TORONTO – Newly released data from Statistics Canada from the 2011 census on Wednesday showed linguistic diversity in Canadian households across the country.
Statistics Canada data suggest that multiculturalism is not simply an abstract concept to describe a motley collection of diverse communities.
5.8 million individuals speak at least two languages at home, according to the census report, while about 1.8 million people in Canada’s largest city, Toronto, said they usually speak an immigrant language at home.
The top 10 immigrant languages spoken at home were Punjabi, Chinese (not-specified), Cantonese, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Mandarin, Italian, Urdu and German according to the reports.
With this in mind, Global News researched some of the top language translation apps on the market to see if technology has been able to support the changing realities of Canada’s language landscape.
Google Translate: One of the most popular apps for language translation, this app tackles translating words and phrases in more than 60 languages. Some of the features include speaking into the phone instead of typing, displaying the translation in full screen mode, so it’s easier to read, and listening to the translation after it’s finished. It’s free to download.
Jibbigo: Unlike other apps that act like a dictionary or a phrase book, Jibbigo is a speech translator (think of having a voice-over translator in your pocket or being able to have full conversations with a speaker of another language). Containing more than 40,000 words, the app runs on your mobile device, meaning it doesn’t connect to servers, which reduces costs when travelling (goodbye roaming charges) and also eliminates Internet timeouts. The app is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android devices.
Vocre: Boasting “Siri-like” features, Vocre is an app that allows for language translation without typing. Available in 31 languages, users can search, send a message and post their translation online. The app is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, iPod Touch, as well as the iPhone 4S and New iPad (iPad 3).
Word Lens: Snap a photo and send it to the app and voila! You’ve got a translation. This app cleverly transforms words in pictures in real time to voice or text translations. The app is free, however users have to purchase in-app language pairs – meaning if you want to translate strictly English to French or English to Spanish or English to Italian, it’ll cost you. It also does not recognize handwriting or stylized fonts.
myLanguage: This app can translate 59 languages and dialects and has features that include offline browsing, sending translation via email, and contacting in-app support if a language is not listed in the app. There is a free and a pro version available.
For more on languages in Canada visit our special site: Counting Canada
With files from The Canadian Press
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