Teaching / translations / danish

[Jens Axel Søgaard <jensaxel@soegaard.net>]

Hello list.

Recently I've followed this list closely and have enjoyed the conversation
very much.

DrScheme and HTDP inspired me so much, that I have decided to
use the DrScheme to teach my next computer science course.

I teach at a danish high school (age 16-18).
The course is the first CS course for the students. It is 4-5 lessons
(45min each) a week for a full year.

Although the students are proficient in english I've begon the (somewhat
slow)
process of producing material in danish.

This includes a translation of the string constants of version 208.
To whom do I send it, to get included in the cvs?


I've have also translated the R5RS (nearly done, proof reading missing).
Would it be possible to have it included in the help desk, when it is
finished?

It is of course not easy listening^H^H^H^H^H^Hreading for a beginner, but I
thouht it would a nice frame work to make "The R5RS for beginners" :-)


If any of you are teaching first courses (perhaps even to the same age
group)
I would be happy to receive a copy of your teaching plan in order to get a
felling of the speed in which one can teach the HTDP or similar book.
I graduated last year (from Aarhus, Denmark) and have thus only taught one
CS
course sofar (well 1.5 actually). A time schedule is thus of  great help.


On a more personal nature:

I picked up the laguage Scheme in a compiler course taught by Danvy.
It was not until I accidently came across DrScheme and HTDP
that I seriously considered using it as teaching language.
The possibility of changhing teaching languages, the GUI of DrScheme
and its full set of libraries was what convinced me.
The latest addition, the web server, is just icing on the cake.

The language I taught last year was Delphi - due to the fact that the scools
only book was about Delphi. I was somewaht surprised that beginners had
so much difficulty grokking the syntax. (Slow computers that take 20-30
seconds
to tell you that you forgot a semi colon didn't help.)

Traditionally Pascal is the language taught in danish high schools,
although today the percentages is more like:

   Delphi 50%, Visual Basic 45% (go figure),  Java 5%

I have a strong feeling that the simplicity og the syntax and semantics of
Scheme
will make it considerably easier for a beginner to learn.


Yours,
--
Jens Axel Søgaard
<http://www.jensaxel.dk>