#Creator of OneLook Dictionaries, a fast finder of words in 650 dictionaries
*Interview of September 2, 1998
= How do you see the growth of a multilingual Web?
On the personal side, I was almost entirely in contact with people who spoke one
language and did not have much incentive to expand language abilities. Being in
contact with the entire world has a way of changing that. And changing it for
the better! I have been slow to start including non-English dictionaries (partly
because I am monolingual). But you will now find a few included.
An interesting thing happened earlier and I think I learned something from it.
In 1994, I was working for a college and trying to install a software package on
a particular type of computer. I located a person who was working on the same
problem and we began exchanging email. Suddenly, it hit me... the software was
written only 30 miles away but I was getting help from a person half way around
the world. Distance and geography no longer mattered!
OK, this is great! But what is it leading to? I am only able to communicate in
English but, fortunately, the other person could use English as well as German
which was his mother tongue. The Internet has removed one barrier (distance) but
with that comes the barrier of language.
It seems that the Internet is moving people in two quite different directions at
the same time. The Internet (initially based on English) is connecting people
all around the world. This is further promoting a common language for people to
use for communication. But it is also creating contact between people of
different languages and creates a greater interest in multilingualism. A common
language is great but in no way replaces this need.
So the Internet promotes both a common language and multilingualism. The good
news is that it helps provide solutions. The increased interest and need is
creating incentives for people around the world to create improved language
courses and other assistance and the Internet is providing fast and inexpensive
opportunities to make them available.