There are many people on this list who can help out with translations. Some are native speakers. Some learned to "read" by finding the keywords and using word lists, paleography (handwriting), and following the format.
The Azores GenWeb (thanks, Kathy!) houses my "how to" guide. I have a section that shows examples of baptisms, marriages, and deaths, with both the original Portuguese and a line by line "translation." http://goo.gl/Pe8ekL I need to break down the 3 time periods of records. There was a time when the grandparents were included. There was a time period when the date of birth was not recorded, only the baptism. Etc, etc. I'll do this and send it to Kathy (who hopefully won't clobber me) and she'll put it on that page. Those who are new to "reading" the records need to use the link above. They also need the word list and the paleography guide. Again, Kathy has linked them to the Azores GenWeb site. Word list: http://goo.gl/MjTBYY Paleography (handwriting): http://goo.gl/NZkOMZ In the learning process of "reading" a record, the names seem to come first. They are always capitalized. Depending on the type of record and the time period, you just learn to look about 1/4 of the way down the page for the name, for example. The months seem to come next, because they are very similar to the months in English. The numbers seem to come last. They are written out in long hand: twenty-third of the month of May in the year one thousand eight hundred seventy and five. When posting for translation help, please do the following: 1) Title the email with the ancestor's name, location, and time period or date. You don't need to bother with putting "translation" in the title. We will have 1200 members on this list very soon. Not all 1200 post messages. Many just read the messages. So someone who is looking for your ancestor in your freguesia in your time period may not be translating or even "reading" the records yet, but they will see your post, follow the thread, and you may find a new cousin that way. If the post is titled "Translation," "Help me read this," or something along those lines, it does not reach an audience of almost 1200. Many people on this list are still in the work force. Unless the title of the email or thread catches their eye, they just may hit the delete key and go to the next email that hopefully has a clue to their ancestor. 2) Include the link to the CCA site. If the link seems to be too long or your email is doing funny things to it, use your favorite URL shortener (I like Google's at goo.gl (no www, no .com, no nothing, just type in goo.gl). If you scan your own image and attach it, are you SURE all 1200 of us have the software to open it? And you did double check and make sure it's PC and Mac and Linux compatible before you attached it, right? So you see how the link makes it much easier. 3) Include WHERE on the page the record is. Left side, 2nd record, for example. 4) Even if you are brand new to reading the records, include what you can "read" in it. It is amazing to watch people who could barely find the names 6 months ago to practically extracting the whole thing. And for those who want more: We will have a hands-on class in Salt Lake City, Utah next year in April. By we, I mean Rosemarie Capodicci and me, Cheri Mello. We are trying to get Joao Ventura from Terceira too, but he needs to get approval from his employer to take time off. And after the classes there will be 4 evenings where you can have one of us sit right next to you and help you learn to "read" those records. -- Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to azores@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
