ELAN for Field Methods

The purpose of this blog post is to give the simplest possible instructions for setting up an ELAN project. They are based on a Field Methods course taught at NYU on Setswana, a language of southern Africa. Replace “Setswana” with the name of the language you are studying.

1. Download ELAN onto your computer.

2. Download video Setswana.mp4. 

This was a short video (16 seconds) of the consultant giving greetings in Setswana. You can make such videos with your smart phone now.

3. Create a .wav file corresponding to the video file (you can do this is different ways, I used Adobe Premier Pro).

4. Open ELAN

5. Select New under File

6. Select Add Media File, and choose the video file.

7. Select Add Media File again, and choose the .wav file.

8. Press OK.

You should see a video display and a waveform display in ELAN.

9. Under File, click Save As and give your file a name (e.g., Greetings). Click Save.

10. Right click on the “default” tier under the waveform. Click on Change Attributes of Default.

11. Change the tier name to Setswana. Click Change.

This tier will be your transcription tier, where you transcribe the language you are studying.

12. Go to the Type menu at the top of the display and choose Add New Tier Type.

13. Give the new tier type the name “Translation” and give it the stereotype “Symbolic Association” (you can experiment with other tier types later).

14. Click Add. Click Close.

15. Go to the Tier menu at the top of the display and choose Add New Tier.

16. Give the new tier the name “English”, and make the parent tier Setswana. The Tier Type will automatically be Translation. Click Add. Click Close.

17. Scroll to the beginning of the waveform and select the first word.

18. Click the play button under the video under the word “selection”. It is a white triangle pointing at a capital “S”. Listen to the first word.

19. Right click on the Setswana tier (under the waveform) and choose New Annotation Here. In the Setswana box, write the transcription of the first word. 

20. Left click on the English tier underneath the transcription and write the English translation.

21. Repeat process until you have translated the whole waveform.

22. Save your work. Make sure to save periodically.