Localisation and Translation Services by SOFTtalk Translations

'Historic' day as first non-Latin web addresses go live: Arab nations are leading a "historic" charge to make the world wide web live up to its name. Net regulator Icann has switched on a system that allows full web addresses that contain no Latin characters. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Last speaker of ancient language of Bo dies in India: The last speaker of an ancient language in India's Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Birmingham ticket machine operates in German: Drivers using a Birmingham city centre car park have had their language skills tested by a ticket dispenser which operates in German. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

New 2010 calendar available: The SOFTtalk 2010 Calendar is now available to download.

Smart spectacles aid translation: Spectacles that can provide subtitles have been created. Hi-tech firm NEC said it planned a version that used real-time translation to provide subtitles for a conversation between people lacking a common language. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Lost in translation across the Channel: France might be just across the English Channel from Britain, but Emma Jane Kirby says both nations are still prone to the pitfalls of linguistic misunderstandings. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

'Millionth English word' declared: A US web monitoring firm has declared the millionth English word to be Web 2.0, a term for the latest generation of web products and services. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Button gaffe embarrasses Clinton: Russian media have been poking fun at the US secretary of state over a translation error on a gift she presented to her Russian counterpart. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

'Oldest English words' identified: Some of the oldest words in English have been identified, scientists say. Reading University researchers claim "I", "we", "two" and "three" are among the most ancient, dating back tens of thousands of years. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Texting 'improves language skill': Text speak, rather than harming literacy, could have a positive effect on the way children interact with language, says a study. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Anti-truancy drive removed French: The scrapping of compulsory modern languages in England's secondary schools was a consequence of truancy crackdowns, the BBC has learnt. Click here for the full story.

Welsh language legal bid starts: A bid by the Welsh Assembly Government for more powers to make laws to promote the Welsh language has been published. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

E-mail error ends up on road sign: When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed. Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated". Click here for the full story from the BBC.

New 2009 calendar available: The SOFTtalk 2009 Calendar is now available to download.

New language rule for 57 bodies: The Bank of England and the Royal Mail are two of 57 new organisations which will soon have to treat Welsh on an equal footing with English. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

SOFTtalk Translations receive a "5 Year Excellence in Service" award from Canon Localisation Services: After over 5 years of providing localisation and translation services to Canon Localisation Services, SOFTtalk Translations received official recognition of this achievement at a formal presentation held at Canon's offices on Tuesday 30th October, 2007. Read more.

New 2008 calendar available: The SOFTtalk 2008 Calendar is now available to download.

'Tower of Babel' translator made: A "Tower of Babel" device that gives the illusion of being bilingual is being developed by US scientists. Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Beijing stamps out poor English: China has launched a fresh drive to clamp down on bad English in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Previous attempts to wipe out Chinglish - the mistranslated phrases often seen on Chinese street signs and product labels - have met with little success. Click here for the full story from the BBC and also take a look at our collection of favourite mistranslations.

Christmas Charity Donations: Every year, at Christmas time, SOFTtalk Translations donates money to charity. This time SOFTtalk supported two local charities - The Rainbow Centre which we have also supported in previous years and, new for this year, The Hedgehogs Charity. Follow the links for more information on each of these worthwhile causes.

College makes Chinese compulsory: An independent college is becoming the first in Britain to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject. Mandarin Chinese will join French, Spanish and Latin as a core language for 13 to 18-year-old pupils. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Pedestrian sign's forked tongue: A traffic firm has apologised for a mistake on a bilingual road sign which gave conflicting advice to pedestrians. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Booker Prize to award translators: A new award honouring translators has been announced by the organisers of the international Booker Prize. Click here for the full story from the BBC

In defence of 'lost' languages: Of the 6,000-odd languages in the world, one is said to disappear every fortnight. Should the English-speaking world care? Click here for the full story from the BBC

Games help you 'learn and play': A US researcher has suggested that 'God Games' such as The Sims could be a good way to teach languages. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Christmas around the World: Try your hand at this quiz and find out more about some of the more unexpected festive traditions across Europe.

Mum's the word, says the world: Mother is the most beautiful word in the English language, according to a survey of non-English speakers. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Inuit language finds home on net: Inuktitut speakers will soon be able to have their say online as the Canadian aboriginal language goes on the web. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Do they speak English in Australia?: Well of course they do - like millions of other members of the big happy Commonwealth family. But new rules asking natives of those countries to prove they can speak English before getting UK citizenship has left some 'colonials' feeling a little insulted - and that's the same in any accent. Click here for the full story from the BBC

MPs reveal language skills: A fifth of the UK's MPs describe themselves as bi-lingual, and one in 12 say they are "multi-lingual", according to a survey. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Microsoft works on native tongues: The Welsh language is to be introduced into Microsoft Windows as part of a project to increase usage by minority language speakers. It is one of 40 new languages due to be added, in response to complaints from around the world that youngsters were losing their native tongues. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Do you speak Elf?: As if murderous orcs and magic spells weren't enough to contend with, there are two languages to learn - loosely based on Welsh and Finnish. Undeterred by the challenge, a group of schoolboys has volunteered for lessons in Sindarin, the "conversational" form of Elvish, invented by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien. Click here for the full story from the BBC

It's all Greek to Harry Potter: A teacher has translated the first Harry Potter book into classical Greek. Click here for the full story from the BBC

Christmas Charity Donations: Every year, at Christmas time, SOFTtalk Translations donate money to charity. This year SOFTtalk is supporting two local charities - the Rainbow Centre and Make-A-Wish Foundation^®

Customer Comments Section: SOFTtalk is pleased to announce the addition of a Customer Comments section to the web site. Here you will find a small selection of unsolicited comments from our customers. This page will be updated monthly and comments from previous months will be available in the archive section.

Canary Island whistles again: A means of communication using whistling is being revived after nearly vanishing from the one island on which it is used. The language is called Silbo Gomero, and is only heard on the Canary Island of La Gomera, off the coast of Morocco. Click here for the full story from the BBC

2004 Calendar: The new SOFTtalk 2004 Calendar is now available to download. It is available in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format (click here for the latest acrobat file viewer if you do not already have it) for you to print out at your leisure. Click here for more details

Linguistic research: This small snippet is currently doing the rounds on the internet: Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.; Already it is appearing in other languages such as; French and Portuguese, but it doesn't seem to work too well in German, Dutch, or Scandinavian languages.
Click here to scramble your own sentences.

SOFTtalk is proud to support the Roald Dahl Foundation: SOFTtalk Translations - providing translations in all languages.
Oompa Loompa a speciality !!!
SOFTtalk Translations is proud to support the Roald Dahl Foundation at a Charity Concert by the LSSO (London Schools Symphony Orchestra) being held at St. John's on Smith Square, London on Wednesday 10th September at 7.30

The language of heat: "When we asked News Online readers to describe the heat in their own language, the replies flooded in from all over the world. Here are some of the best of them..." Click here for the full story from the BBC

Pirated Potter book hits Chile: An illegal Spanish translation of the latest Harry Potter book on sale in Chile has been called "a really bad translation".... Click here for the full story from the BBC

We're moving to Farnborough: SOFTtalk Translations move to Farnborough. Click here for the "We're moving..." flyer in Adobe Acrobat format and to see the new contact details