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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Translation in just a few
languages is not fair against all other languages. </blockquote>And then
obliging everybody to use a single language which is understood by less
than 15% of world population (see note below) is fair?<br><br>
Facts in languages are stubborn but not linear. <br><br>
Source:
<a href="http://ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size" eudora="autourl">
http://ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size<br>
</a>- The 8 more spoken languages cover close to 40% of the world
population.<br>
- The 77 more spoken languages cover close to 80% of the world
population.<br>
- Most international organizations have set the obligation to use a
combination of languages for debates (European Union, where you live
Rudi,<br>
is the most exigeant by law ...although not always complying in the facts
:-)).<br><br>
The use of linguistic intercomprehension (which is not, indeed, the same
as human translation and cannot be expected to be so at a cost<br>
1000 times lower) between say, for example, Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and...<br>
why not Dutch :-) to make it 10 will probably, at a moderate cost, make
life easier to a very large proportion of the members without<br>
being unfair with the 6000 other existing languages ... of which probably
less than 15% have a written form.<br>
And to keep precise we are not talking software translation of document
for which this technic is unaceptable (except if human intervene<br>
to fix the product) but only applied to communication where flexibility
is more acceptable and even wished.<br><br>
Technology and computing services readyness evolve always faster than
society readyness...<br>
and we have been having this sort of discussions since the 80's while the
digital world has change drastically in the period and<br>
will still change more in the coming years.<br><br>
<a href="http://translate.google.com/?hl=es&tab=wT#fr/en/Au%20plaisir%20de%20voir%20les%20esprits%20%C3%A9voluer...">
Au plaisir... de voir les esprits évoluer
</a>
:-)<a href="http://translate.google.com/?hl=es&tab=wT#fr/en/Au%20plaisir%20de%20voir%20les%20esprits%20%C3%A9voluer...">
.</a><br>
=================================<br><br>
Note: this is an estimated the figure for the world population capable to
meaningfully understand and express in English.<br>
Obviously in highly educated groups (and still more in ICT educated
groups) this percentage could go around 50%... but certainly<br>
not close to 80%. And yes statistics on languages are hard to obtain and
agree, as definition of "meaningfully" are still quite<br>
subjective (maybe there is a hope with Magnetic Resonance Imaging
to see that obstacle solved in the near future!).<br><br>
<br />--
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