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Which Language is Being Spoken?
I have been racking my brains for the past 1 ½ weeks about this app assignment, I had honestly come to a complete impasse. However, the light bulb went on and started to blink when I was standing in the check-out line at the supermarket 2 days ago. I had wanted to create or suggest an idea for an app that was based on language studies, as that is where my interest lies.
So, to make a long story short, while standing in line at the supermarket, a husband/wife couple behind me were speaking a foreign language with each other. I always try to figure out the language I am hearing, and I try to gather as much information as possible for this endeavor especially when their language presents a problem for me to identify, such as noting the physical characteristics of the people and even what type of foods they have in their shopping cart. ( I know, this can be construed as bizarre, but I think almost everyone looks into other people’s shopping carts while standing in the supermarket check-out line.) Anyway, this couple was speaking a language unbeknownst to me for positive identification. I was waiting for maybe a word or two that I could recognize and pigeonhole into my mental rubric, but I was stymied. As I turned around to give them a furtive glance and a quick nonchalant peek into their shopping cart, I could only deduce that they were in indeed European, and possibly from the Balkans.
So, not being satisfied with this paucity of accurate information and after being annoyed with my intellectual, if not linguistic ineptitude, and not having the gumption in this particular situation to rudely ask the supermarket patrons “which language are you speaking?” – something which I have done with my clients in a an informal context in the past- I came up with the “brilliant” idea of having an app, called WhatsLingo?, that can identify all of the world’s 6,500 languages with voice recognition. I could pull out my cell phone and pretend that I am facebooking or doing some other activity while surreptitiously engaging the WhatsLingo?. I would Instantaneously know which language is being spoken as this important information would magically appear on my minuscule cell phone screen!
Not stopping with only this simplistic function that the basic WhatsLingo? app could provide to assuage my linguistic curiosities, I would provide an upgrade for a mere tuppence which could identity foreign accents on the English language. So if someone in your presence, or even on the phone is speaking English that is not “Standard American English”, and is heavily or even subtly infused with a foreign accent, WhatsLingo? Plus could assist in discerning the speakers primary language (L1). A Premium WhatsLingo? app package could even be provided for identification of languages which have a wide global and regional reach such as Spanish and French. If you are a linguist, would it not be vital to differentiate if a Spanish speaker is from Venezuela or Argentina or a French speaker from either Haiti or Cote d’Ivoire?
The possibilities are endless for the language student of all ages. It could preclude embarrassing interactions with complete strangers while at the same time stealthily giving the ego satisfaction which some of us linguists need.