Google New Translation App Brings Speech...

Google’s new translation app aims to turn mobile phones that run on the Android operating system into universal translators. The app is capable of translating text written in one language into speech in another, and vice versa. So, for example, if you were in a foreign country and needed to find a bathroom, you could fire up the app and say “Where is the bathroom?” Your phone would then translate the phrase for you, display the text in the foreign language, and could also read the text out loud in a computerized voice if you desired. Currently, the app can...

Catalonia May Require Cinemas To Show Fi...

Catalonia, a region of Spain with its own distinct language and culture, is expected to require cinemas to begin showing more movies in Catalan. The bill is being passed at a time when Catalan is trying to emphasize and protect its unique cultural identity as immigrants flock to the region. However, Catalan’s cinemas are opposed to the bill, which would require that at least half the copies of every film made outside Europe to be dubbed in Catalan. Camilo Tarrazón Rodón, president of the Association of Film Businesses in Catalonia, explained his organisation’s opposition...

Medical Interpreting Services Help Bridg...

Hospitals naturally encounter patients who speak a cornucopia of different languages-far too many for them to have an interpreter on staff for each one. However, language barriers make it extremely difficult to treat patients, preventing doctors from accurately understanding the patient’s symptoms and preventing the patient from fully understanding their condition and treatments. So, some US hospitals have turned to medical interpreter hotlines to help medical personnel communicate with patients who don’t speak English. Medical interpreter lines and video interpreting...

New Welsh Language Law Proposed...

A new measure has been proposed in Wales to help encourage the use of the Welsh language there. According to the BBC, the new proposal, which was just published by the assembly government, has several key features. First, it would require some private sector companies to provide services in Welsh when requested by Welsh speakers. Telecoms, electricity and gas providers, bus and railway companies and companies providing sewage services would all be affected and could be fined for not providing adequate Welsh-language services. Public sector companies would also be required to...

Syllabary Keypad Developed for Cherokee ...

To help people communicate in Cherokee, the Cherokee Nation has developed a new Cherokee-specific computer keypad. The keypad was developed by two members of the Cherokee Nation’s Cultural Resources Department, Roy Boney, Jr. and Joseph Erb. The device makes it much easier for people to use computers to communicate in Cherokee. Previously, typing in the Cherokee syllabary was a royal pain, requiring users to memorize a variety of different keystrokes to get the computer to produce Cherokee letters instead of the Latin alphabet. With the keypad, which fits over a normal computer...

How Do Babies Learn Language? Apparently...

Can you teach your baby new words, maybe even make him smarter, by putting him in front of the television? That was the promise of the popular “Baby Einstein” videos-parents get a break, and they don’t have to feel guilty because their toddler is actually learning while he watches TV. Unfortunately, “Baby Einstein” and other instructional videos don’t actually appear to help infants and toddlers learn language.  A new study performed by researchers at the University of California in Riverside followed a group of 1 to 2-year-olds around for 6 weeks, assigning...

Amount of French Content in the Olympics...

The Olympics are supposed to be about mutual respect and harmony. However, the games that bring the world together are reigniting a long-simmering cultural feud in Canada. Canada is officially bilingual; French and English are both official languages. But, the Opening Ceremony left some French-speaking Canadians feeling slighted, according to this article on CTV.ca. Although the opening of the Games was announced in French and then in English, the speech given by Games CEO John Furlong was almost entirely in his native tongue, English. Also, there was only one French-speaking...

Celebrating International Mother Languag...

Did you know that February 21st was International Mother Language Day? UNESCO declared the day a holiday in 1999, but its roots go back much deeper into the past. According to Wikipedia, International Mother Language Day started in 1952 in what is now Bangladesh. At this time in history, Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan. Most of the people in what was then called East Pakistan spoke Bangla, but in 1948, Urdu, a language spoken primarily in West Pakistan, was declared the official language for the entire country. On February 21, 1952, Students at University of Dhaka and...

Is Romance the Best Way to Learn a New L...

Here’s a special Valentine’s Day tip for learning a new language- find a foreign sweetheart! According to this article from DallasNews.com, a love affair is the best way to become fluent in another language. That may sound incredibly cheesy, but consider this striking statistic: language learners who have either a significant other or a parent who is fluent in the language they are trying to learn will become fluent themselves in about the half the time it takes someone without a parent or romantic partner who speaks the language. In the article, Philip Sweet,...

TSA Sued by Student Detained Over Arabic...

In America, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has a reputation for jumping at little things like fingernail clippers (or Congressional Medals of Honor) while letting major threats (like guns in carry-on baggage) slip through unnoticed. The TSA argues that it’s bad reputation is largely undeserved. It’s true that there are many competent personnel working for the TSA who do a great job, and that a lot of critics are people who just don’t appreciate it when new security measures are applied to them. Unfortunately, they also provide a lot of fodder...