Law & Linguistics

SpeechGuard Homeland Security

My nephew loves the Pendragon Adventure series by DJ MacHale, and being a good aunt, I read the books with him so we could discuss them with each other. Even though I think Bobby Pendragon is by far inferior to Harry Potter, I do admire Bobby’s ability to understand other people’s speech as if it were spoken in his own language, English, and to speak English in a way that other people understand it as if he were speaking their language. (I also admire Jesus’ disciples’ ability “to speak in different tongues” as well, but I guess some people including me find it easier to “believe” fictional characters than real ones.)

Even though normal humans do not have the ability of Bobby or the disciples to communicate with people who do not speak our language, ECTACO had offered us a device that would allow some of us to compensate for our plebeian limitation. This device is called SpeechGuard. It is “[t]he world’s first handheld speech-to-speech multilingual translator.” SpeechGuard, however, is not meant for the general public, but it is specifically designed for professions in these four areas: (1) Law Enforcement; (2) Medical, Fire, and Rescue; (3) Military; and (4) Transportation Security.

Read more…

Law, Linguistics different tongues, enforcement agency, interpreter, language, medical, police, rescue, SpeechGuard, translator

When I graduated from high school, a family friend, who did not have much foresight at the time, gave me a thick print dictionary so I could use for college. That dictionary is so thick that I have never removed from the shelf on which I first placed it. Besides, why reach for a heavy dictionary when dictionary.com and m-w.com are at my finger tips?

With the availability of free online dictionaries, the decrease in sales of print dictionary is not surprising. Like any other publication companies, dictionary companies found ways to reach the users online. However, have these companies forgotten about the Canadians?

Oxford University Press laid-off the Canadian’s entire staff (which is only four) because of low demand for print Canadian dictionaries. At the same time, most online dictionaries are written for American English or British English. I googled “Canadian Dictionary” and came up with definitions of “Canadian” rather than a Canadian dictionary. One must wonder whether the Canadians will be able to preserve their non-British, non-American English nuances.

Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/532174

Linguistics canadian, dictionaries, dictionary, english, extinction, language