Welsh government to write to Duolingo after updates to course 'paused'
(news.sky.com)
from Salamendacious@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 11:51
https://lemmy.world/post/7212142
from Salamendacious@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 23 Oct 2023 11:51
https://lemmy.world/post/7212142
Wales’s minister for education and the Welsh language said he will write to the company to see how the government might be able to support the course’s continued development.
threaded - newest
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Welsh course on language learning app Duolingo will no longer be updated from the end of the month.
The course, which the company describes as “the world’s most popular way to learn Welsh online”, will remain available but not developed further.
“Duolingo is a valuable resource which can help learners on their journey to become Welsh speakers, alongside other language learning opportunities,” Mr Miles added.
He wants to see an extension of another year to allow the National Centre for Learning Welsh to complete its work on the course.
Read more:Boy gets GCSE in Welsh months after fleeing Ukraine warUni lecturer ‘sacked’ after branding bilingual signs ‘dangerous’
"Our aim is to channel limited resources into enhancing high-demand courses like Spanish, French, and German, which serve a larger audience in the UK and worldwide.
The original article contains 329 words, the summary contains 134 words. Saved 59%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Dywedodd Mr Miles y byddai’n gofyn i’r cwmni ystyried sut y gallai’r llywodraeth - sydd â tharged hunan-osodedig o gyrraedd miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050 - gefnogi datblygiad y cwrs, gan weithio gyda’r Ganolfan Dysgu Cymraeg Genedlaethol. Roedd ffigyrau Cyfrifiad y llynedd yn dangos bod 24,000 yn llai o siaradwyr Cymraeg o gymharu â degawd yn ôl a dywedodd adroddiad yn gynharach eleni fod amheuaeth ynghylch cyrraedd y targed. Ychwanegodd Mr Miles: "Mae Duolingo yn adnodd gwerthfawr a all helpu dysgwyr ar eu taith i ddod yn siaradwyr Cymraeg, ochr yn ochr â chyfleoedd dysgu iaith eraill. Roedd y tiwtor iaith Richard Morse yn un o’r rhai a fu’n gweithio am nifer o flynyddoedd i roi cynnwys y cwrs at ei gilydd.
ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn
D̴̫̹̗̼͖̙̯̲̬̝̽̑ͅǔ̴̧͕̫͇̘̖̫̲̱͑̄̾̓͒̈́͝d̸̛̞̪̤̜͓̥͆e̴̻̝̓̀̀̑̑͜͠ͅ ̶̡̧̧͎̭̫͎̦̼͔̭̣̠̖̑̆̋̌͐̌͒̐͋̔̍̿͛I̷̛̛̦̖͈͙̯̝̟̻̓͑̓̀͑̐̇̓̅̾̕͝͝'̵͈̗̻̮̣͔͓̘̿̋͆̄̓̌̕m̸̨̧̠̻̯͎̯̼͍̹͇͇͒͗̀̓̽͆̐̌̑̚͜͠ ̸̢͍̘̥̠͔͇̹̦̊̄̂̈́̀̄́͗̈͊̂̆̚t̵̛̪̠̒̄̈́̌̊͝ṙ̵̬̬̼̙̮̭̹͓̼̗͎̜̥͕̈́̿͑̽̋̑͝͠ŷ̸͕̥̞̞̥̺̭̞̏́̿̄̓̽̂͋̽̂̆͐͂̿ĭ̶̲̝̱̭̹̟̤̏̏̇͐̐͋͘̕͜͜n̴̨̙͖͓̜̻͚̑͋g̶͇̻͕̎̂̽̃̂́́̎ ̶̡̳͉̘͔͈͈̻̗̽̂͂͒̍͋̃͠͠t̸̛̗̞̋̋̓̏̽͒̾́̄͑̍o̴̜̲͓̫̠̭͚̳̲͐͗́̚ ̶̳͎̳̳̀̓̿̈́̊̅̇͜ͅs̶̙͖̞͐̋͆͋́͘͝ḷ̶̰͍̰̣̙̍̿̿̀͒̿̊̃͂̆̄͒͝ȩ̸̤̯̟̪̐́͗̇̄̐͂̚͜ë̷̲̺͕̥̀̎͐̚p̶̨̛̥͖̲͕̺̥͚̳̆͒͊̍̿̓̉̓̽̕,̴̛̖͎̣̭̥̰͆͒̾̓̏̽͘͘͠ ̸̹̃̏̔́͐͐̍͊͗̊̀̄͛͠q̸̟͕̖̣͆͝ų̴̗̟͔̜̻̎͋͐̒̂̂̃̅́̈́͑́̆̽͜͠i̶̢̟̱̞̿̍̎̈̐̉̌̄̕͝t̶̯͙̥͙̞̉̓̈́ ̴̧͔̞͕̬̥͔̟̹̤̭̎͆̄̍̋͂̈́̂́̐̀͂s̶̢̬͇̬͈͎͙̞̲̣̘̺̅͐̈́̒͐u̶̖͍̣̼̣̹͍͈͈̩̞̻̘̤̘͌̅̈͆̑͋͗̔̈́̃͆̕m̶̢̪̤̮̆̆͐͋͂͂̉̓̓͆̊̿m̶̧̧̨͖̝̖̤͓̞̹̮͔̬̼̮̆̋̚o̴̰̾͑̎͘n̶̨̧͈̤͖͍͂̌͗͌͂͑̕͝i̸̡̩̼̻̱̒̇̄̌͊̾̈́̈́̈́͗̄n̵̡̡̢̺̰͎̙̳̗͖͍̺͉̬̦̈́̒͐̑̄̀́̉̍̈́̀͂̀̆g̵̢͎̬͕̰̗͉͇͓͓̫͙̹̬̩̈́̌͊͛̅̈́̽̔̓̈͗͠ ̷̞̬̺̝̆u̵̧̙̯̤͉͖͔͙̘̰̤̪͈̫͗̄͆͌͛͜͝͠ş̶̣͔͖̮͉͈͉̙̬̳͖̬̤̄̽̉
.
I sympathize with you, old squid.
I was looking for this in the above comment
I'm not so bad, thanks for asking - how are you?
That was just the guy’s address…
Need way longer words with fewer vowels for that.
it’s the short version. The local post office will recognize it
You make a strong case. Maybe people should learn…that.
It’s really useful! It’s spoken across the world in … Uh, one country that’s not even really it’s own country. In fact you’d be better off speaking English there.
I get the desire to preserve it as history, but it’s really not up to a private company to do something about that. And I say this as someone who knows private companies should be doing a lot more for people and the world than they are.
Welsh is spoken across the world. There is a significant community of Welsh speakers in Argentina, many of which don’t speak any English.
Language is much more than history. It is also deeply connected to culture and identity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
I don’t think your intentions are bad, but this attitude leads to cultural destruction (when applied in scale). Cultural destruction is serious evil, those that carry it out often use misdirections like it’s just not practical.
Good thing it’s not on either me nor a company to preserve that culture then!
The Welsh are free to whatever they please to preserve their culture and language. And Duolingo is free to not help if they don’t want to.
Bora da! Dym smygu araf.
I swear, Welsh looks like ROT13 encoded English.
English version:
ROT13 version:
It’s actually cool to see a government body embrace new technologies to promote their language and culture.
It is! It’s unfortunate that Duolingo killed the volunteer program.
I can’t even see comments on lessons anymore. There was one Brazilian dude named Paulenrique who would answer anyone’s questions about quirks of the language and now all his efforts to help people are just gone.
Yeah there were lots of people in the Italian comments who did the same thing. It was invaluable. Now all that work is gone. It’s frustrating. I cancelled my super Duolingo subscription over that.
Yeah, tons of helpful tips on actual natives chiming in, just gone. It’s a shame.
It’s because they didn’t connect for 7 days… A warning to the other students.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever moderated anything volunteer based but… honestly you can’t give the internet anything nice.
But then why did they get rid of the comments that were old, locked, and useful? Sometimes it feels like Duolingo cares less and less about whether or not people learn languages. It’s not surprising, but unfortunate.
I’m not saying it was the ideal thing, I’m saying people mostly suck and moderating something sucks a lot less when you can fire the person who decided to say “pinche tu madre” meant “have a nice day.”
the Welsh government is desperate. Welsh was close to being eradicated because somebody wanted more land, like they literally used to beat children in schools for speaking Welsh.
Now Wales is trying really hard to bring it back, and duolingo offering a free course for anybody on the planet helps a ton. Especially because it’s hard to find learning resources when you don’t live in Wales. Hell, the resources are scarce even when you do live in Wales!
Today I learned there’s someone out there who wants to learn sheepshaggerspeech
Brave new world, that
Low effort.
.
Today I learned that you’re a cunt.
Same shit, different idiot, that.
.
Are we allowed to say c*nt here? No automod?
Love it
cvnt, for when you’re a medieval printer lacking Us.
Does the website have no problem with that outdated logo staring into your eyes
your eyes
The one that looks like it’s had a stroke?
Well, the current logo on my phone is the owl screaming with its face melting, so it was probably the better choice.
Instead of depending on a for profit / corpo for maintaining something like a whole language maybe that should be left to a coöp? Or at least something open source / Creative Commons so that people actually are authorized to contribute?
Is there an open source language learning platform? I’m not very invested in the FLOSS community but I didn’t think there was anything.
I don’t know either, I just assume that since it’s 2023 and there’s corpos, at least someone, somewhere, is thanklessly working on a FOSS language learning platform.
Does corpos refer to corporations?
Yeah it’s like, the same way “pharmaceutics” get shiv’d into “pharma” (or “big pharma”) “corporations” get shiv’d into “corpo”.
It must be a regional thing. Personally I’ve never heard pharma by itself only as big pharma, shiv is an improvised knife a prisoner might make, and I’ve never heard corpo before. English is a huge language with a lot of regional differences. When I was young I would say wicked to mean very. If something was really fucked up I’d say it was wicked fucked up or wicked fucked.