Saturday, September 01, 2007

Internet Languages

Wikipedia, Google Search, Google Blogger, other e-utilities ...currently support more than 170 languages. Translations into most of these languages are done by volunteers from around the world who are eager to help people view and search the web in their own native language. To facilitate how we go about getting these languages, we created a volunteer translation program. (Read More, courtesy Googleblog.)

Following the news from original source with the help of translators is not just the future, it is now. I love the potential of automatic translators for communicating across borders. BlogCFA is meant to tap into the Money-Talk-minded Francophone. It urgently needs bloggers, lest it die so young. Please don't let this happen. Be a blogger or invite a blogger. Feedback and suggestions welcome.

Challenge:
Africa may house HUNDREDS of languages, but with maybe six, most people can communicate. Which Six? How would you arrange a virtual forum that works?

2 comments:

DonCasiragi said...

six originally african languages for wide communication? I will say Hausa, Swahilli, Twi , Yoruba, and any two particular to a region. These ones above have at least 30 million users

t said...

Thanks for commenting...

Not necessarily indigenous languages, I guess, so English, French, Arabic are likely in top six, especially if we're thinking "book people."

Didn't know Twi was huge...agree with Swahili for sure. Maybe some kind of pidgin? Maybe Hausa will make the cut.

Probably the technologies need to be voice/image based, not text.

Mostly, the text-heavy communications are matched with English/French/Arabic, while colloquial languages don't match with writing that much...Like I find it hard to read pidgin, or type Yoruba...

Previously on UpNaira

 

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