This manual is designed for use in the correspondence course in English braille transcribing conducted by the Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), and for use by instructors of braille classes. The course is intended to familiarize the student with the braille system, with braille contractions and their usage, and with the rules of braille transcribing. Rules are set forth by the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) and by the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) and published in The Rules of Unified English Braille (UEB). In January 2016, UEB will be the general-purpose code in use in the United States, along with other specialized braille codes and guidelines set forth by the Braille Authority of North America.
A source citation appears in brackets following each main heading in this manual. The citation refers to the rule and section of the latest edition of the official code, The Rules of Unified English Braille, Second Edition 2013, or to Braille Formats: Principles of Print to Braille Transcription 2011 (BF), upon which the information in the following material is based. See and see also references refer to sections within this book.
Great care has been taken to ensure that very few of the sentences in the drills and exercises in this manual contain words that require the use of contractions not yet studied. While greatly restricting the choice of words and types of sentences in the earlier lessons, this practice helps prevent the student from acquiring the habit of brailling words incorrectly.
Throughout this manual examples are presented in simulated braille (dots reproduced in print). The student is directed to study them carefully. They show how the rules work in practice and also peculiar situations where a rule is inapplicable. When simulated braille is not used in examples, contractions are shown enclosed within parentheses.
Appendix A at the back of this manual gives the correct print for the simulated braille reading exercises that appear at the end of many lessons.
Most of the problems that are likely to be found in the transcription of general literature are presented and discussed in this manual, and upon successful completion of the course, the student should be competent to deal with these problems. However, no attempt is made here to train the student in the transcription of specialized materials. Therefore, before attempting to braille a textbook of any kind, the transcriber must be thoroughly familiar with the rules provided in the latest revision of Braille Formats: Principles of Print to Braille Transcription, available online at www.brailleauthority.org. If called upon to braille technical material on mathematics or science, the transcriber first must study the latest revision of The Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation. The transcription of music must be in accordance with provisions set forth in the most recent edition of the Braille Music Code. These
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publications may be purchased from the American Printing House for the Blind, (800) 223-1839 or www.aph.org.
The National Federation of the Blind currently administers the braille certification courses under contract with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. All persons using this manual are invited to submit comments, criticisms, or suggestions regarding it to the Braille Certification Training Program, National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230. These will be studied carefully and given serious consideration in the preparation of any revision.
Author(s): Jennifer Dunnam, et al.
Edition: Unified English Braille Edition, 2015
Publisher: Library of Congress
Year: 2020
Language: English
Commentary: Combined from what is available here: https://nfb.org/programs-services/braille-certification/literary-braille-transcribing
Pages: 267
Tags: Braille education learning official how-to how to learn study write read writing reading beginners start course class transcribe brailler
Contents
Preface to 2015 Edition ................................................................... vii General Course Instructions ............................................................ ix Purpose and Scope ........................................................................ ix
How to Enroll ................................................................................ x Equipment .................................................................................... x
Computer Program .................................................................... xi
Braillewriter ............................................................................. xi Use and Preparation of Drills, Reading Practices, and Exercises ........... xi Drills and reading practice .......................................................... xi Exercises ................................................................................. xi
Braille page margins and line length ............................................ xii Centering a heading .................................................................. xii Page numbering ........................................................................ xii Erasures .................................................................................. xiii Proofreading ............................................................................. xiii
Grading . ....................................................................................... xiii Certification ................................................................................... xiii Mailing Materials ........................................................................... xiv
Submitting exercises ................................................................. xiv Mailing the trial manuscript ........................................................ xiv
Lesson 1. The Braille Alphabet and Numbers
1.1 In General ............................................................................ 1-1
1.2 Methods of Braille Transcription .............................................. 1-1
1.3 The First Ten Letters of the Alphabet ........................................ 1-2
Drill 1 ............................................................................. 1-2
1.4 The Second Ten Letters of the Alphabet .................................... 1-2 Drill 2 ............................................................................. 1-3
1.5 The Last Six Letters of the Alphabet ......................................... 1-3 Drill 3 ............................................................................. 1-3
1.6 Numbers ............................................................................. 1-4 Drill 4 ............................................................................ 1-4 Reading Practice............................................................... 1-5
Exercise ........................................................................................... 1-5
Lesson 2. Capitalization, Paragraphing, Page numbering, Punctuation, Numbers with punctuation
2.1 Capitalization ........................................................................ 2-1 Drill 5 ............................................................................. 2-2
2.2 Paragraphing ......................................................................... 2-2
2.3 Page Numbering .................................................................... 2-3
2.4 Period or Decimal Point, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, Comma, Semicolon, Colon................................................................... 2-3 Drill 6 ............................................................................. 2-4
2.5 Hyphen ................................................................................ 2-4 Drill 7 ............................................................................. 2-6
2.6 Dash .................................................................................... 2-6
Drill 8 ............................................................................. 2-7
2.7 Numbers with punctuation ...................................................... 2-8
2.8 Dollar Sign, Cent Sign, At Sign ................................................ 2-9
Drill 9 ............................................................................ 2-9 Reading Practice............................................................... 2-10
Exercise ........................................................................................... 2-11
Lesson 3. Quotation Marks, Apostrophe, Parentheses, Square Brackets, Omission, Low Line (Underscore), Slash
3.1 3.2 3.3
3.4 3.5
Single and Double quotation marks .......................................... 3-1 Apostrophe . .......................................................................... 3-2 Parentheses and Brackets ....................................................... 3-3
Drill 10............................................................................ 3-3 Omission, low line (underscore) .............................................. 3-4 Slash .. ................................................................................. 3-5
Drill 11 ........................................................................... 3-5
Reading Practice............................................................... 3-6 Exercise ........................................................................................... 3-7 Summary: Putting It All Together.......................................................... 3-9
Lesson 4. Alphabetic Wordsigns,
Contractions for and, for, of, the, with
4.1 Contractions in General .......................................................... 4-1
4.2 Alphabetic Wordsigns ............................................................. 4-1 Drill 12............................................................................ 4-2 Drill 13 ........................................................................... 4-4
4.3 Strong Contractions and, for, of, the, with ................................ 4-5 Drill 14 ........................................................................... 4-6
4.4 and, for, of, the, with as Groupsigns......................................... 4-6 Drill 15............................................................................ 4-7 Reading Practice............................................................... 4-8
Exercise ........................................................................................... 4-9
Lesson 5. Strong Wordsigns for child, shall, this, which, out, still Strong Groupsigns for ch, sh, th, wh, ou, st, Ordinal Numbers
5.1 In General............................................................................. 5-1
5.2 Strong Groupsigns for child, shall, this, which, out, still .............. 5-1 Drill 16............................................................................ 5-2
5.3 Strong Groupsigns for ch, sh, th, wh, ou, st .............................. 5-2
5.4 With Slashes .. ...................................................................... 5-4
5.5 Ordinal Numbers .................................................................... 5-4 Drill 17............................................................................ 5-4 Reading Practice............................................................... 5-5
Exercise ........................................................................................... 5-6
Lesson 6. Strong Groupsigns for ar, ed, er, gh, ow, ing
6.1 In General............................................................................. 6-1
Drill 18 ........................................................................... 6-2
6.2 Ing at Beginning of Word ........................................................ 6-3
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6.3 Choice Between Alternative Contractions .................................. 6-3 6.4 1-3 Indention ........................................................................ 6-4 Drill 19............................................................................ 6-4 Reading Practice............................................................... 6-5 Exercise ........................................................................................... 6-6 Summary: Putting It All Together.......................................................... 6-8
Lesson 7. Lower Wordsigns for
in, enough, be, his, was, were Lower Groupsigns for in, en, be, con, dis Introduction to Shortforms
7.1 Definition of Lower Signs ........................................................ 7-1
7.2 Lower Wordsigns for be, his, was, were .................................... 7-2
7.3 Enough ................................................................................ 7-2
7.4 In ........................................................................................ 7-3
Drill 20 ........................................................................... 7-3
7.5 Lower groupsigns ................................................................... 7-3
7.6 The Lower-Sign Rule .............................................................. 7-4
Drill 21............................................................................ 7-5
7.7 Lower Wordsigns for be, con, dis.............................................. 7-6
7.8 More On Lower-Sign Rule ........................................................ 7-7
Drill 22 ........................................................................... 7-7
7.9 Be, con, and dis in Abbreviations ............................................. 7-7
7.10 Introduction to Shortforms ...................................................... 7-8
Drill 23............................................................................ 7-8
Reading Practice............................................................... 7-9
Exercise ........................................................................................... 7-10
Lesson 8. Lower Groupsigns for bb, cc, ff, gg, ea More Shortforms
8.1 The Double-Letter Signs and ea Sign ........................................ 8-1
8.2 More Shortforms .................................................................... 8-3 Drill 24............................................................................ 8-3 Reading Practice............................................................... 8-5
Exercise ........................................................................................... 8-6 Summary: Putting It All Together.......................................................... 8-9
Lesson 9. Initial-Letter Contractions, More Shortforms
9.1 In General............................................................................. 9-1
9.2 Rules for Specific Initial Letter Contractions............................... 9-3 Drill 25............................................................................ 9-4
9.3 More Shortforms .................................................................... 9-5 Drill 26............................................................................ 9-5 Reading Practice............................................................... 9-7
Exercise ........................................................................................... 9-8
Lesson 10. Final-Letter Contractions, More Shortforms
10.1 Final-Letter Groupsigns ......................................................... 10-1 10.2 Contractions Preference ........................................................ 10-2
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10.3 More Shortforms .................................................................. 10-3 Drill 27............................................................................ 10-4 Reading Practice............................................................... 10-5
Exercise ........................................................................................... 10-6
Lesson 11. Shortforms
11.1 In General ........................................................................... 11-1
11.2 As Whole Words................................................................... 11-2
11.3 As Parts of Longer Words ...................................................... 11-2
11.4 Shortforms In Conflict With Other Contractions ........................ 11-3
11.5 Shortforms With A Suffix ....................................................... 11-3
Drill 28 .. ........................................................................ 11-4
Reading Practice.............................................................. 11-7
Exercise ........................................................................................... 11-8
Lesson 12. Grade 1 Indicators, Speech Mannerisms, Syllabicated and spelled out words
12.1 Grade 1 Symbol Indicator...................................................... 12-1 Drill 29 .. ........................................................................ 12-3 Drill 30 . ......................................................................... 12-6
12.2 Grade 1 Word and Passage Indicators..................................... 12-6
12.3 Syllabicated Words .............................................................. 12-9 Drill 31 ........................................................................... 12-9
Exercise ........................................................................................... 12-10 Summary: Putting It All Together.......................................................... 12-12
Lesson 13. Abbreviations, Initialisms and Acronyms, Symbols, Numeric Space, Dates,
Transcriber's notes, Shape indicator, Format for Letters (Correspondence), Translation Software
13.1 Abbreviations in General ....................................................... 13-1
13.2 Initialisms and Acronyms ...................................................... 13-3 Drill 32 ......................................................................... 13-4
13.3 Symbols ............................................................................. 13-4
13.4 The Numeric Space............................................................... 13-6
13.5 Dates.................................................................................. 13-7 Drill 33 ........................................................................... 13-7
13.6 Transcriber's notes .............................................................. 13-8
13.7 Transcriber-Defined Shape indicator ...................................... 13-9
13.8 Format for Letters (correspondence) ...................................... 13-9
13.9 Braille Translation Software ................................................... 13-11
Exercise ........................................................................................... 13-12
Lesson 14. Roman Numerals, Fractions, Mixed Numbers,
Mathematical Signs of Operation, Superscripts and Subscripts, Electronic Addresses, Line Continuation Indicator, More On Translation Software
14.1 Roman Numerals.................................................................. 14-1 Drill 34........................................................................... 14-2
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14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7
Fractions and Similar Number Combinations ............................ 14-2 Mixed Numbers .. .............................................. 14-2 Printed On Same Level of Type .............................................. 14-3 Mathematical Signs of Operation ............................................ 14-3 Superscript and Subscripts .................................................... 14-5 Computer Materials, Line Continuation Indicator ...................... 14-6
Drill 35 ........................................................................... 14-6 More On Translation Software ................................................. 14-7 Exercise ........................................................................................... 14-7
Lesson 15. Typeform Indicators, Small Capital Letters, Ellipsis, Quoted Material, More On The Standing Alone Rule
15.1 The Typeform Indicators ....................................................... 15-1 15.1i Summary of Use of Typeform Indicators.................................. 15-6
15.2 Small Capital Letters............................................................. 15-8
Drill 36 ........................................................................... 15-8
15.3 Ellipsis ................................................................................ 15-9
15.4 More On Standing Alone Rule................................................. 15-10
15.5 Quoted or Displayed Material ................................................. 15-11
Drill 37 .......................................................................... 15-12
15.6 More On Braille Translation.................................................... 15-13
Exercise ........................................................................................... 15-13 Summary of Standing Alone Rule ...................................................... 15-17
Lesson 16. Modified Letters, More on Quotation Marks, Foreign Words in English Text, Spanish Punctuation, Greek Letters, Old and Middle English, More on Translation Software
16.1 Modifiers ............................................................................. 16-1
16.2 More On Quotation Marks ...................................................... 16-3
16.3 Foreign Language Material in English Texts .............................. 16-4
Drill 38 ........................................................................... 16-6
16.4 Greek Alphabet ..................................................................... 16-8
16.5 Early Forms of English ........................................................... 16-9
Drill 39 ........................................................................... 16-9
16.6 More On Braille translation Software ........................................ 16-9
14.8
Exercise
........................................................................................... 16-10
Lesson 17. Pagination, Headings, Attributions, Marginal notes and reference markers, More on Translation Software
17.1 Pagination ............................................................................ 17-1
17.2 Headings ............................................................................. 17-3
17.3 Attributions ......................................................................... 17-3
17.4 Marginal Notes and Reference Markers ..................................... 17-7
17.5 More On Translation Software ................................................. 17-8
Exercise
........................................................................................... 17-10
Lesson 18. Special Formats: Lists, Columns, and Tables, Poetry, Suggested Formats: Menus, Recipes
18.1 In General............................................................................ 18-1
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18.2 Lists, Columns and Tables ...................................................... 18-1 18.3 Poetry .................................................................................. 18-6 18.4 Menus.................................................................................. 18-8 18.5 Recipes ................................................................................ 18-10
Exercise ........................................................................................... 18-11
Lesson 19. Braille Book Format, More on Translation Software, More Braille
Symbols and Other Information
19.1 Braille Book Format in General................................................
19.2 Front matter .........................................................................
19.3 Body Matter..........................................................................
19.4 End Matter ...........................................................................
19.5 More On Translation Software .................................................
19.6 More Braille Symbols and Other Information.............................
Exercise ...........................................................................................
19-1 19-5 19-18 19-18 19-20 19-20 19-22
Lesson 20. The Final Reading Exercise, The Trial Manuscript, and Certification
20.1 The Reading Exercise ............................................................. 20-1
20.2 Trial Manuscript In General ..................................................... 20-1
20.3 Choosing a Book for the Manuscript ........................................ 20-2
20.4 Formatting the Book .............................................................. 20-2
20.5 Beginning Pages .................................................................... 20-3
20.6 Accuracy and Neatness .......................................................... 20-3
20.7 Erasures............................................................................... 20-4
20.8 Editing ................................................................................. 20-4
20.9 Proofreading ......................................................................... 20-4
20.10 A Letter to the Grader............................................................ 20-5
20.11 Mailing the Manuscript ........................................................... 20-5
20.12 Grading ................................................................................ 20-5
20.13 Appealing the Test Results...................................................... 20-6
20.14 Certification .......................................................................... 20-6
