Timnit Gebru and The Problem with Large Language Models

In December of 2020, Google fired Timnit Gebru, a co-leader of their Ethical Artificial Intelligence team (Google continues to maintain Gebru resigned, though even...

Obama translated into Farsi and Arabic

Perhaps it was in response to claimed mistranslations of previous statements. Whatever the reason, the Obama administration has posted a translation of his opening...

A problem with words? The trials of natural language

We spend our life continually learning new words and how to use them. This enables us to make our lives more successful and enjoyable. Who could not love words? My answer to this question is: anyone performing localization or translation of natural language!

Will Interpreters Receive Vaccine?

This week, doctors began administering the first of two anticipated coronavirus vaccines in the United States, BNT162b2. Unlike the United Kingdom where initial non-trial...

New Year celebrations around the world

Historians estimate civilizations around the world have been commemorating the New Year for about 4,000 years. Humans developed increasingly sophisticated calendars, typically pinning the first day of the year to an agricultural or astronomical event.

Letters to the editor: rebuttal to Jaap van der Meer

We, the authors of this letter to the editor of MultiLingual, have thought about Jaap van der Meer’s article in the July-August issue of...

Lessons learned in times of Covid

Inspired by and modeled after Barry Slaughter Olsen’s piece of a similar title, with his blessing, I give you another Covid transition, another set of lessons worth sharing as we move to the “post” phase and see which new opportunities are here for the long-term and which were temporary.

War, language and the tower of Babel

Previous to Russia re-asserting herself over the Georgia provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, I can’t say I knew much about Georgia. When I...

“The hottest jobs”

First, the good news: Translation was listed as one of the “hottest jobs” in the annual “what people earn” article Sunday (April 15) in...

Want a Vaccine? Better Interpret for a Hospital Direct

To get a vaccine at University of North Carolina (UNC) Health, you need to work for the hospital directly. That's what Alan Wolf, director...

Whiffling away

Adam Jacot de Boinod brings us a blog and tweets based on his book. The Wonder of Whiffling by Adam Jocot de Boinod explores “extraordinary...

Learn language with bears

Well, not exactly, but this flash card widget might be a fun addition to your web page. The Language Bear website offers language flash cards...