language

When Frog Design founder Hartmut Esslinger met Steve Jobs in 1982, it sparked a chain of events that monumentally changed Apple's design philosophy forever. It wasn't just a change in how future products would look -- Esslinger ushered in a change of mindset and a unified design language across products.

Esslinger's new book, "Design Forward: Creative Strategies for Sustainable Change," available today in the U.S., delivers some fascinating insights into those crucial early years at Apple.… Read more

One of my favorite things about watching old movies is hearing how people might have spoken in eras past -- the expressions they used, their old-school smack talk. But what did the languages from thousands of years back sound like? Hollywood, as far as I know, has yet to make a movie in which characters talk in authentic proto-Austronesian.

The language nerd in me, was, therefore, excited to discover that scientists from UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia have created a computer program to rapidly reconstruct vocabularies of ancient languages using only their modern language descendants. … Read more

Some people use the left, some the right, but which side of the brain do you primarily use for language? It may seem like a trivial question, but for one thing, if you ever have to undergo any type of brain surgery, the answer can help avoid damage to speech areas.

While lab tests can provide the answer, an app that involves a few minutes of concentration works just as well, according to a study in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Furthermore, a version of the app for patients with schizophrenia trains them to improve their focus so that when … Read more

You might be familiar with the term "megabyte."

For some, though, it represents an emotional megadeath.

You might know what an ISP is, but some need ESP in order to explain to themselves what this actually means.

This, at least, is the conclusion of a deeply disturbing piece of research, performed in the U.K. on behalf of Carphone Warehouse's Geek Squad. … Read more

Famed inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil joined Google last month to work on "some of the hardest problems in computer science," specifically machine learning and language processing.

"The project we plan to do is focused on natural language understanding," Kurzweil told Singularity Hub in an interview (see video below). "We want to give computers the ability to understand the language that they're reading."

As Google's director of engineering, Kurzweil's said the challenge isn't just one of the hardest but also the most important.

"It's ambitious, in fact there'… Read more

In June, Duolingo introduced its model for combining language learning with translating Web pages and documents into a variety of languages. The startup developed a free, "gamified" application that lets users acquire languages (English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese are supported currently) by progressing though a set of skill exercises, with virtual rewards to make the learning experience more engaging and effective. 

Embedded in the game mechanics are exercises that ask users to translate part of documents and web pages. These translations underlie Duolingo's crowdsourcing business model, which charges customers for the … Read more

Language Learning Center is a tool to help you learn new languages using an audio-visual approach. The theory is to learn the basics, then expand on them. Language Learning Center is designed for Mac OS X and installs quickly.

The Language Learning Center interface looks like a chalkboard. From there you can go to learn basic nouns by looking at images and getting the translations for those objects. The interface lets you hear the correct pronunciation and see the written version. By using native speakers, the program lets you hear the correct pronunciations, and almost all words or phrases are … Read more

Google has added a small but important upgrade to its Google Translate service that's meant to help you understand foreign tongues better.

The tech giant's upgrade to the feature comes in three parts. According to the Google Translate blog, "Reverse translations" can be used to distinguish different variations of an offered translation to make sure you get the correct meaning. For example, you can view and pick out the subtle difference between 'dialect' and 'lingo' in a dozen languages.

Another new feature is called "Frequencies." Google says that because it "prefers to deliver … Read more

Like most operating systems, OS X supports multiple languages, with full character sets and fonts for practically every language. In addition, there is full localization for a number of these languages, so you can have the system display menus and other system features in the language of your choice.

To do this, open the Language & Text system preferences, and in the Language tab drag the language you would prefer to the top of the list. After a restart, your system and applications will use that language, if they include localization support for it. Be aware of that qualifier because … Read more