Weekly Wrap-Up for 26 August 2022
How have you been? I've been back to work for two weeks now. Two very warm weeks. And Brussels shows clear signs of "la rentrée" - more people in the streets and offices, but also, alas, more traffic again. Have you considered cycling or walking to work? Using public transport? Anyway, on to today's three noteworthy things.
First off, I stumbled upon this interesting video (in Basque, but subtitled) on how the Basque language is used in everyday life in the Basque region. Usage in general has been stable in recent years, despite the pandemic. In some towns and villages, the language has made a comeback. The overall trend is positive in the Basque autonomous region of Spain, but moving down in the north (i.e. France). But see and hear for yourself:
In language technology news, Claudio Fantinuoli - interpreter, interpreting trainer, and creator of InterpretBank, among other things - has written an article about "EasyAI". It's a simple web-based tool that helps you write better. In Claudio's words: "AI can manipulate text to improve its grammar, rephrase unidiomatic sentences, etc. You can […] use my super simple tool, now available for English, German, Italian, French and Spanish"
Lastly, some practical advice for your next presentation or other communications product. Visuals are very powerful in conveying message or emotion. But make sure to not simply copy and paste images from a search engine. The Verge has tips and resources to make sure you stay on the legal side of things.
That's it for today. Have a nice weekend and stay cool. Hot times are ahead…