Languages, Part 4a
MS-Office
Translate
In MS-Office, in Word, under “Review”, the above icon can be
found with the word “Translate” under it.
Clicking it leads you into a process of translation of your
document. This is done via the Internet, through the browser Internet Explorer,
which must be available on your computer.
The controls appear in a panel on the right of your screen.
You choose from drop-down menus which language you want to translate from and
to. When you click “Translate the whole document”, the browser opens and you
will soon have a translation.
The number of languages it offers is less than Google, and
it does not include any indigenous African languages at all.
It is an effective instrument for translating from French to
English, and vice-versa. As such, it is a help to Africans.
But this Internet translator is another example of the
regrettable dominance of the same dominant languages, even with this tool that
is capable of redressing the balance.
It may be that government action would be required, say in
the form of subsidy to service providers or academics, so that automatic
translation services in and between all of our South African official languages
is made available.
But the history of PanSALB does not encourage an expectation
that this could happen easily, or soon.
