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Are we killing the language, or creating a new one?
As I've said before, we have a rule in our guild prohibiting leet speak and excessive abbreviation in guild chat. That being said, I've thought a lot about the use of abbreviations in WoW and how they are affecting the language. This might come from my days as an English teacher, but I think of the language as a fluid, breathing thing. The formality that people used when speaking 100 years ago doesn't exist now, and I doubt we would ever hear in game "pardon me, good sir, could you wait a moment?" instead of "one sec AFK" unless we were on an RP server or feeling particularly silly.
DS Daily: Finally, with the language 'games'
Three words we weren't sure we'd ever say: God bless Ubisoft. They're finally bringing some English-based language trainers to the DS: listings for My French Coach and My Spanish Coach have turned up on GameFly. We've yearned for such as these after drooling over all the English and Kanji trainers out for Japanese DS owners, and at last, it looks like the tide has turned in our favor. Between this and Jam Sessions, we're starting to feel a little better about Ubisoft and their unfortunate port habit. Also listed is My Word Coach, which sounds like it might be a vocabulary trainer, and we're all for that! We're hoping we'll begin to hear words like mellifluous and tmesis in daily conversation. So today's question is: are you interested in any of these three, or are you firmly holding out for languages not taught in the average high school? Or perhaps we should say, vous voulez acheter Mon Entraîneur Français? Feel free to correct any errors there -- we could use a French coach![Via Joystiq]
English Training for the younger set
We've already accepted the fact that we'll never get a Japanese language training game in the US. It's fine. We can go to school to learn language or whatever. Because we long ago resigned ourselves to this fact, we can look at these cute screenshots of Hajimete no Eigo Training [Eitore] (Beginning English Training) without wishing we had access to such a program when we were teensy. We don't think about how maybe if our Japanese had gotten a headstart from a game, we would be able to use it for something other than awkwardly translating the titles of English training games. We're just going to go doodle in our kanji dictionary or something. Enjoy some screenshots!
DS Daily: Possibilities
We've talked a little about incorporating the bevy of features available in current games, and we've discussed the idea of the DS as the next-generation book, but we haven't spent much time talking about something that is quite often mentioned in tandem with the DS: all of the non-gaming-related possibilities. We've seen some of this, but the phenomenon has been largely exclusive to Japan. The DS has been used in museums, and a number of language-training edutainment titles have been designed for the system. So our question today is: what other creative, non-gaming uses (besides the browser) could you see for the DS, and is it something you'd really go for? Certainly homebrew fills some of those possibilities, but we know a lot of you aren't into that (for various reasons). So if you had to spend money on it, would you use the DS in other capacities?
Learn Chinese through an MMO
Michigan State University's Confucius Institute is jumping on the virtual education bandwagon with a planned MMO that seeks to teach Mandarin Chinese. Zon -- The New Chengo Chinese will have users advancing from small towns and villages to large cities and "cosmopolitans" as they learn more about China's language and culture. The details on how this will work in a massively multiplayer context are a little unclear, but an Investor's Business Daily article mentions players will be able to interact with other players through business transactions and as tour guides. A design framework for the game claims it will have "1000 learning activities" comprising the equivalent of a "3000-hour Chinese language and culture learning contents." Anyone who thinks that sounds like a lot of time to be playing one game obviously doesn't know many World of Warcraft players. If this trend continues, pretty soon all learning will be conducted through the superior form of the MMO. We can't wait for the math MMO where you have to run around hacking up equations to collect rare numbers like pi and the elusive but highly coveted sword of square root.
Casio electronic dictionary / translator talks back, recognizes handwriting
While we English speaking folk may prefer our pocket translators to start in English and convert to some other foreign tongue, Casio's latest rendition helps those fluent in Japanese order tickets to the Space Needle, haggle at the Chevrolet dealership, and of course, pick up the correct ingredients for warm apple pie. Aimed at middle / high school students, the XD-SW4800 lineup of handheld dictionaries reportedly house the denotation and correct pronunciation for over "85,000 languages," which ironically enough, probably translates to "85,000 words" when not read through a broken translator. Nevertheless, these handy gizmos come in a variety of colors, and aside from supporting keyboard input, it can recognize stylus-written characters and toss back definitions while pronouncing the word to you via headphones. If America isn't your final destination, it also comes with five other major languages on CD that can be loaded on the 50MB of internal space or on your SD card if necessary, and while these things won't last forever, the approximate 60 to 130 hours of battery life should be more than enough to get you acclimated. So while you're waiting for your passport to show up, make sure you pick up Casio's latest travel necessity -- if you can manage the admittedly steep ¥47,250 ($394) to ¥52,500 ($437) price points, that is.[Via Impress]
Today's hottest gaming video: Wii Warnings!!!
Today's hottest game video is from the GameVideos.com "Funny" category, and is presented newsreel style with Wii warnings from the manual and extremely colorful language. This bears repeating so here we go again -- language-wise, this video ain't even close to being safe for work. Where else are you going to hear the Wii called an asshat? Probably not many places except right here at Joystiq.Check out the NSFW video after the jump, and be sure to be careful around your Wii.
Edutainment, language-style
Asuma Entertainment is working on a new language-helper game that will probably not see a release outside Japan, but may be a good import for those trying to learn elementary Japanese. Anpanman to Asobo: Aiueo Kyoushitsu is the DS as a pile of flash cards; objects are shown and the player writes the correct Japanese word for the object. There are already a number of language info-games for the DS, so the concept of this isn't terribly new. However, this game seems aimed at children, and features the pastry-headed Anpanman, and many language students already watch childrens' films and read picture books to help them with language, so why not a kid-friendly DS game?
Ruby + AppleScript = RubyOSA
Our friends at Download Squad have discovered a melding of two scripting worlds: AppleScript and Ruby. RubyOSA is the darling scriptenstein of these two languages, and while I don't know a lick of either, I'm willing to bet this could be a popular amongst the code ninjas in the audience. Ruby is a popular language (the 13th most popular, by their numbers), and it's the foundation of the Ruby on Rails framework which has given us such handy web 2.0 apps as Backpack, Odeo, Strongspace and many more.This is about the line, however, that I reach where I would need to start pretending I know more about any of these languages, so I'll let you check out RubyOSA for yourself to see if it gets your coding gears turning.
Capcom wants you to learn Japanese [update1]
Well, they want someone to learn it, anyway. But they're not telling us who. IGN reports that Tadashii Nihongo DS appeared on a list of titles that will be shown at Osaka's upcoming Games Festa 2006. Tadashii Nihongo DS, which translates to "Proper Language Japanese DS," joins a long list of other language tools that have been released for the system -- IGN points out that there are five that focus just on kanji. As for the focus of this title ... well, if we knew, we'd tell you. But for now, there's only speculation. Proper language, eh? One for the grammar sticklers, perhaps ....[Update 1: Thanks for the translation correction, p@ul!]
Meermio'l M'urgeglle Murnuglugrglee ("Spiffy Murloc Translator")
Yesterday Mulgrim on Khadgar sent a very nice letter to the Murlocs inviting them (pretty smoothly, I might add) to join the Horde and fight the evil Alliance. Nethaera (that Blue joker) made a joke that she couldn't wait to see a Murloc to English (and vice versa) translator.So of course Dark Legion on Chogall posted one today. Through the magic of "an Orb of Deception, a dozen Thorium Widgets and 2 gnomish engineers," they have finally broken the linguistic gap between those speaking English and our fishy, gurgling friends. In the words of the great Murloc Chieftain, "Mmuuuuil gurrrlle meerwembo'l gurrugl im'chule weutinl, gurrrlle werlgnuglinl mutermil im'chule mutrrglee meerugrlle." You can even go the other way, too, so if you haven't yet memorized Murloc (the language apparently has the same name as the race), you could put that back in and it would tell you what the Chief said in English.And I'm not sure about this (very not sure), but I bet we could even use this to figure out what the Murlocs are saying ingame! One question, though: Is "Aggugguauguguugh" spelled with six Us or seven?
There's no FU in UNO
UNO for XBLA may be a relaxed take on a classic family game, but more than one innocent tyke has discovered that kids on Live say the darndest things, especially if your gradeschool opponents are losing, or worse, winning. Mike from K1lla's Xbox Domain reports being called a "momma licker," "goat sh-t," "dog humper" and several other salty pejoratives that rhyme with woodchuck. Has Uno become as bad as Halo 2 when it comes to juvenile playground obscenities? What's the darndest thing you've ever yelled at an 11-year-old? Seen any obscene sign language on the Vision cam?[Warning: Link not safe for tender ears or corporate filters][Thanks Joey]
New Verizon services give you a babelphone
¿Puede traducirme esto, por favor? Verizon is looking to facilitate awkward, painfully slow conversations between you and the Spanish speaker of your choosing, launching a handful of language tools through its Get It Now service. First up is the Merriam-Webster Spanish-English Dictionary, offering over 100,000 translations for $3.49 per month. Next is AppAbove's Spanish Anywhere, a phrase translator with over 1,200 phrases and 5,500 words for $2.99 per month. Other languages are getting love, too -- VOCEL's Living Language learning program lets users practice and hear 600-odd words and phrases in over 20 languages for $3.99 per month. According to Verizon, "If you spot someone on the street speaking Japanese, German or one of 20 different foreign languages found on select Get It Now-enabled Verizon Wireless phones, don't interrupt their class – they're being tutored by VOCEL's Living Language program." Thanks for the heads-up, guys -- we typically stop folks speaking foreign languages on the phone in their tracks and sternly ask them to stop.[Via textually.org]
Japanese-English dictionary for DS
At the rate language tools are hitting the system, the DS may yet become an essential diplomatic tool for foreign ambassadors as they defuse tense border disputes and nuclear arnament talks. Of course, its ability to play proper games may be to the detriment of such situations, especially when the ambassador is too busy snaking his way through Mario Kart to notice two countries declaring war on each other.The latest one to surface is this Japanese-English dictionary which can translate both ways, as well as accept kanji and kana symbols via stylus input. Throw in some fun quiz modes and a reasonably low price tag, and this program starts looking like a superior investment when compared to a professional electronic translator. The linked site provides an informative and more thorough analysis than that, so be sure to give it a read if you plan on visiting Japan soon. It's sure to come in handy when you need to ask, "Where might I find a Crystal Cocaine DS Lite?" [Thanks Damian!]
Will games affect the way we talk?
The Guardian Gamesblog has taken an interesting tangent today with a look at modern language and the way jargon specific to a subculture can spill over into everyday use. In gaming--from massively multiplayer worlds to the console community--there is an increasing number of commonly used words and phrases that can easily confuse an outsider. While necessity makes most of these words or acronyms useful, it's ugly-looking and often taken for granted--asking someone politely what "LFG" means is tantamount to broadcasting your n00bishness for all to see. There may not be much we, as gamers, can consciously do to reform in-game language, but should any gaming slang cross over into everyday language, we can at least say that we were there first.
