Language Trainers Blog

In my opinion, yes.  Google has an amazing ability to search and compare a whole lot more data than any other company in the business, and offers translations between a lot more languages.  Read on for some history and some interesting possible applications.

In a meeting at Google in 2004, the discussion turned to an e-mail message the company had received from a fan in South Korea. Sergey Brin, a Google founder, ran the message through an automatic translation service that the company had licensed.

The message said Google was a favorite search engine, but the result read: “The sliced raw fish shoes it wishes. Google green onion thing”

Brin said Google ought to be able to do better. Six years later, its free Google Translate service handles 52 languages, more than any similar system, and people use it hundreds of millions of times a week to translate Web pages and other text.

“What you see on Google Translate is state of the art” in computer translations that are not limited to a particular subject area, said Alon Lavie, an associate research professor in the Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

The network of data centers that it built for Web searches may now be, when lashed together, the world’s largest computer. Google is using that machine to push the limits on translation technology. Last month, for example, it said it was working to combine its translation tool with image analysis, allowing a person to, say, take a cell phone photo of a menu in German and get an instant English translation.

The concept of getting instant translation of a picture you take with a mobile phone is phenomenal, and it doesn’t seem like it will be too far away.

In the meantime, the headline of the original article could have done with a rewrite: “Google’s computer might betters translation tool” has tripped up a few people I’ve shared the article with.  The use of the word might (here used as a noun) has turned it into a garden path sentence.  When you read the first half of the sentence, you think that Google’s computer might do something, but then you get to ‘betters’ and think…what?

Source: CNET News.

So I guess I don’t have my finger on the pulse, because March 4th was National Grammar Day, and I had no idea it was happening until it already had*.  The day, a chance to celebrate grammar and language in general, was started in 2008 by the founder of SPOGG (Society for the Protection of Good Grammar), and hosted by Mignon Fogarty (also known as Grammar Girl, who brings us the brilliant Quick and Dirty Tips).

Check out the National Grammar Day site for ways to celebrate and find out more about grammar and language, including links to some great cartoons, resources, e-cards and t-shirts. Let that grammar slacker in your life know it’s important to you (well, if it is, of course).

From the site, 10 grammar myths exposed:

1. A run-on sentence is a really long sentence.
2. You shouldn’t start a sentence with the word “however.”
3. “Irregardless” is not a word.
4. There is only one way to write the possessive form of a word that ends in “s.”
5. Passive voice is always wrong.
6. “I.e.” and “e.g.” mean the same thing.
7. You use “a” before words that start with consonants and “an” before words that start with vowels.
8. It’s incorrect to answer the question “How are you?” with the statement “I’m good.”
9. You shouldn’t split infinitives.
10. You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition.

(Click here for more information about the list above.)

Did you celebrate the occasion? Do you think grammar deserves its own day?

*I think this is a failing of people who start ‘national’ days.  They should really go big and go international. Grammar is important everywhere!

Punctuation is important. It can change the meaning of simple phrases, and is especially important these days, when so many more people are communicating via text, whether it be SMS, email, online forums, or blogs.  A famous example is the difference between “a woman without her man is nothing” and “a woman: without her, man is nothing“.

I do have an affection for the combination question and exclamation mark, the interrobang (‽), and I’ve already talked about outdated (but useful) characters like the thorn (Þ).  People are frequently using combinations of punctuation to form emoticons to express the intention of their messages, so maybe there is a need for new symbols to clarify meaning.

So, what would you pay for a revolutionary piece of punctuation?  What is the use of a single punctuation mark worth?  According to the people at SarcMark, it’s worth about 2 US dollars.  They have developed a new mark to indicate sarcasm (see above), and want to charge people to use it.  I can understand that this might actually be useful in this day and age, but the fact that you would then have to explain it to everybody you sent it to, and that they wouldn’t be able to use it until they’d purchased it, makes it seem a little too much effort for not much reward.

I think I may be too skeptical for the SarcMark.  How about you?

Thanks to Dave at Languagetrainers.com for the link.

The immensely popular blockbuster Avatar has garnered both rave and scathing reviews, but what it has produced, besides a lot of money at cinemas, is a large group of language devotees, dedicated to learning the constructed language of ‘the people’, Na’vi.

The language was created especially for the film by Paul Frommer, a professor at USC in California.  There are already over three thousand members posting on the forums on the Learn Na’vi site, and that’s just one fan site.  As with other popular created languages (Klingon, from Star Trek, and Elvish, from J. R. R. Tolkien’s books), Na’vi has bloomed within the sci-fi fan community and there is talk of conventions, Na’vi karaoke, and even tattoos in Na’vi.

So with this much enthusiasm, and fans clamouring for more vocabulary and further explanations of language points, why can’t this excitement be replicated by your average language learner?  Of course, this language at present only has about 500 words, and the average learner of Na’vi is probably a little bit more obsessive about their areas of interest than most people.  Still, Na’vi enthusiasts are arranging meetings, and learning the language so they can communicate with each other and express their appreciation of the language and culture on the fictional planet of Pandora.

In this vein, why don’t you see if you can find a local or online interest group for the language you are learning?  If everyone could be as dedicated as a Na’vi-learning film geek, we might all be progressing that little bit faster.

I was sent a link to a typing test recently, and because of my competitive nature, decided to try it out.  I was pleasantly surprised by the simple test provided by 10-fast-fingers.com, not only because it was easy to use, but it uses simple, common words, and provides tests in 33 different languages, including such disparate languages as Malaysian, Serbian, and Korean, and even dialects like Galician.  The results tell you how many words you got correct, and incorrect, in 60 seconds, and you can easily post these to your website or favourite social networking site.

Even if you’re terrible at it the first few times, using this test in the language you’re learning can help with word recognition, as well as give you practice using an unfamiliar keyboard layout (e.g. for Turkish), or entirely different character input systems and scripts (e.g. Mandarin or Arabic).

I can type about 6 characters per minute (correctly) in Chinese.  Can you do better?

Since its beginnings, the Internet has been held mainly in the realm of languages that are able to be written in the English alphabet.  Sure, there are plenty of websites available in every language imaginable, but their domain names (or URLs, URIs) have had to be written in anglicised form.  You may not think that this small part of a site has that much impact on users, but for those who are unused to reading or writing English, even transliterations of their own language can be difficult.  Imagine seeing http://语言培训.com and trying to remember it to put into your browser.

So the big news is that the internet regulatory organisation Icann has approved a proposal to allow people to register domain names in non-Latin scripts such as Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.  According to Icann, over half of the 1.6 billion internet users in the world, over half use non-Latin scripts, so this change should have a significant impact on the ease of use of the internet for many people.  It may also mean that there will be many more new users of the internet, as sites become more accessible in their audience’s native languages.

If you are learning a language with a cyrillic or pictorial script, this may represent a new challenge for you!  After International Domain Names (IDNs) are introduced sometime next year, it could make search engine experiences a lot more interesting.  Good luck with finding the information you want in the language you want!

Source: Guardian. Image: aljazeera.net.

In a recent language class, I found myself lacking a pocket dictionary, and I have considered several options in the last few months. I haven’t come to a conclusion yet, but I have thought about the following:

Paper dictionaries - The traditional dictionary is still in widespread use, and, if you can find a comprehensive pocket-sized one, can be great for use in lessons and to keep close at hand. The downsides of these are size, and the fact that updating requires buying a whole new dictionary. Some dictionaries (for example, Chinese to English) may also take some getting used to before you know how to look things up quickly.

Electronic dictionaries - These are dedicated dictionary and translation devices, and benefit from convenient size, compatible keyboards, and long-lasting batteries (especially compared to a mobile phone or laptop). These are not usually updated as often as online dictionaries. For a generation that expects their electronic devices to do everything at once, I imagine electronic dictionaries will become obsolete in the near future.

Dictionary applications - For smartphones and other handheld devices, there are a wide range of dictionary applications available for download. Some of them include both keyboard and touch screen inputs, the latter being very convenient for character-based scripts (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Korean). Most applications have different functions, so look for one that suits your needs. The only real downside of these is that smart devices often have limited battery life, so you may not have the information available when you need it.

Online dictionaries - Online dictionaries are plentiful and usually tell you what you want to know. There are also online translation services available. If you use these on the go, though, you will need a laptop, netbook, smart phone or internet-capable handheld device (e.g. iPod Touch, Nintendo DS), and an internet plan or wireless network. The speed and convenience depend on your connection and device, and it can be time consuming to actually look up entries rather than have a dedicated dictionary application. Best for up-to-date and colloquial information, and best for use on desktop or laptop computers.

I am leaning towards an application, but I do have a soft spot for traditional dictionaries. Do you have any recommendations for a portable dictionary?

Google has once again come through with an extremely useful tool for anyone needing to use or study Chinese, Japanese, or other languages that don’t use a romanised alphabet. The latest update to Google Translate includes a very useful option to show or hide romanisation, which will be great news for people like me who can’t read characters but use a character-based language.

For Chinese, Google Translate provides a result in pinyin, the standardised romanisation system for Mandarin Chinese, which helps with both pronunciation and reading. Previously, I could look up the translation for an English sentence, but only receive the result in simplified Chinese characters. This is fine for writing, of course, but when it came to saying the sentence out loud, I was at a loss.

Now, it is easy to see how the words are pronounced, and as you can show or hide the pinyin, it’s quite a good way to test your knowledge of the characters.

Note: As with any machine translation, this service may not provide completely correct translations, but it’s a good place to start for basic queries or to get the overall idea of a piece of writing.

One of the leading English language education companies, Pearson, has fully automated International English examinations that overseas students must take before being accepted into university.  While computers have been used to grade multiple choice and short answer questions successfully, many people have doubts about the ability of computers to really grasp long answers and complicated concepts.

From The Guardian:

John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said that computers could be useful in many areas of assessment but cautioned against their use in English exams: “I’m very concerned that it would constrain the nature of the questions being asked. You won’t pick up nuances by machine and it will trigger a trend to answering narrower questions. It could be a disaster waiting to happen.”

A Pearson spokesman told the TES that its system produced the accuracy of human markers while eliminating human elements such as tiredness and subjectivity.

Other exam boards said the adoption of computers to mark beyond their current use in multiple choice tests was inevitable. Tim Oates, director of research for Cambridge Assessment, which owns the exam board OCR, said: “It’s extremely unlikely that automated systems will not be deployed extensively in educational assessment. The uncertainty is ‘when’ not ‘if’. But all systems need to meet exacting quality criteria and should definitely not be adopted just to make life easier for testing organisations.

It isn’t mentioned whether or not there will be ongoing human grading for quality control, or whether there will be any kind of appeals process, but I imagine if I were a student wanting to get into a university in the UK, I would definitely want to make sure I was getting the correct grade.  As well as this, effective communication in another language doesn’t solely rely on textbook answers.

In related news, according to existing electronic grading systems already in place in US schools, Winston Churchill (too much repetition), Ernest Hemingway (”lack of care in style of writing and vocabulary”), and William Golding (”inaccurate and erratic sentence structure”) would not have done very well at school.

I came across this digital media blog post about a charity organisation called Literacy Bridge that is using budget technology to try to make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries.

Literacy Bridge is utilising easy-to-use, low-cost voice recorders to help spread information and increase literacy levels in rural Ghana, where knowledge is still primarily spread via word of mouth.  The Talking Books, designed to cost around 10USD each, are already being used to help understaffed schools teach their children, and spread knowledge and news through remote communities.

Talking books can be used to record and store pre-recorded audio, as well as being connected to each other, and to central kiosks, to transfer information, lessons, and news.  The speed can be altered to suit different learning levels, and people can improve their literacy by playing audio at the same time as listening to books.  The devices are so simple that small children can use them as well as adults.

A pilot program was launched early this year, and the organisation has recently received a grant from Amazon.com.  To find out more information, or donate, visit Literacy Bridge.