Lingualogue Blog

A great move forward by Google and a great new tool for all polyglots who have found difficulties in the past searching for sites in a non-Latin text simply because they have the wrong keyboard. Now help is at hand: Google has added a virtual keyboard to 35 Google search pages that use non-Latin script or use letters with slight variations on the standard Latin script.

This means that if you want to search for a Thai website (for example) then you go to Google.co.th and click on the keyboard icon next to the search bar. This will bring up a virtual keyboard with Thai letters so you can type for the URL using the Thai alphabet. You can type the words in either using your mouse on the virtual keyboard or hitting the corresponding keys on your own keyboard. Saves you buying a whole new keyboard. It is an excellent idea and actually works. It includes the entire alphabet and utilizes the shift and control functions to reach second level letters.

Google says it will expand the number of languages used depending on the feedback from the public. I am sure all of the feedback will be positive as making life easier for language mixing is always a good thing.

The beautiful and archaic language of Latin has apparently been undergoing somewhat of a revival in recent times and has been garnering new interest from some unlikely sources.

So why has this hitherto mouldy language acquired a brand new luster?

And what exactly do I mean by a “revival”?

Last year 137,225 students applied to take the National Latin Exam, according to their website (www.nle.org). In North Carolina there was a 156% increase in the number of students taking the exam, in Nevada an 84% increase. You didn’t even know there was a National Latin Exam, did you? Get with the times! What’s old is new, and Latin is cool again.

Pop-culture has had a big hand in this. The Harry Potter books and movies — insanely popular with adolescents — feature Latin prominently as the language of magic. There is even a complete Latin translation of the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. If your child is reading “Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis” you can feel pretty confident about the quality of instruction they’re getting at school.

The more serious side of Latin has been in the movies recently, too. Mel Gibson’s controversial film The Passion of the Christ featured actors speaking in Latin and Aramaic. Although the Bible was not originally written in Latin, Latin became the language of the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently the Latin Vulgate served as the standard Bible for centuries. Inspired by The Passion, many Christians have begun learning Latin so they can read the Vulgate directly.

Research has shown that students who take Latin score higher on their SAT’s, a big incentive for parents. Latin specifically improved English comprehension scores and was shown to sharpen language skills in general.

The study of Latin has significant benefits, and despite (or because of) its arcane reputation it is becoming more common in schools and universities. If you aren’t curious about it now, you will be when your children ask you to read them Harrius Potter at night.

Just like to wish all the Dads in Thailand a happy fathers’ day and of course to wish His Majesty the King a very happy birthday. In Thailand, today is a holiday, but as it is also a Saturday it means that this will be a long weekend as Monday will become a substituted day off.

Let’s hope everyone has a great weekend, and if you are going away, have a great time and stay safe.

Just a quick bit of news that has recently skimmed my desk – Pimsleur Languages have released the third installment of their Eastern Arabic course. Arabic is an extremely useful and worthwhile language to learn, and many Americans are recognising its importance in the world today and opting to learn it.

The Eastern Arabic language is a regional dialect of the language found in the  eastern Mediterranean  (or Levant) region of the middle east, which includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan ,and Palestine.  Arguably the most widespread Arabic dialect, it allows the speaker to communicate with the majority of Arabic speakers.

Pimsleur Languages eastern Arabic III – good news for anyone looking to learn this language.

Introducing the new Rosetta Stone Totale, the  latest package to be released by the language learning Leviathan. The Totale is aimed at serious language learners and is considered by the company to be a complete, revolutionary language learning system. But is it really?

The Totale comprises the regular Rosetta Stone  software package that many language learners will already be familiar with, but also includes live sessions– where you can talk online to a native speaking tutor or other students– and access to Rosetta World, an online community where you can play games and make friends with native speakers.

I haven’t managed to get my hands on a copy of Rosetta Stone Totale yet as it costs a tidy $999, but you can get an excellent review from the reliable Wall Street Journal to get a better idea of how it works.

As soon as I get hold of a copy I will do a proper review, but I have to say I am a little sceptical from the start. Rosetta Stone is an excellent language learning package, and the added online interactivity does seem at first glance to take it ahead of the competition. However, I am still not yet convinced: $999 is an immense amount of money, and although Rosetta Stone makes a persuasive argument that this is by far cheaper than hiring a personal tutor, it is certainly not the cheapest method out there. I also don’t think it is particularly ground breaking.

There is a free online resource called LiveMocha which has been around for some time, and does virtually everything that Rosetta Stone Totale is claiming to do, but for the immensely more attractive price of zero cents. Even the software exercises are similar. I have a feeling it is the likes of LiveMocha that has prompted Rosetta Stone to release this new Totale offering in the hope that their recognisable brand name will sell a package that is already available (if not globally known) for free on the internet, and catapult them to the front of the pack.

With Live Mocha, you join a community to help you learn a language–native speakers help you by correcting assignments, or just chatting with you to help you practice what you have learned. You in turn help them to learn your language. You meet new people, learn new languages, and maybe even make new friends–all for free. This has got to be better than forking out $999.

As I said before I cannot comment on Rosetta Stone Totale properly yet as I haven’t used it, but if you are thinking of buying it, I would urge you to try LiveMocha first and see if you can do what you want to do there, and save your cash for something else.

You can read a brief review of LiveMocha on the Lingualogue Free language courses page.

A quick snippet of news that I came across proclaiming that Language Weaver has made a deal with WorldLingo and will be integrating their language translation software with WorldLingo’s line of language products.

Could make for some interesting software. I will keep my eyes and ears open to see how this pans out and see how well this new partnership performs where it counts: In the translation.

Article

It is good to hear that the British government is finally taking language learning seriously. They have set a target for language lessons to be available for all 7 to 14 year olds by 2010 and for languages  to be compulsory the following year.

This is a positive step in the right direction in helping the British public become bilingual, although they took a step backwards in 2004 when they removed the compulsory learning of languages for GCSE in secondary school after 14. They really need to decide  how importantly they hold learning a language and stick to it. At least they realise the importance of learning a language early.

Read the full article at the BBC