(1) Bruce Einhorn, Mahesh Sharma, and Ganesh Nagarajan, Google Tries to Translate in India,
www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... nonenglish-speakers
Quote:
"In less than two years, 100 million people have moved online, bringing the country’s total to 302 million in 2014, according to the Internet & Mobile Association of India.
"Almost all the websites in India are available only in English, a language that’s familiar to many middle-class city dwellers but a mystery to a vast portion of the population. About one-third of the Indians online don’t speak English * * * Among the country’s smartphone users, fewer than 40 percent have devices that can display Hindi, the most common local language.
"US companies [wants] to develop online content in languages other than English. * * * Microsoft last year began offering users the ability to input Hindi text on their mobile phones.
"Among local companies, e-commerce site Snapdeal.com is a leader, introducing Hindi and Tamil versions last year. The country’s other two big e-commerce companies, Amazon India and homegrown rival Flipkart, are available only in English. * * * About 23 million people a day ride the trains, including millions of speakers of Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, and other local languages, but the Indian Railways website is available only in English and Hindi.
My comment:
(a) The verb "translate" is a pun. Besides the ordinary meaning (from one language to another), these are pertinent definitions.
(i) translate (vi): “LEAD, RESULT—usually used with into <believes that tax cuts will translate into economic growth>”
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/translate
(ii) translate (vt):
“2: to change the form, condition, nature, etc, of; transform; convert <to translate wishes into deeds>
3: to explain in terms that can be more easily understood; interpret”
dictionary.reference.com/browse/translate
(iii) translate (vi): "If you translate an activity, you change it into a new form or condition <The ability to talk clearly does not automatically translate into the ability to write clearly>"
dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-english/translate
(b) Only Indians are to be blamed. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan all developed their own software long before US tech giants caught up. |