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The future of Language (The Economist Jun 11th 2014)
The future of language Johnson: English against the machine Jun 11th 2014, 15:38 by R.L.G. | DUBLIN LAST week’s column looked at how machine translation (MT) has—and has not—improved. Free services like Bing and Google Translate can give quick-and-dirty, mostly-correct translations for tourists and the curious most of the time. For professional uses, machine-translated material must be […]
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Rise of the machine translators (The Economist, Jun 4th 2014)
THOSE passingly familiar with machine translation (MT) may well have reacted in the following ways at some point. “Great!” would be one such, on plugging something into the best-known public and free version, Google Translate, and watching the translation appear milliseconds later. “Wait a second…” might be the next, from those who know both languages. […]
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How do people lose their native language?
Sgt Bowe Bergdal spoke English for 23 years until he was captured by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan five years ago. But since his release, he has trouble speaking it, says his father. How can you lose your native language? (BBC News 3 June 2014)
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The Guardian (30/5/2014): A good pun is its own reword.
A good pun is its own reword From Battersea Flower Station to Blonde Dye Bleach, everyone wants to be punny. What’s your favourite? Jonathan Swift as portrayed on stage at the Edinburgh festival in 2012. The author of Gulliver’s Travels appreciated a good pun. Photograph: Murdo Macleod Samuel Johnson may have regarded puns as the […]
