Gmail learns new languages -- are you fluent in any?
Foreign languages are a real pain in the butt. Over the years, I have tried to learn another, like Spanish, but always give up. Heck, I have a hard enough time with my native English. I've always held the belief that learning an extra language is generally a waste of time as it takes up valuable brain storage. Yes, the brain does have space limits and storing something other than English just seems like a bad choice.
I may be biased, but English is the best language -- it is the preferred of writers and poets. And so, it is understandable to be content with it. Google however, is never content -- the company seems intent on world domination with its services. Today, the search giant announces that Gmail has learned 13 new languages.
"Gmail is already available in 58 languages, and today we're bringing that total to 71 -- covering 94 percent of the world's Internet population and bringing us closer to our goal of making sure that, no matter what language you write in, you can use it in Gmail. These 13 new languages are joining the Gmail family: Afrikaans, Armenian, Azerbaijani (Azeri), Chinese (Hong Kong), French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, Khmer, Lao, Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala, and Zulu", says
Hill further explains, "as any native speaker knows, each language has its own nuances, so we worked closely with linguists to make sure the tone and style are just right. For example, both Hong Kong and Taiwan use traditional Chinese characters. However, you’ll notice that Gmail's new Chinese (Hong Kong) language uses 收件箱 for 'Inbox' instead of 收件匣, which is a word more common in Taiwan".
Even though I have no use for these new languages, it is cool that the search giant is supporting more people. Quite frankly, as Google's translation services improve, learning a new language becomes less necessary. Gmail is truly bringing the world together and these 13 new languages are just a continuation of this trend. Muchas Gracias, Google!
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