners, linguists, administrators, cultural anthropologists, literacy workers, and Scripture promoters.  Some teams are lucky enough to have one person per task, but most are not.  For these smaller teams, it is often the case that the team members are strongly gifted in some areas and struggle in others. 

What is linguistics?  Well, technically, linguistics is the scientific study of languages.  Linguists analyze what sounds are in a language (and help to develop an alphabet), how words are formed (and help decide where spaces should go), and how sentences are put together.  They also look at how speakers of a language tell stories and persuade people to agree with them (think how different it is to translate the words of Jesus vs those of Paul!).

I took my first linguistics class because I knew that it was important for Bible translation, but I discovered that I find linguistics fascinating.  I am excited that I can use my education and interests to help translation teams.  The hope is that by coming alongside over-burdened teams, the translation process can be speeded up and the overall quality of the translation can be improved.

After some additional study (a MA in Linguistics from UC Berkeley), I headed overseas for my first term as a linguistic specialist, joining the Central Africa Group in 2002.  My first assignment was to the Central African Republic where I ended up working as the Business Manager and the Project Funding Coordinator while learning Sango, the national language.  For more information see Working in Bangui.

After my initial assignment as an administrator, the plan was for my teammate Beth and I to work alongside an established translation team, helping them and gaining some practical experience.  Our first two plans had to be changed due to a bad car accident (involving the team we were to join) and a civil war.  Finally, in 2004, Beth and I began an internship in eastern Cameroon.  For more information, see Internship in Eastern Cameroon.

My 18 months in Cameroon fed into my studies as a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley.  See The Dissertation Process for more information.  I am now sharing all that I've learned through my years of education and fieldwork with students at the Canada Institute of Linguistics.  See What I Do Now for more information.