language
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4:00PM Angus Kidman | Normally when we talk about piracy at Lifehacker it’s in the context of copyright, but we must point out that Saturday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Google’s Australian blog has some handy tips for bucaneer-hacking your life.
Aargh, It’s Speak Like A Pirate Day
4:00PM Angus Kidman | Normally when we talk about piracy at Lifehacker it’s in the context of copyright, but we must point out that Saturday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Google’s Australian blog has some handy tips for bucaneer-hacking your life. 
Communicate
Google Docs Automatically Translates Documents Into 42 Languages
3:30AM Adam Pash | While most of us don’t frequently find ourselves needing to translate our documents to various languages on-the-fly, Google Docs just announced a new feature that’ll be great for those who do: The service now automatically translates docs in 42 different languages with a few mouse clicks. More »
Work
Repeat “A-E-I-O-U” To Read Faster
10:00AM Azadeh Ensha | Work and study can both involve a fair amount of tedious reading, which is why knowing how to get through and comprehend text quickly is a useful skill to have. Looking to learn? Try incorporating the A-E-I-O-U method. More »
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ThatWhichMatter Delivers Grammar Tips In Tweets
9:30PM Kevin Purdy | Are you one of those types who smirked devilishly through Eats, Shoots & Leaves? Whether you’re a strict grammarian or looking to learn a bit more on language, ThatWhichMatter’s Twitter feed is worth subscribing to. More »
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To English Bookmarklet Quickly, Easily Translates Any Text With One Click
8:00AM Adam Pash | We’ve been all about Google Translate ever since it introduced automatic language detection, but language detection isn’t the default, and even then, it could be streamlined. Enter the To English bookmarklet. More »
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Adopt A Word To Save It From Extinction
7:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Save the Words is a website dedicated to keeping underused English language words in the dictionary. Pick an underused word and pledge to save it from extinction. Lexicographers analyse the frequency of word usage in popular culture and media to decide which new words will go into the dictionary, but they also track the falling popularity of words and opt to remove them. At Save the Words, an initiative of the Oxford English Dictionary, you can browse a wall of rare words, be given a random word, or search for a word to see if it’s in danger of extinction. Once you find a word to your liking, you can pledge to use that word in common usage as often as you can: “I hereby promise to use this word, in conversation and correspondence, as frequently as possible to the best of my ability.” Thanks to Save the Words I finally have a proper adjective for a co-worker I had named Shrub Head: frutescent. Need to find companion words for your new vocabulary buddy? Check out our compendium of the best online language tools for word nerds. Save the Words [via Digital Inspiration] More »
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Frengly Translates Text, Auto-Detects Source Language
7:00AM Adam Pash | Online language translation app Frengly autodetects the source language of text and quickly translates it into your language of choice. Just paste any piece of text into Frengly, hit translate, and let Frengly take care of the rest. Frengly actually plugs into the Google Translate API to both detect the language and to translate the text, so you may wonder: Why use Frengly? Ultimately it’s about speed and ease of use. Google Translate requires you to choose the auto-detect option every time you head to the page, which means you lose a step in what should be a feature that shaves a step off translation. Likewise, it’s easier to select your destination language once from one of the many buttons rather than dig through the drop-down menu. So while Frengly isn’t all that innovative on its own, you can think of it as a nicer front-end to Google Translate. Frengly [via Download Squad] More »
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Tip of My Tongue Finds The Word You’re Looking For
12:10AM Kevin Purdy | A thesaurus is a repetitive writer’s best friend, but what happens when you’re looking for a specific word, the one that starts with a certain letter, or means the same things as that other word? Free word search site Tip of My Tongue makes it easy to find that word that’s just out of your fuzzy mind’s reach. Type in parameters on the left—letters the word starts with or contains, definitions it matches, and others—and the word matches appears instantly on the right. It’s worth a bookmark for anyone who’s struggled at their keyboard, only to just type in, say, “useful.” Tip of My Tongue [Chir.ag via Digital Inspiration] More »
Communicate
Learn A New Language With Busuu
12:30AM Lifehacker US Edition | Language education site Busuu emphasises the social side of learning a language. While Busuu has standard components such as vocabulary exercises with audio and writing units to test out your composition, the most interesting aspect is its ability to connect you with both people learning your language and native speakers of your language. You’re learning Spanish and someone else is learning English? Connect through Busuu and help each other out. While Busuu may not be a substitute for the do-or-die learning of full language immersion, it has a wider range of tools and social interaction than a standalone program or book. For more chances to hone your language learning skills, check out Mango. Busuu [via DownloadSquad] More »
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