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Your Xbox One is ready to teach you a new language
Wish your Xbox One could teach you more vocabulary than just "noob" or "get rekt?" It can now. Rosetta Stone has announced an Xbox One app that will teach you English or Spanish through simulated travel experiences. It also has phrase books, study advice, and cultural tips to keep you in locals' good graces. The app is available as we write, so give it a spin if you're willing to expand your mind after exploding some online rivals.
IBM's Watson taking crash course in Japanese for SoftBank
IBM's publicity-loving supercomputer Watson has a new job in Japan for wireless carrier SoftBank doing... something? Its job description is vague so far, but first it'll need to learn Japanese, no small feat for a machine that has remained mostly occidental so far. Watson is first and foremost a cognitive computer designed to parse language and find relationships between huge amounts of data. That means in order to help SoftBank -- which has divisions around the world, including Sprint Nextel in the US -- it'll need to get a better grasp of the language and culture in Japan.
Google moves one step closer to becoming a universal translator
Even with the assistance of modern technology, holding a conversation in two different languages can be difficult. Google Translate allows you to speak with someone and have each utterance translated as text and audio, but until now you had to manually toggle every time the other person talked. As expected, Google is speeding up the process with smarter language recognition and speaker switching, which comes as part of a new update. So when you boot up the app and press the microphone icon, it'll recognise which of the two languages is being spoken, offer a translation and then automatically alternate whenever the conversation flips over. No more tapping on the screen again and again.
Google's translation app will soon turn speech into text on the fly
Converting unfamiliar speech to text in Google Translate is currently an awkward affair: you have to start a recording and wait until a moment after you're done to find out what the other person said. That's not exactly living up to the dream of a Star Trek-like universal translator, folks. However, the New York Times understands that Translate is about to get considerably smarter. Reportedly, an updated version of the mobile app (coming "soon") will automatically detect speech and translate it right away. All you'd really have to do is hold your phone up with the app running -- important if you'd rather not go through a song-and-dance routine just to find out where the washrooms are.
Sixty Vocab: unfathomably slow way to learn a new language
Sixty Vocab is a tool for learning foreign languages that incorporates a mixture of study sessions and games to help train your brain. Its purpose is not to learn the entire language, but rather just the most common vocabulary words so it's easy to build sentences on your own given the words you retain. The supported languages are English, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Portuguese. It's free for iPhone. Upon starting Sixty Vocab for the first time, I encountered a serious problem: performance. After creating an account, the app goes through a 4-step process of accessing its offline mode and essentially gathering up all the words. To my shock, this took north of 15 minutes. I waited and waited, then waited some more. At certain points just when I was ready to quit the app and deem it dysfunctional, the progress bar would move a tad more. The wait-time is simply unacceptable. I could understand 30 seconds, even a minute, but 15 minutes is just so wildly absurd. The app needs to come out with an update that fixes this problem immediately because I don't know a single person that's willing to wait 15 minutes for any app to launch. I could have brewed myself a cup of coffee and gotten a chicken sandwich at Wendy's in that time. I did eventually get to Sixty Vocab's Home screen though so to say it doesn't work at all would be false. The Home screen is comprised of four main categories: Study, Play, Stats and Settings. You're unable to play if you don't study first - literally though, the app won't allow you - so get studying. Choose to study either all words or a specific category of words like verbs. The empty categories I couldn't get to work so those appear to be the only two options. After that, the words get broken down into smaller groups of 50 as well as levels of Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Tapping any group just reveals a list of fifty words and their translations. At the very beginning, I identified myself as an English speaker and I chose to learn Italian. There doesn't appear to be an easy way to switch between various languages other than to go into the Menu and tap "Set Languages" and wait another glorious 15 minutes for the new language tools to load. This is another downfall of the app; it should be much easier (and quicker) to switch between languages. Finally, when you're done studying that one language, tap Play on the Home screen to view an English word and guess the correct translation in the language you chose. The Play aspect of Sixty Vocab is the only genuinely enjoyable and polished part of the entire app. The Stats section lets you view game results in various time frames. Playing the games in Sixty Vocab was fun, but alas that's where the amusement ends. Everything else had me on a scale ranging from disappointed to on the verge of pulling my hair out. The preposterous amount of time the app took to load a single language is a deal breaker. Even that out of the way, I don't see any reason to download Sixty Vocab over better apps like Duolingo, which is also free and far more functional.
The science of language, community, and MMORPGs
Back in August, Massively wrote a little post about Swedish research on MMOs and language learning. That article provoked me, a gamer and teacher of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), to hunt down the original research and talk directly to the researchers, Dr. Liss Kerstin Sylvén from the University of Gothenburg and Dr. Pia Sundqvist from Karlstad University, to better understand their research and findings. Note that we'll be talking here about games and language learning specifically, not other forms of game-related education. Also, Sylvén and Sundqvist don't consider themselves "gamers." Sundqvist remembers Pac-Man as her first game, both admit to playing Angry Birds on their cell phones, and Sundqvist is "allowed" to sometimes watch her 17-year-old son play League of Legends. I find this interesting because they are non-gamers who seriously consider games capable of being educational without specifically being developed to do so. This isn't a simple merger of a hobby with work; this is work in a field of interest that's still being explored.
Thesaurus is a simple app for quick reference
Reference apps don't get much simpler than Thesaurus. The app, which requires iOS 7 and is US$0.99 in the App Store, does exactly what it says it does: provide you with synonyms – and nothing else. This minimalist approach definitely has its drawbacks. However, there are still things to like about it. The color scheme is refreshing and bright. As someone who stares at a white screen writing copy for most of my day, I appreciated the pops of color and clean interface. When you search for a synonym, you get a variety of options, some of which are really outside of the box. Unfortunately, there are not always a lot of words from which to choose. It certainly does not offer the broad scope of alternate word choices available in Dictionary.com's Dictionary and Thesaurus combo app. You can click on one of the synonyms to open up more words. But just as above, your choices are extremely limited and sometimes non-existent. For instance, if you click on "gaud," you get the exact same synonyms you get for "novelty." This isn't like Visual Thesaurus, which really digs deep into the English language to find the exact word that you need. The lack of synonyms won't affect most users, but the lack of definitions might be a major hindrance. People often look for synonyms to help them further understand the meaning of a word. If you don't know the exact definition of a synonym, Thesaurus won't help you in that regard. It ditches definitions in favor of its simplistic approach. If the app is going to throw out words like "gewgaw," it really should tell you what they mean. (In case you are wondering, gewgaw means "a showy thing.") Plus, not all synonyms can be used in the same context. You can say "mustaches are a novelty right now," but you wouldn't say "mustaches are a bauble." You need definitions for clarity. Thesaurus also lacks an in-depth look at the word itself. Similar apps have information on the origin of the word. This may seem extraneous to some, but if you are suffering from writer's block, things like this help to spur your creativity. As a writer, I need layers of options. This app looks nice, especially compared to Dictionary.com's cluttered appearance, but it is not robust enough for a serious wordsmith. Of course, not everyone is a writer. Most people do not need or want a complicated reference app with a lot of features. If that's the case for you, then you'll probably love Thesaurus.
Lip reading is still too hard for computers
Reading lips is a skill usually reserved for fictional spies or the hearing impaired, but researchers have spent years trying to gift the talent to computers, too. A device capable of automated lip-reading would certainly be a game changer, raising questions of personal privacy while simultaneously creating new opportunities in the accessibility and security industries. Don't get too nervous (or excited) though -- Ahmad Hassanat, a researcher at Mu'Tah University in Jordan, says we have a long way to go before machine eyes can tell what we're saying.
Study suggests MMOs boost English skills
Researchers from Sweden's Karlstad University and University of Gothenburg have found that MMOs might just improve your language skills. The scientists subjected a group of Swedish students aged 10 and 11 to English language tests to examine the relationship of digital games and English ability, gender, and learning motivation. They found that regularly playing online games and MMOs in particular correlates with having a stronger English vocabulary. Yay us! They also found differences between the genders, though the paper's abstract attributes that to its male subjects' heavier gaming schedules vs. its female subjects' preference for social media activities. I can't be alone in having MMO guildies whose first language isn't English, and having seen their language skills improve dramatically over the years the more they type and interact with native speakers, I bet I'm not alone in not being surprised, either.
Google Voice Search can now handle multiple languages with ease
It's not unusual for people who speak several languages to forget particular terms, and that can be pretty frustrating when you're trying to look up stuff through Google Voice Search. Thankfully, the latest Voice Search update for Android gives you the power to choose up to five languages as your default instead of just one, making random lapses in memory a bit less annoying. This change, spotted by Android Police (and which the Google Search team first revealed on Reddit in July), allows you to do voice queries in different tongues without having to dive into the settings page each time. The app now even understands a query even if it's spoken in more than one language -- the bad news is you're still stuck with English as the sole default if you use the OK, Google command. If that's not a dealbreaker, just sit tight and wait for the update to arrive on your phone, if it hasn't yet.
Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition hits 58GB in EU, but don't worry
The Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition file size on PS4 is 58GB in Europe, which is more than double the size of the US version, which clocks in at 26GB. The European download is so much larger because of the various language packs it includes, a Blizzard spokesperson tells Joystiq: "Currently, Sony posts the maximum download file size for all of its digital games, and those download numbers includes all of the European language packs. The 37.8GB file is the total file size for the English, French, German, Italian, and European Spanish packs, while the 20.5GB download includes the Polish and Russian language options. "While Ultimate Evil Edition has been localized in English, German, French, Latin American Spanish, European Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese, we expect most players will only be playing in their preferred language and so only downloading about 15GB to play the game." That should be a relief for storage-conscious PS4 players in Europe. Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition is due out on August 19. [Image: Blizzard]
Google now rejects scam email that tricks you using non-Latin characters
Google did a favor for Gmail users worldwide when it added support for non-Latin characters in email addresses. However, it also opened up a can of worms -- scammers can write from addresses that seem legitimate, but are really using non-native letters to (potentially) fool you into trusting a message's contents. Thankfully, the crew in Mountain View is already aware of the threat. Gmail now tosses out email with odd combinations of letters that are likely to represent phishing attempts, reducing the chances that you'll hand your account details to a "bɑnk" instead of your actual bank. The filtering relies on a Unicode standard, too, so you'll know the exact criteria Google is using. Other email providers will have to follow suit for the measure to really hit data thieves where it hurts, but this represents an important first step.
Apple launches blog for new Swift programming language
With the release of iOS 8 getting closer by the day, Apple has started a new blog to answer questions about Swift, the new programming language for iOS and OS X. Swift aims to make writing code more interactive and fun, while keeping apps running fast. The opening topic for the blog addresses Swift's possible compatibility issues. Swift can work alongside Objective-C code, allowing developers to easily integrate it into their existing apps or build their own from scratch. As Swift evolves, Apple plans to provide Xcode tools to help move your old source code forward along with changes in the language. The goal with Swift is to keep your apps working now and into the future. From the blog: Simply put, if you write a Swift app today and submit it to the App Store this Fall when iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are released, you can trust that your app will work well into the future. In fact, you can target back to OS X Mavericks oriOS 7 with that same app. This is possible because Xcode embeds a small Swift runtime library within your app's bundle. Because the library is embedded, your app uses a consistent version of Swift that runs on past, present, and future OS releases. You can check out the rest of the Swift blog here, including details about Binary Compatibility and Frameworks. For more information on Swift, head over to the language's announcement page.
Adorkable is a real word now, and it's all your fault
A few weeks ago, we brought you news of #Twictionary, a poll to determine which internet-created term would be included in the twelfth edition of the Collins Dictionary. Now that voting has ended, the Twitter-loving lexicographers can reveal the neologism that the general public has elevated to an actual word: Adorkable. Yup. On the upside, it looks as if our readers were of a similar mind, since Adorkable came in second place on our poll... only 34 percent behind first-placed "None of these."
Poet explains why he spammed Twitter with every word in the English language
zealots - everyword (@everyword) June 2, 2014 Approximately 109,150 tweets. Spread across seven years. Posted automatically by a bot which, each time, simply grabbed a single word from an already published (and inevitably outdated) canon of the English language and threw it out onto the social network. The bot was the brainchild of a poet, Adam Parrish (aka @everyword), whose original intention was simply to the "satirize the brevity of Twitter," but who gradually came to see the project as a "magical writing experiment." He learned, for example, that his 95,000 followers had a penchant for words that felt like they told a story, even when they weren't expressed as part of sentence: words like "sex," "weed" and "vagina," which each got around 2,000 retweets. If you read The Guardian's interview with @everyword, you'll see that his other big discovery was about how people imputed meanings to words that were entirely personal or based purely on coincidences in their Twitter feeds -- like how a tweet of the word "zealots" apparently became tangled up in the chatter of Apple fans in the midst of WWDC.
Argue about the offside rule in Portuguese with Rosetta Stone's Futebol app
We're big fans of Football English Soccerball, but even we aren't hardcore enough to be able to discuss the technicalities of the game in Portuguese. Thankfully, and just in time for the World Cup, Rosetta Stone (amongst others) is unveiling a Futebol Edition of its travel app, helping you to say escanteio (corner kick), un meio-campista (midfielder) and por favor, queremos saber onde fica o estádio (excuse me, we're looking for the stadium). The app, which is available for free on iOS and Android will give you tips on navigating public transport, but since all of the data is offline, it won't rinse your data connection as it does so. We've tried the app and it's missing a few practical phrases (o árbitro é um bastardo) but otherwise it's golden.
Google acquires Word Lens makers to improve Translate
Remember Word Lens, the impressive mobile app that would translate foreign text on menus and street signs right in front of your eyes? Well, that incredibly sweet translation tech has just found a new home - a post on creator Quest Visual's site confirms that Google has acquired the company.
Surgeon Simulator on iPad's got your tongue - and 12 others
Surgeon Simulator on iPad has received its first update, turning the purposefully-awkward game about a terrible surgeon into a purposefully-awkward game about a terrible surgeon and linguist. The update adds new languages to the game, while also paving the way for an alien patient DLC, which will be added free of charge "soon." The related press release also gave a glimpse into just how many people in the world should never be trusted with sharp medical instruments: 28,400 Surgeon Simulator Touch videos were uploaded to YouTube during its launch month. While that's not necessarily a 1:1 ratio of players to videos, even one amateur surgeon cracking open ribcages with hammers is plenty. [Image: Bossa Studios]
Beijos to kisses: Retirees teach Brazilians to speak English via video chat
Folks living in retirement communities around the US may have just been given another activity option. As part of the Speaking Exchange project for language schools, creative agency FCB Brazil paired language students with elderly Americans in Chicago for English lessons via video chat. The pilot program joined a school in Liberdade, Brazil with the Windsor Park Retirement Community here in the States. Each session was recorded and uploaded as a private video to YouTube, allowing instructors a way to watch the footage to assess progress. The results are pretty amazing. But don't take our word for it, a video detailing the project awaits after the break.
Artist helps Arabic speakers to code without learning English
If you want to build software, it's almost mandatory that you'll need to know the English language since all of the tools rely upon that tongue. Unfortunately, that puts non-English speakers at a huge disadvantage when it comes to computer literacy and programming. Artist and coder Ramsey Nasser decided to remedy the problem by constructing a programming language written not in English, but in Arabic. Nasser had more than a few problems getting "Alb" to work, since Latin-based text editors couldn't handle the script, and even GitHub struggled to accommodate the data. In the end, Nasser had to use Lisp, a language from 1958, because it doesn't rely upon non-Arabic punctuation like semicolons and commas. "Alb" actually works, and if you fancy giving it a go, then you can test your Arabic programming skills down at the source.
