Languages Work*

ICT

 

English is no longer ‘the language of the Internet’. The proportion of web activity in English has dropped from half to less than a third. The web is a vitally important tool and brings people together from many countries. Language skills are therefore an important asset to anyone working in this sector.

 

1. These numbers shows the percentage growth of the top ten languages used on the Internet, can you match the language to the percentage?

Japanese	664%
German	350%
French	347%
Korean	307%
Spanish	231%
Italian	135%
Russian	113%
Chinese	118%
English	83%
Portuguese	78%

 

• Answer

  Japanese	83%
  German	113%
  French	307%
  Korean	78%
  Spanish	231%
  Italian	118%
  Russian	664%
  Chinese	347%
  English	135%
  Portuguese	350%

2. It's important to think about languages when using new technology. How many of these could you use in an international business environment?

Blogs, E-mail, Fax, Instant messaging, Podcasting, RSS feeds, Telephone, Text messaging, Video conferencing, Websites


• Answer

  All of the above media are useful forms of communication in a global context. To find out how schools are utilising some of these tools in the classroom visit www.languages-ict.org.uk.

3. Send an e-greeting in a different language to greetings@languageswork.org.uk. Find a multilingual greeting service at http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/E-mail/E-greetings and get in touch!