Sixth GF Summer School 2018

GF Summer School logo

Stellenbosch, South Africa
3rd–14th December 2018

About

Grammatical Framework (GF) is a grammar formalism and a programming language for multilingual computational grammars. It is based on the idea of a shared abstract syntax and mappings between the abstract syntax and concrete languages. GF has hundreds of users all over the world.

The GF Resource Grammar Library (RGL) implements the morphology (inflection) and basic syntax (phrase structure) of more than 30 languages: Afrikaans, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Interlingua, Japanese, Italian, Latvian, Maltese, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian bokmål, Nynorsk, Persian, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Sindhi, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Urdu. These resources are freely available as open-source software.

We are constantly welcoming new languages, especially from new language families, including African languages. Learn more at the RGL status page. The summer school is an excellent place to get started with a new language.

A recent Google TechTalk gives an overview of the GF technology and its many applications:

You will find the GF book a very good companion to your studies (available also as an e-book). However, the book is not a requirement for successful participation in the summer school.

Registration

Participants must register for the summer school using the following form: Register

Participants interested in making use of university residence accommodation should please complete the following form by August 31st September 30th: University Residence Accommodation

Please note that the first 20 participants from South Africa and Africa to complete the above form will receive free accommodation in a university residence. A further 20 places will be available at R250.00 per person per night.

Programme

Summer School Github repo: gf-summerschool-2018

Week 1 (December 3–7): Introduction to GF and multilingual grammar programming

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
08:30 Registration
09:00
12:30
Opening;
A tour of the GF Ecosystem;
Tutorial: small grammars in GF Cloud
Core linguistic constructions;
Tutorial: mini resource grammar
Systematic overview of GF concepts;
More linguistics: extended mini resource
Full Resource Grammar and its API; Explainable machine translation Design and implementation of application grammars;
Hands-on with a health grammar
Lunch break
14:00
17:30
Building small grammars in the cloud Starting mini resource in GF shell GF vs. Python as programming languages. Calling GF from Python;
Work on mini grammar projects
gftest;
Work on mini grammar projects
Plans for summer school projects

Weekend: Excursion

Week 2 (December 10–14): Applied and advanced topics

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
09:00
12:30
Resource grammars for African languages:
Runyankore-Rukiga
Bantu functor
Tswana
Somali
GF internals and grammar blowup;
Salama Translation system
High Precision Semantics Extraction for Mathematics;
S2S translation;
Building a linguistic assembly line with grammar
Breaking the tyranny of machine translation;
Common sense and mathematics;
Afrikaans miniresource
Participant presentations;
Closing discussion
Lunch break
14:00
17:30
Work on projects Work on projects Bantu workshop;
Work on projects
Participant presentations
19:30 Dinner

Dinner location: Wijnhuis

Teachers and invited speakers (under construction)

NameAffiliationTopic
David BamuturaChalmers University of TechnologyA minigrammar for Runyankore-Rukiga
Anna EhrlemarkTextualBuilding a linguistic assembly line with grammar
Arvi HurskainenUniversity HelsinkiSalama Translation system: multiword expressions and semantic disambiguation
Inari ListenmaaUniversity GothenburgGF tutorial;
various
Benson KitukuDedan Kimathi University of TechnologyBantu functor
Oscar KalidalTextualBuilding a linguistic assembly line with grammar
Laurette MaraisMeraka InstituteSpeech2speech translation for maternal health in South Africa
Michal MěchuraMasaryk UniversityBreaking the tyranny of machine translation
Christiane MietzschTechnische Universität DresdenCommon Sense and Mathematics
Laurette PretoriusUniversity of South AfricaModelling Negation of the Afrikaans Declarative Sentence in GF
Aarne RantaUniversity Gothenburg
Digital Grammars
GF tutorial;
various
Heiki RuuskaTechnische Universität DresdenCommon Sense and Mathematics
Jan Frederik SchaeferFAUHigh Precision Semantics Extraction for Mathematics

Accommodation in Stellenbosch

Logistically, accommodation is the most pressing matter, since Stellenbosch is a very popular holiday and tourist destination all year round. December is the main holiday season in South Africa and it is essential to ensure that you book your accommodation as soon as possible. The good news is that accommodation and food are relatively cheap, compared to European prices.

Stellenbosch does not have a public transport system suited to tourists, although Uber operates in the area. Therefore, we recommend choosing accommodation within walking distance of the university campus. Please refer to the map in Figure 1 below for the recommended area in case you are booking your own accommodation. You may also find the list in Table 1 useful.

The following accommodation options are available:

Do not hesitate to direct any questions about accommodation, location or other practical matters to the local organiser.

Recommended booking area for own accommodation
Figure 1: Recommended area for booking your own accommodation, demarcated in in black

ACCOMMODATION IN/NEAR STELLENBOSCH

Name Address Contact
Coopmanhuijs Hotel & Spa (5 Star) 33 Church Street, Stellenbosch info@coopmanhuijs.co.za
www.coopmanhuijs.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 883 8207
Batavia Boutique Hotel (5 Star) 12 Louw Street, Stellenbosch reservations@batavia-stellenbosch.co.za
www.batavia-stellenbosch.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 2914
Beauclair (Guest Cottage) 1 Coetzenburg Road, Stellenbosch res@beauclair.co.za
www.beauclair.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 886 7662
Eendracht Hotel (3 Star) 161 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch info@eendracht-hotel.com
www.eendracht-hotel.com
Tel: +27 (0) 21 883 8843
The Stellenbosch Hotel C/O Dorp & Andringa Streets, 162 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch info@stellenboschhotel.co.za
www.stellenboschhotel.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 3644
Bonne Esperance (Bed & Breakfast) C/o Neethling and Van Riebeeck Street, Stellenbosch stay@bonneesperance.com
www.bonneesperance.com
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 0225
Roosenwijn (Guest House) 14 Van Riebeeck Street, Stellenbosch bookingsenquiries@roosenwijn.co.za
www.roosenwijn.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 883 3338
Middedorp Manor (Guest House) 16 Van Riebeeck Street, Stellenbosch info@middedorp.com
www.middedorp.com
Tel: +27 (0) 21 883 9560
Villa Grande (Bed & Breakfast) 1 Keerom Street, Stellenbosch info@villa-grande.com
www.villa-grande.com
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 8454
Victoria House (Self-catering) 21 Van Riebeeck Street, Stellenbosch victoria@adept.co.za
Fynbos Villa Guest House (Bed & Breakfast) 14 Neethling Street, Stellenbosch info@fynbosguesthouse.co.za
www.fynbosguesthouse.co.za
Tel: +27 (0)21 883 8670
Stumble Inn Backpackers Lodge 12 Market Street, Stellenbosch stumble@iafrica.com
www.stumbleinnbackpackers.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 8874049
Stellenbosch Backpackers Twin Oaks at 56 Bird Street, Stellenbosch nico@stellenboschbackpackers.co.za
www.stellenboschbackpackers.co.za
Tel: +27 (0)21 883 8550
Avenues Guest Lodge 32 Avenues, Stellenbosch www.avenuesguestlodge.com
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 1843
Caledon Villa (Bed & Breakfast) 7 Neethling Street, Stellenbosch www.caledonvilla.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 883 8912
Evergreen Manor 11 Murray Street, Stellenbosch stay@evergreenmanor.co.za
http://evergreenmanor.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 886 6832
Just Joey Guest House 13 Noordwal-Wes Road, Stellenbosch justjoey@mweb.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 1799
Labri Manor 71 Victoria Street, Stellenbosch labri@manorhotels.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 886 5652
Malans Guest House 4 Keerom Street, Stellenbosch malansgh@gmail.com
www.malansguesthousestellenbosch.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 83 6641517
Ryneveld Lodge 67 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch ryneveld@iafrica.com
www.ryneveldlodge.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887 4469
River Manor 6 Die Laan, Stellenbosch info@rivermanor.co.za
www.rivermanor.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 887-9944
Die Laan Apartments 22 Die Laan, Stellenbosch info@22dielaan.co.za
www.22dielaan.co.za
Tel: +27 (0) 21 886-8753

Venue

The summer school will take place in Stellenbosch, home to Stellenbosch University.

Stellenbosch is one of the most beautiful towns in South Africa and even in the world! It is a university town and tourist destination. It is particularly well ­known for its wine, hiking, culture and university. It is close to Cape Town, one of the capital cities of South Africa – a city which is often ranked amongst the top ten best cities in the world for tourism. The official site of the Stellenbosch Tourism and Information Bureau is at http://www.stellenbosch.travel/.

Stellenbosch University Cape vineyards
Hiking in the Cape Stellenbosch café
Map of the Western Cape
Figure 2: Map of the Western Cape Province

Getting there

Fly to Cape Town and then use one of various modes of transport to Stellenbosch, for example, shuttles and taxis at:

Flying directly to Cape Town

Many of the main airlines operate direct flights to Cape Town. For specific airlines and specific flights one should compare the direct flight options to the option of flying to Johannesburg and then to Cape Town, using a domestic carrier (see below).

Flying to Johannesburg and then using a domestic airline to Cape Town

There are many budget airlines that operate between Johannesburg and Cape Town. At the time of writing (19 March 2018), for a return trip on 2 and 15 December, the cheapest prices range from about R1750 (117.79 Euro; 145.06 USD) to just over R2000 (134.58 Euro; 165.85 USD).

Some companies that may help you find cheap local flights are:

Some budget airlines include:

Other options include South African Airways and British Airways.

General information

Letter of invitation

Should you require a letter of invitation to the summer school, please contact Laurette Pretorius.

Equipment

Participants are required to bring along their own laptops to the summer school. Wifi will be available at the venue.

Other practical considerations

Do not hesitate to direct any questions about accommodation, location or other practical matters to the local organisers.

Logistics

Forms

T-shirt interest form: T-shirts

Excursion options: Excursion

Excursion

Organizers

Contacts

The GF mailing list is a great place to ask about anything GF, including the summer school. If you have a more specific question, you can contact us directly:

Sponsors

Previous GF summer schools