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Study Examines Slang Across the Decades

The team at Preply offers us a fun infographic showing the outdated slang terms that Americans want to revive. Slang comes and goes with hairstyles, the cut of your jeans, and popular music and dances. But there isn’t always a perfect replacement for the slang words from decades past. In fact, 80% of Americans say they use outdated slang regularly. This might be from an old habit, but some say they do it ironically or for a laugh. America’s favorite decade for slang is the ‘90s, which brought us words like “rad,” “gnarly,” “sick,” and “dope,” all of which are synonyms for cool! While many generations favored the slang of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Baby Boomers prefer slang from the ‘60s. Gen X respondents were the most nostalgic for the slang of their youth, specifically from the ‘80s and ‘90s, reflecting the wider preference for slang from that era.

Study Examines Slang Across the Decades

The Most and Least Bilingual Cities in the U.S.
American cities are diverse, comprising a wide range of cultures and backgrounds. It’s common to find bilingual people in America. About 21% of Americans can speak a language other than English. However, some areas are more isolated, and you’ll find far fewer bilingual people. The team at Preply gives a complete picture of where you’ll hear the most and fewest foreign languages spoken with two maps. One shows the most bilingual cities, and the other shows the least bilingual cities.

The Most and Least Bilingual Cities in the U.S.

A Timeline of New Words Based on Business Names

Language is an ever-evolving process with new and defunct words that come and go as culture changes over time. Business names have had an impressive impact on language, spawning new words that become common place names for items or actions that we use without always thinking about their origin.

A Timeline of New Words Based on Business Names #Infographic



Pinterest is including more languages to its app to appeal to users from more regions of the world, as the platform’s userbase continues to grow, especially in this year. Currently, over 400 million people visit and use the app each month to find and create inspirations, according to Pinterest.

 

The total number of languages accessible on Pinterest is now 41, including Afrikaans, Croatian and Bulgarian as the newly added languages.

Pinterest Introduces New Languages in the App to Broaden Global Accessibility



YouTube is expanding its latest engagement tools of Comment Translation and Smart Replies. The new translation tool relies on Google Translation to let users translate comments in the app, whereas Smart Replies provides response suggestions to assist users in their interaction with each other in-stream.

 

YouTube has announced that the Translate button is now available on mobile and offers translation in 100 languages. Although Google Translate does not provide completely accurate translations, its ability is still adequate enough to help people make sense of text displayed in foreign languages.

YouTube is Rolling Out ‘Comment Translation’ and ‘Smart Replies’ to More Users



With the development and launch of its new AI model for translation, Meta is advancing its language translation tools. The tech giant’s new AI Model that promotes the ‘No Language Left Behind’ message is designed to translate 200 different languages. This model is not just created for Meta’s social media platforms, but is actually a part of the future Metaverse.

 

Meta explains the purpose of creating the model, saying that because billions of people around the world don’t have access to digital content or can’t participate fully in conversations and communities online in their preferred or native languages, it has looked into developing high-quality translation tools.

 

According to Meta, its advanced translation systems are capable of learning language translations from smaller datasets, including data from native speakers. The model, which goes by the name of NLLB-200, can produce results “far more accurate than what previous technology could accomplish.” To be more specific, Meta’s research results proved that the model’s translations were more than 70% more accurate.

Meta Develops Advanced AI Model for Translation, the 'NLLB-200'

The most spoken languages in different states of USA

Roughly, there are more than 7000 languages spoken in different parts of the globe. If we concise our research to the USA only, there is a huge list of a variety of languages spoken in different states of the nation. Commonly. Most of the Americans speak either English or Spanish and besides these two languages are several others. The infographic shows in detail which language is spoken in which state of the country excluding English and Spanish.

With a plethora of cultures and incredible diversity of religions, finding people speaking entirely different languages within a single state isn’t surprising. According to the data from 2019, around 78 percent of people aged five or older, living in America said that regardless of their nativity, they speak English in their homes.

The most spoken languages in different states of USA #infographic

A majority of Americans use slang words without knowing their meaning

Slang words seem to pop out of nowhere and suddenly become part of everyday language. Many wonder what these new slang words mean and who invented them. Whether or not you embrace slang words, it’s tough to argue that they are part of our culture and part of everyday speak for many Americans. 


An online education platform that connects students with private tutors named Preply recently surveyed 2,000 Americans to learn more about their perceptions of slang words, how often they use slang words, the most popular and most hated slang words and also the settings where it’s appropriate and not appropriate to use slang words. Let us take a deeper look into what they found in their survey. 


Where Americans learn slang words 


Slang words don’t just magically appear out of thin air, most Americans learn slang words from someone else. The survey from Preply specifically asked respondents where they primarily learn slang from. 28% of respondents said they learn slang from the internet or from social media. The second most common way Americans learn slang words. 28% report learning slang words directly from friends. Another 25% said they learn slang words from their family. 11% report learning slang words from a partner. As you can see most people learn slang from either the internet, their phone, or the people closest to them in their lives. 


Despite learning slang words from people that they trust, many Americans are still having to consult the internet to find out what the slang word actually means. 83% of those surveyed said they have had to search the internet for the meaning of a slang word after hearing it for the first time. On top of that, 68% said they consulted a younger person to help them define what the slang word meant. 


When asked if people use slang incorrectly, a majority of respondents (54%) said that they have used slang incorrectly at some point in their lives. Half of Americans (50%) reported using a slang word without even knowing what the word itself meant. As you can see many Americans are confused by slang words and often use them without knowing their meaning to other people. 


Which slang words are used the most in America in 2021? 


So, we know that people use slang frequently, often without knowing the meaning and learn them from the internet and their closest friends. But which slang words are used the most currently? 


Preply asked surveyed respondents to list the slang words they use the most. Listed below are the 10 most common slang words in America: 

1. Ghosted (when someone cuts off all communication without explanation) 

2. Salty (when someone is exceptionally bitter, angry, or upset) 

3. On point (when someone is exactly right or perfect) 

4. Woke (when someone is alert to societal injustice) 

5. GOAT (greatest of all time) 

6. Extra (over the top) 

7. Low-key (understatedly or secretly) 

8. Catfish (when someone assumes a fake identity or personality over the internet) 

9. Savage (not caring about the consequences of their actions) 

10. Thirsty (needing approval, affection, or attention). 


The most popular slang words that originated from the COVID-19 pandemic 


The COVID-19 pandemic has consumed the lives of people around the globe for almost 2 years now. As a result of that an entire new set of words and popular slang have came with it. 


Listed below are the most used slang words related to the COVID-19 pandemic according to surveyed respondents from the Preply survey along with their meanings: 

1. Rona/The ‘Rona (Abbreviation for the coronavirus) 

2. Jab (A COVID-19 shot) 

3. Quarantine and chill (spending time with a romantic partner along during quarantine) 

4. Quaranteam (A limited group of people you see during the pandemic) 

5. Covidiot (Someone who disregards COVID-19 health and safety guidelines) 

6. Quarantini (A cocktail people drink at home while under quarantine) 

7. Zoom fatigue (Exhaustion or overuse of virtual platforms of communication particularly video conferencing 

8. Zoombombing (A disruption of video calls by uninvited strangers) 

9. Zoomer (A generation marked by social distancing and COVID-19) 

10. Before times (Life before COVID-19) 


Which slang words annoy Americans the most? 


So, in the sections above we defined the most used slang words and the slang words that have arose from the COVID-19 pandemic. The next part of the survey from Preply asked Americans about the slang words that annoy them the most. Many people love slang words but nearly an equal amount of people also loathe them. The survey found that 3 in 5 Americans report being annoyed by slang words and their use. 66% of parents are annoyed by slang as well as 46% of non-parents. 


Listed below are the most annoying slang words in America as well as their definition: 


1. OK Boomer (implying that someone is old, out-of-touch, or resistant to change) 

2. Bae (a term of endearment or labeling someone as good or cool) 

3. Bye, Felicia (a dismissive goodbye to someone) 

4. Ok fleek (perfectly executed or extremely good, attractive, or stylish) 

5. Woke (being alert to societal injustice) 

6. Mansplain (to explain someone to a woman in a condescending way) 

7. Zaddy (a man with swagger or style) 

8. Yas (a playful or non-serious way to say yes) 

9. Yeet (to throw or an exclamation of excitement, approval, or surprise) 

10. Periodt (a variant of the word period which is meant to emphasize a point) 


The survey from Preply also asked how often Americans are using slang. Over half of Americans are using slang words in all or most of their conversations with other people. 8 in 10 say they currently use slang words as part of their vocabulary. Only 10% of Americans say they use slang rarely. Slang is most commonly used with friends, family, a partner, coworkers, stranger and even with their boss. As you might imagine younger generations are most likely to use slang words than their older counterparts. Most Americas feel it is acceptable to use slang in most social events. To learn more, check out the graphic below from Preply.


A majority of Americans use slang words without knowing their meaning


Infographic by: preply

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A majority of Americans use slang words without knowing their meaning #Infographic

7 in 10 Americans regret letting their foreign language skills slip

For most Americans, learning a second language occurs in school, however a new survey found that 70% of Americans regret letting their foreign language skills slip. An online educational platform named Preply recently surveyed over 1,000 people to better understand their experiences and opinions about studying foreign languages. 


Humans speak and interact with people from other countries daily and English is widely accepted around the world, so why do so few Americans speak a foreign language? The survey from Preply found that 3 in 10 Americans only learned a foreign language because it was required of them to do so during their education and schooling. On top of that less than 10% actually studied a foreign language to complete proficiency. Let us examine some more of the takeaways from the Preply survey. 

7 in 10 Americans regret letting their foreign language skills slip #Infographic

 


Instagram just added a new, helpful feature to Stories that translates text displayed within a Story. The feature offers translation in over 90 languages.

 

The translation feature in Stories is only limited to text, however; there is no translation offered for audio in a Story.

Instagram Introduces Option to Translate Text in Stories

The Official Languages Found in the Most Countries Around the World

Which language was found to be the official language of the most countries? You can find the answer to this question, and more in this linguistic chart that takes a look at the official languages that are found around the world. The bubble chart format makes it easy to see which ones were deemed the official language of the most countries, as well as the countries that have legally declared them as such. The chart also includes the ones that consider these languages to be their de facto national language, which means that while the language is spoken by a majority of a country’s population, it has not been declared as the official language in a legal capacity. 

The Official Languages Found in the Most Countries Around the World #Infographic


Facebook just introduced a new advance for its automatic translation tools, which is aimed at improving communications between users around the globe. It is based on the company’s M2M-100 multilingual machine translation (MMT) model. This model is capable of translating a total of 100 languages, without relying on English data. 


English training data is the most widely available, but the M2M-100 model doesn’t rely on it, and therefore can better preserve meaning of various languages. According to Facebook, this advanced model outperforms English-centric systems by 10 points on the BLEU metric for evaluating machine translations.  


Basically, with this new AI technology, the initial step of first translating a language to English is eliminated and therefore, in this way, this system is better at maintaining the original meaning of the text, and would ultimately maximize communication among people. 

Facebook Introduces New AI Model for Automatic Translation Tools

Apple's iOS 14 has been updated with a Translate app, which is of great help for users to learn and communicate in a foreign language. Even though Siri had already been doing the translation job for users, the AI was still not as efficient as compared to the new Translate app, especially considering the app's ability to do live translation.


 

The Translate app offers better conventional translation facility and and is especially useful for users when they are travelling abroad. The languages that the app supports include Arabic, Chinese, English, German, French, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Apple is expected to continue updating the app with support for more languages including regional derivations and other variations. 


To use the Translate app for speech translation, the user has to simply select the two desired languages for the conversation, press the microphone button and speak into their iPhone, and wait for the speech to be translated. The translation will be provided both in audio as well as written text on the screen.

 

For translation via text, the same procedure will be followed, except that instead of speaking the words, the user will type the text in the section that says ''enter text''. Once the user is finished typing, they will tap ''go'' and the translation will be displayed on the screen. 

Here is All you Need to Know about iOS 14's Translate App

Neutral alternatives for Gendered English Words

Language is the most basic medium of communication with each other. The communication using dialog cannot be beaten by any other source or medium of communication. This is why many people feel comfortable in communicating with their fellow countrymen or people who know their native languages.

Gendered language consists of words that are bias towards sex or gender. If you call someone a policeman or a policewoman, it indicates the gender specificity. In such a case, you can be gender-neutral by saying a police officer which conveys the message in the most gender-neutral way.

Neutral alternatives for Gendered English Words #infographic

Twitter is expanding its automatic translation feature

Built-in translations play an essential role in making users understand different languages. Twitter already has the feature of built-in translations, but it is now expanding it as “automatic translations” for tweets with a smaller group of users.

If you have set English as a primary language on Twitter, every tweet posted in a language other than English will show a translate button. Prior to the release of the new feature, you had to manually tap the translate button to get a translated version of a tweet; however, the new feature will automatically translate the post in the language that the user has set.

Twitter is expanding its automatic translation feature


Netflix revealed its plan on Friday to break through the language barrier in India. Statistically, only approximately 10% of India's population speaks or understands English and most of the firms operating in the country provide their services in English. 

Netflix has released support for Hindi language that is spoken by nearly half a billion people in India. The video streaming company will have all its functions from the sign-up page to payment across its platform, written in Hindi language. The language can be chosen from the 'Manage Profiles' section on the welcome screen. 

Monika Shergill, VP-Content at Netflix India, said in a statement that the company deems delivering a great experience of high importance and believes that the new interface will make the platform more accessible for members who prefer the Hindi language. 


Some of the global competitors of Netflix like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar already provide their services in Hindi in India. Disney+ Hotstar, however, has limited capacity for that matter.

Netflix Adds Support for Hindi Language for Subscribers in India

Best language translator tools

Not everyone speaks the same language as you do, especially if you travel abroad. However, people from several countries can speak and understand English, but there are many more languages being spoken. Language barriers used to be pretty common in previous years, but with the advancement of technology and the development of language translator tools, it has become a lot easier to explain your thought to someone who doesn’t understand your language.


During the Covid-19 pandemic, doctors and health officials from different countries, speaking different languages are constantly performing their research. As soon as they discover something worth sharing, they need to share it with the entire humanity to create awareness. This is where the language barrier became a challenge. But the language translator tools can help in such urgencies as well.

Best language translator tools

Free Online Writing Tools and Courses

For writers, technology has resulted in a lot of benefits, proving to be their helpful companion. A lot of us have been using word processing software ever since they were invented. Softwares like Microsoft Word and office software programs from other companies come packed with inherent grammar-friendly tools and features such as spellcheck. Due to grammar recommendations, we get to know where we are making mistakes and improve our writing skills accordingly.

 Now that we have the Internet and so much written content that we do in real-time, the same features can be accessed via apps. For instance, you can install the Grammarly extension for your browser and whenever you are typing on any website, Grammarly will give feedback on your writing, related to tone, grammar, spelling and more.

 What's even more, there are software programs and tools for all kinds of writers. Other than all the helpful grammar check applications, there are tools developed for writers to get to structure their content better, whether it is a book, a script, an article, literally anything.

Free Online Writing Tools and Courses #Infographic

Street Names: What About Them?

 We look at various streets all the time, but what's the big deal about them really? We see avenues, lanes, roads written almost everywhere we go, especially if the boards are clearly labelled. The names of these various types of streets have a lot to do with where we come across them.

 The type of street can tell you a lot about how you can access them and even what kind of a neighbourhood you are in. For instance, towns and cities usually have a different kind of streets. If you are visiting the countryside, you're more likely to visit narrow streets as the main path.

Street Names: What About Them? #Infographic

How to Raise a Bilingual Child

 Children learn a lot in their foundation years and languages have the power to introduce them to other cultures of the world. Since we are living in an era of globalisation, multilingualism has become more vital than ever. Working adults and even students get to interact with people worldwide once in a while, if not on a daily basis.

 Even when applying for a job, most of the employers consider having additional languages as a massive advantage to the application. Fortunately, with the help of digital apps and the culture of online games, language learning doesn't have to be boring. Language learning services such as Memrise and Duolingo give their users the opportunity to have fun while learning their aspired language.

How to Raise a Bilingual Child #Infographic

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