Published On - April 28, 2017
The Future of the Icelandic Language
The Icelandic language is as close as you can get today to the language of the Vikings. Brought to the Iceland by Norse settlers in the 9th century, it is the closest living language to Old Norse. But is the modern digital age threatening to wipe out Icelandic? It depends on who you ask. If the [...
Published On - March 24, 2017
3 Ways Technology Leaves Some Languages Behind
When it comes to preserving language diversity, technology is a double-edged sword. On one hand, the Internet makes it easier than ever before to preserve dying languages and to allow people to learn them. On the other hand, technological advances often favour certain languages over others. Here are...
Published On - April 29, 2016
These Sign Language Translation Gloves Won a Prize, But Can They Really Translate?
2 US students just won a prize for inventing the SignAloud gloves, a pair of gloves that translates American Sign Language to speech. But can these sign language translation gloves translate in the real world? The idea of a wearable device that can translate sign language is certainly not new....
Published On - August 23, 2014
Noto: One Font to Rule Them All?
The amount of non-English-language web content has been growing dramatically over the past few years. However, there are still some significant challenges when it comes to making content available in other languages. One of the biggest issues is how to represent languages that don’t use ...
Published On - March 5, 2014
LinkedIn, Now In Chinese
Last week, social networking juggernaut LinkedIn announced the release of their newest localised website in Simplified Chinese. This is by no means the first attempt at translation for LinkedIn- the service is now available in a total of 22 different languages. However, moving into the Chinese mar...
Published On - December 5, 2013
One Ring To Translate
People who are deaf or hard of hearing and use sign language to communicate may soon get some extra help when it comes to translation, thanks to a sign language translation ring under development by a group of designers from Asia University. The device consists of a set of rings and two bracelets th...
Published On - December 3, 2013
You Can Haz Spanish!
Last month, we wrote about the potentially dire consequences of the UK’s foreign language shortage for our economy. How do we get more people to learn another language? As it turns out, the common housecat may hold the key. Say what? According to research performed by a company called Memris...
Published On - September 16, 2013
Multilingual SEO
If you’re a native English speaker, then you may believe that the internet is dominated by the English language. Almost all of the computer code, social networking, e-commerce and news sites that are most popular with English speakers were developed in the English-speaking world, and they mesh...
Published On - October 31, 2011
Siri Doesn’t Understand Scottish Accents
At its last conference, Apple introduced Siri, a robotic virtual system that comes embedded in the new iPhone 4S. Right after it was introduced, Apple caught a lot of flack for Siri’s name, which sounds vulgar in both Japanese and Georgian. Now that the product has been released to the gener...