How many languages do you think in? Sure, natural languages only.
Me - 3.
#linguistics #linguistique #bilingual #multilingual #poll #languages #langues #education
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In Hindi, depending on the context, "kal" can mean either "tomorrow" or "yesterday"; "parson" can mean the day before yesterday or day after tomorrow.
Any other language do this? Sometimes I mix up yesterday/tomorrow and have to be reminded that I mean the other "kal". 😁
#multilingual problems
As a non-native English speaker from a not-so-popular language group, learning to read even casual science stuff was an uphill battle. First I had to learn English to a reasonable level. Then I realized that English-Romanian dictionaries hadn’t really kept up with science.
I eventually managed to get my hands on a fancy English-only dictionary (yes, a printed one, this was a while ago), but then I ran into another problem: I'd start from one definition, only to find another unfamiliar word in the explanation, then another one in that definition and so on, until I forgot where I had started. And even when I did understand a concept, I'd often be stuck with the English word and with a lot of frustration about trying to convey that in my own language.
Some of those struggles are outdated now. At least you no longer have to deal with a giant dictionary pressing into your ribs if you’re reading lying down. But the language gap in science communication still exists.
That’s why I’m launching a community project: The brain across languages.
We’re inviting students who speak more than one language to help us translate Neurofrontiers content into as many languages as possible.
If you’re interested (or know someone who might be), details here: https://neurofrontiers.blog/the-brain-across-languages/
Boosts are very much appreciated!
#neuroscience #SciComm #scienceOutreach #science #language #multilingual
The brain across languages - Neurofrontiers
What this project is about Understanding the brain is essential and, without a doubt, fascinating. But while the science of the brain affects everyone, the language of that science remains predominantly English. Still, even by the most generous estimates, only about 23% of the world’s population speaks English (including both native and non-native speakers). Through […]
neurofrontiers.blog · Neurofrontiers
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I've been wrestling with implementing #multilingual content support in Hackers' Pub, our #ActivityPub-powered platform for software engineers.
While ActivityPub theoretically supports multilingual content through the contentMap property, the reality is that most server implementations (Mastodon, Misskey, etc.) don't properly handle this content as of April 2025. This creates a significant challenge for us.
We want our users to share their knowledge in multiple languages, but we need to ensure compatibility with existing ActivityPub servers. I'm considering several approaches:
- Creating separate posts for each language with clear language indicators, linking them through
inReplyTorelationships (so translations appear as replies to the original post) - Using the primary language in
contentwhile storing translations incontentMap - Adding "View in other languages" links at the bottom of each post
- Implementing inline language dividers that degrade gracefully on non-supporting servers, for example:
<div lang="en"> <h3>English</h3> <p>This is the English content…</p> </div> <hr> <div lang="ko"> <h3>한국어</h3> <p>한국어 내용입니다…</p> </div>
I'm leaning toward a hybrid approach—showing content in the user's preferred language when possible while providing easy access to other language versions.
Has anyone tackled this problem effectively? I'd love to hear about your experiences or ideas for making multilingual content work well in the fediverse, especially when dealing with server implementations that don't fully support ActivityPub's multilingual features.
