Translation Resources

Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.   - Ralph Ellison

Hi everyone!

Welcome to this week's installment of the Welby 2nd Ward Family History Moment!  Spend just a moment and check out this tip to help with your family history.



After you get back on your research a few generations, it's likely you're going to need some language resources.  I have found two things to be of particular help as I have needed to translate documents to figure out what they were saying! 





1. http://www.microsofttranslator.com/

This used to be called Babel Fish on alta-vista.  It is a LIFE SAVER!  All you have to do is type in what you see, and then say translate to English.  Voila!  This has also been helpful in sending an email to relatives or contacts in different countries.  You can type in what you'd like to say, and translate it to their language.  I have found it helpful to copy/paste and re-translate to English to make sure it says what you think it does. 

This could also be a fun thing to use to send a note or letter to missionaries in different languages.  Surprise them with your resourcefulness!



2. Genealogical Word List(s)

The Family History library used to have this great little copied booklets that you could purchase for many different languages that were called Genealogical Word Lists.  They were just a few pages long, but contained a lot of the commonly used words on research documents for foreign languages.  They looked something like this:

English                         Swedish

birth                              födda, födde, född, födelse
burial                             begravning
child                              barn
death                             döda, döde, död, avliden, avsomna
father                             far, fader
female                            kvinnkön, kvinna
male                               mankön, man
marriage                         vigda, vigde, vigd, vigsel, gift, gifte, giftermål, bröllop, brudfolk

etc.

You get the idea.  They have commonly used words, as well as number lists, month lists, etc.  These are great lists to have printed out with you as you are looking at documents.  It helps keep you straight as you figure out dates, months, places, etc.  I can't tell you how many times I would get mixed up on Dutch records between the numbers two ( twee ) and three ( drie )!  Now, you can go online and print them off to use.  Just go to the research wiki (remember from last week?) and type in "Genealogical word list" followed by the language you're looking for.  It should just pop up in your search results. 

Here's the link for the research wiki if you didn't bookmark it like I suggested last week...

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/

Next week's topic: Starting (or adding to) your personal history

Happy translating and have a great week!! (or... Glücklich übersetzen und haben eine tolle Woche!! in German!)

FamilySearch Research Wiki

In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were seven or eight of us rolled up in each man’s skin,—seven or eight ancestors at least, and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is.  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi everyone!

Welcome to this week's installment of the Welby 2nd Ward Family History Moment!  Spend just a moment and check out this tip to help with your family history.

Want a great way to spend 6 minutes and 8 seconds of your day today?  Watch the following video on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u4tBnWJuzI

 

The FamilySearch Research Wiki....  I think the hardest part about it is getting comfortable saying "wiki" in public!  In the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you can learn how to do genealogical research or share your knowledge with others.  This is a fabulous resource for beginner to advanced family history researchers.  The best part is that it explains topics in easy to understand language - and they're short and sweet!  Find what you need to know without having to read very long articles.

 

Ever wondered when they started keeping records in Kentucky?  Ever wondered how to find microfilmed newspapers?  Ever wondered what Lord Hardwicke’s Act was?  (of course it was passed in 1754 in England, requiring that couples had to be married in the Church of England for their marriage to be legal, regardless of what religion one belonged to...)  Check out the Research Wiki for these and many more answers!

Feel a little adventurous?  Want to skip the video and just type something into the search box to get started?  Here's the homepage for Research Wiki:

www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki

Bookmark that page.  I promise if you're not thinking you want to find something right now, you will one day!

Next week's topic: Starting (or adding to) your personal history

Happy surfing and have a great week!!

Family History Television Shows

"Discovering who you are can be an exhilarating and satisfying experience. Discovering who you are can create the anchor you need to live in the sea of humanity. Of the roughly 7 billion people in this world, you can discover that you are, indeed, a very unique and special person."  familysearch.org

Hi everyone!

Welcome to this week's installment of the Welby 2nd Ward Family History Moment!  Spend just a moment and check out this tip to help with your family history.




This week I thought it would be fun to look at Family History shows on television.  I'm sure you've seen or heard of a few of them, but likely not all!  It seems like it would be a great experience to sit down with your family and watch one of these to help teach them about the importance of family history.  I particularly like the ones that focus on ordinary individuals - but there is always the celebrity story if that's your interest!



My favorite by far is The Generations Project shown on KBYU.  The series explores the family histories of everyday people to uncover extraordinary stories.  They cover people from across America, and a wide range of life histories.  There are 38 archived episodes available online, so you can go and watch them anytime!  Pick one out to watch on your next lunch break!  The next time to catch it on TV is June 6th at 8:30AM, 830PM or 11:30PM.

The Generations Project

www.byutv.org/thegenerationsproject

Another show put out by BYU is Ancestors.  This was their original family history series focused more on the "how's and why's" of family history.  The website is a little more difficult to navigate, but the right side of the page has a link to watch some episodes online.  There are also MANY clips on research topics that incorporate the stories of individuals and how they have found family history information.  A good page to bookmark for some research leads?  Definitely more "hard core" than some of the network shows.

Ancestorswww.byub.org/ancestors

Next we have 2 shows put out by PBS.  Faces of America (with Henry Louis Gates Jr.) gives you a view into the family histories of prominent people, and features celebrities such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Stephen Colbert, Yo-Yo Ma and Eva Longoria.  Fun and entertaining!

Faces of America (With Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica

African American Lives is similar to Faces of America, but is focused exclusive on African American history.  Check out Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, Tina Turner, Morgan Freeman and more!

African American Lives
www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives

Need a little Paula Dean, Martin Sheen or Reba McEntire?  This series is probably the most well known.  Who Do You Think You Are started in England, but is now in several other countries. 

Who Do You Think You Are?www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are

I think the best thing about any of these shows is that it gets you excited to discover your own personal heritage.  Your story is just as exciting (if accompanied by a great soundtrack!)  So put on some music and find out something new about yourself this week also! 


Next week's topic:  Intro to Research Wiki

Happy watching (make sure to limit your screen time!) and have a great week!!