#multilingual documentation

[transcriptioncity]

Global business communication services and Multilingual Transcription Services

Global business communication services and Multilingual Transcription Services Effective communication across languages is essential for global businesses. Multilingual transcription services convert spoken language into written text in various languages. This article explores the benefits of multilingual transcription, tips for selecting the right service, and how to implement these services in…

[blog-article-usa]

Agences de Traduction : Accédez au Monde avec Nos Services Multilingues

Dans le monde moderne, où la communication transcende les frontières, la demande de services de traduction est plus cruciale que jamais. Les agences de traduction jouent un rôle essentiel pour permettre aux entreprises et aux particuliers de s'engager avec le monde dans la langue de leur choix. Dans cet article, nous explorerons en détail les différentes facettes des agences de traduction, en mettant l'accent sur les services en français. online traduction traduction juridique anglais  traduction documents juridiques traduction juridique en ligne  services de traduction juridique tarif traduction juridique traduction juridique en anglais service juridique traduction cabinet de traduction juridique service de traduction de document agence de traduction de documents agence de traduction de documents officiels

Les Fondements des Agences de Traduction

Les agences de traduction en ligne offrent une solution clé en main pour ceux qui cherchent à transcender les barrières linguistiques. Ces agences fournissent une gamme complète de services, du traducteur indépendant au prestataire de services de traduction à grande échelle. Que vous ayez besoin d'une traduction juridique, commerciale, technique ou médicale, une agence de traduction multilingue peut répondre à vos besoins spécifiques. traduction service

Services de Traduction en Français

Le français, langue de l'amour et de la diplomatie, est également une langue commerciale mondiale. Les services de traduction en français sont essentiels pour étendre votre portée vers les marchés francophones. Les agences de traduction en français proposent une gamme diversifiée de services, couvrant tout, des traductions juridiques aux traductions techniques. agence traduction en ligne

Bureau de Traduction : Votre Partenaire Multilingue

Choisir le bon bureau de traduction est une étape cruciale pour garantir la qualité et la précision de vos traductions. Les bureaux de traduction, qu'ils soient en ligne ou physiques, sont dotés de traducteurs experts dans différentes langues, y compris le français. Ces professionnels de la langue assurent que votre message est transmis de manière claire et culturellement appropriée. agence traduction assermentée

Agence de Traduction Assermentée : La Confiance Avant Tout

Les traductions assermentées sont souvent nécessaires dans des contextes juridiques ou officiels. Une agence de traduction assermentée garantit que vos documents sont traduits avec précision et certifiés conformes aux normes requises. Que ce soit pour des contrats, des certificats de naissance ou des documents légaux, une agence assermentée offre une assurance de qualité. traduction prestataire

Traduction en Ligne : Rapidité et Efficacité

Les services de traduction en ligne offrent l'avantage de la rapidité et de l'efficacité. Que ce soit pour une traduction urgente ou un projet à grande échelle, ces services permettent une flexibilité sans compromettre la qualité. L'utilisation de technologies avancées garantit une traduction fluide et précise, répondant aux exigences modernes. agence de traduction internationale

Traduction Juridique : Précision Inégalée

La traduction juridique est une discipline spécialisée qui exige une compréhension approfondie du langage juridique et des systèmes légaux impliqués. Une agence de traduction juridique offre des services allant de la traduction de contrats à la traduction de documents juridiques officiels, assurant une précision inégalée. agence de traduction spécialisée

Services Officiels de Traduction : Répondre aux Normes Rigoureuses

Les services de traduction de documents officiels sont cruciaux pour les entreprises et les individus qui traitent avec des documents sensibles. Les agences spécialisées dans la traduction de documents officiels garantissent une conformité totale avec les normes en vigueur, assurant la légalité et la validité de vos documents. service de traduction en ligne

Conclusion

En conclusion, les agences de traduction jouent un rôle essentiel dans le tissu de la communication mondiale. Que vous ayez besoin d'une traduction en français, d'une traduction juridique ou de services officiels de traduction, choisir la bonne agence est la clé du succès. Explorez les possibilités infinies qu'offrent ces services pour étendre votre portée et vous connecter au monde de manière significative. traduction document online services de traduction français anglais traduction anglais français online traduction livraison en anglais  service traduction en anglais traduction service en anglais urgence traduction anglais service en anglais traduction English to French translation service  agence de traduction en anglais services de traduction de documents officiels traduction de documents officiels traduction officielle

[interpreterhongkong]

Ever wondered how a certified translation in Singapore works? This infographic breaks down the entire process—from understanding when you need a certified translation to the factors that influence its cost. Don't miss out on these key insights that can save you time and money!

[languagexs]

Fostering Connections in Philippine Communities: Your Trusted Tagalog Language Translator

Connect with 22 million+ Tagalog speakers globally! Learn why professional human translators are indispensable for accurately conveying your message in this key language.

With over 22 million native speakers, Tagalog is a widely used language in the Philippines. To share your message with Tagalog audiences, accurate and culturally sensitive English to Tagalog translation is essential. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of human Tagalog language translators, examine common translation applications, and demonstrate how leading services like LanguageXS…

[gghostwriter]

Language of Devotion

Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Summary: You caught Spencer learning a new skill—your native language

Trope: Fluff! just fluff

Warning: Language learning app inaccuracies, that’s it really. I wrote this in a frenzy and no proofreading was done

Main masterlist

At around 6:30pm, you arrived at your boyfriend’s apartment complex with takeout on hand. The whole day you’ve spent slumped on your office desk, slaving away on documents that needed your attention and wishing time would move faster. You were knackered and planned to spend the rest of the evening charging within your boyfriend’s arms. You knocked twice on his mahogany apartment door but there was no answer.

“Spence. Spence,” you called out. “You there?”

Silence.

Strange, even though it was a week night, he mentioned that no call came in for a case—strictly paperwork day. You juggled the takeout to your other hand as you reached into your bag for the spare key with slight difficulty.

As you let yourself in the apartment, a ping sound echoed in the confined space. The source of the noise coming in from the bedroom door that was slightly ajar. You quietly placed all your items on the dining table and crept towards the room at the further end of the apartment.

Heart beating loudly on your chest, you peeked inside the room and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Spencer, hunched over his desk, furiously scribbling on a notebook and his phone light reflecting on his glasses.

“Hey Spencer,” you lovingly greeted and although you’ve already announced your presence multiple times earlier on, the sound of your voice made him jump and if you didn’t know any better, a whimper of fright also escaped his lips—he’d deny this, of course.

“Hey, Y/N,” he raked his hand through his hair. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

You smiled coyly. “Y’know for an agent, you’re awfully jumpy.”

He laughed, the tone of his voice warming your heart. “I was just busy with something,” his hands closing the notebook and pushing it aside, as if he didn’t want you to see what had occupied the entire capacity of his brain.

That intrigued you. Spencer wasn’t really the type to keep things hidden from you unless it’s case related and in which, he doesn’t bring it back home for him to study. When your relationship started that was one of your laid out boundary and he had respected and agreed to it—the days and nights that he’s not on call were meant to enjoy each other’s company.

You tried to creep closer, curious as to what he was doing. Being adept with your body language, Spencer tried to divert your attention—keyword ‘tried’. “What’s for dinner? I’m starving,” he rubbed his stomach for emphasis.

“I got us some pasta from the Italian place around the block,” you answered, still distracted by the secret contents of his notebook.

He wrapped his arms around you, seemingly intent on manhandling you out to the dining, before his idle phone notified with a green owl flashing on its screen and an automated voice in your first language spoke through the speaker: Dr. Reid, are you still there? Your chapter and lesson progress will not be counted should you exit.

You turned your head to watch Spencer’s cheeks turning pink.

“Spence, are you—are you using Duolingo?” A giggle escaping your lips. “To learn my first language?”

He smiled with a hint of guilt. “Uh—well, research published in Psychological Science indicates that multilingual individuals exhibit better attention control, cognitive flexibility, and problem-solving skills than monolinguals.”

“Uh-huh, that doesn’t explain why you’re learning my first language specifically.”

He caressed your cheek and smiled. “It’s the first language you learned to speak and it’s part of who you are, Y/N. I mean, you entered the US for your job as a translator,” he explained, staring into your eyes as if you were the most important thing in the world—you were, he assured, you and his mom were. “Do you know you only speak in your language when you mumble in your sleep? You dream in a language that I can’t understand and I want to know every side of you. I love you that much.”

You leaned in for a kiss, his care and adoration to you leaking out of him like honey and you were a bee unable to resist the sweetness. “That’s sweet of you, Spencer,” you pulled back and studied his hazel doe eyes as if they hold the key to the universe. “But I have to ask, does this also have something to do with my mom and dad flying in for a visit?”

He nodded. Last month you mentioned to him that your parents were visiting for four days before they fly to New York, where your other sibling was located. “I want them to get to know me and like me as your boyfriend and—and I can’t do that if we can’t understand each other.”

“They can speak English, granted it’s very much broken, but I can translate for you, Spencer, it’s no problem at all.” You assured him. “Plus, you’re a federal agent, that already makes you great in their books. My dad feels relieved that his own daughter is dating someone who could protect her and my mom already likes you—trust me on this. She hears how happy I am when I talk about you.”

“Are you sure?” He clarified again, clearly he was nervous in making a good impression. You were his first girlfriend and he wanted the relationship to last for a long time—forever really, if you’d let him.

“Yes, Spence. If you want, I can teach you the basics just to get you by. Duolingo isn’t really that accurate,” you mentioned as you pulled him out of the bedroom and into the dining. “Now, let’s eat. I’m hungry and the pasta has turned cold.”

He laughed, nodding his head, watching you prep the table as he reheated the pasta based exactly on the packaging instructions.

And on the first night of your parent’s arrival, your mother pulled you aside and smiled. “He’s a keeper, Y/N. Don’t let him get away.”

You laughed as you watched Spencer try his best to communicate with your father in his broken grammar and questionable pronunciation. “I won’t, Mom. I think he’s it for me, really.”

[shinelikethunder]

With less than a week to go, SCOTUS' partisan wing sends the message loud and clear that their attitude towards rubber-stamping outrageously illegal election-interference bullshit is "try and stop us, you jumped-up little shits."

However, in this particular case, you can still vote if Virginia has wrongfully purged you from the voter rolls. As of 2022, VA offers same-day registration and provisional ballots (where you follow up with documention after the fact), as long as you vote in the correct precinct.

Official Virginia page to look up the polling place for your address

Official Virginia same-day registration info

Official Virginia page to check your registration status

Ballotpedia state-by-state info on same-day registration

Ballotpedia state-by-state info on provisional ballots and what happens to ones cast in the wrong precinct

ACLU Know Your Rights voting fact sheet

Multilingual voter protection hotlines (English: 866-OUR-VOTE)

For anyone who became a citizen since their last DMV visit, or who suspects they made an error filing out their paperwork that would have booted them from voter lists, there are still ways to cast a ballot in next month’s elections. Registrars and election workers won’t turn eligible voters away from polls if they wish to utilize same-day registration or a provisional ballot, according to Henrico County Registrar Mark Coakley. [...] With a provisional ballot, voters will still need to follow up with their local registrar office to provide additional documents that can help verify their identity or other facts, like if they are residents of Virginia and the city or county they voted in, and whether they are U.S. citizens or have had their voting rights restored after a previous felony conviction. [...] Coakley said that when using a provisional ballot, voters are also given instructions to help with the follow-up procedures. “They’ll get a letter attached to their provisional ballot, giving them all the information of ‘This is the reason why (you may have this ballot)’ and ‘Here’s the ways to get hold of us to present evidence if you choose to do so,’” he said. Chesterfield County Registrar Missy Vera stressed that same-day registration can happen at any early voting location as well as on Election Day, which is Nov. 5.

[devildomwriter]

Hello! This is my first time sending an ask but I was just wondering do we know if the devildom or the celestial realm have their own languages? I remember in the og in one of the lessons when mc returns to the devildom after being in the human realm lucifer tells them to "sign this document with human world writing for now since it's just formalities" that means that they gotta have their own language right?if so how do you think they communicate? Does mc know their language? Do they speak our language instead? Also I wonder how the celestial realm and devildom communicate if they have their own respective languages maybe they need a translator? Or they are just multilingual

I’m sure there are more times but these are the two times within Volumes 1-4 of the OG game where they mention specific languages

Beelzebub: “It’s a message written in the language of angels. This is what it says: “When the morning star dwelt in the heavens, it’s light shone down upon this one, sparkling brilliantly, the eighth of the eight.” — (6-1)

Belphegor: “I don’t know about that. The note is written in Devildom script. So I’m guessing it’s real?” — (47-9)

Solomon also had to teach Satan ancient human texts so they don’t know them automatically.

It’s possible that they understand each other due to magic (this is the most likely reason)

Lucifer often met and spoke with Diavolo as an angel so his brothers possibly learned it from him, it could also be true that angels already know the language as they are supposedly higher beings.

Demons seems to know most or all modern human dialects as it’s their job to tempt humans and angels know for the opposite reason.

[sixofcrowdaydreams]

Crows Fanfic AU Idea...

With all the Crows college fics that exist, we've been sleeping on the Crows Community AU. Hear me out...

Summary:

Six very different students share one very common goal: passing a stupid language class at the local community college. They form a study group, new unlikely friendships -- new romances -- and maybe, just maybe, figure out how to pass their class.

Details:

Nina speaks six languages already and the 101 class is so easy for her, why would she bother to switch for something harder? The others find out she’s fluent and beg for help. (Lol, not Kaz though. He doesn’t beg, nor need help. He just shows up to the study group because his class partner comes to the study group and he claims he wants Jesper to actually work so that they can both pass.)

Jesper needs help focusing, Wylan needs help reading and writing in a new language, Matthais struggles with pronunciation and speaking. Inej wants to make sure she's learning correctly. Kaz just uses the the time studying to complete his work.

Class partnerships are: Nina and Inej, Kaz and Jesper, and Wylan and Matthias. Their crappy community college may be a joke, but their motivations to succeed are very real.

Character/Plot:

Kaz: business major, needs the degree to keep his club legal and legally reputable. (It is most definitely not, and he uses it to help the other Crows.) Unofficial leader of the study group despite only speaking one language while everyone else is multilingual. Doesn’t actually need help studying, could do it himself, but there is a lot of group work in the class and he’ll never admit it, but he is entertained by the others and enjoys their company. Especially Inej because she's the only other sane member of the study group.

Inej: social work major, wants to fight for others rights and help the most vulnerable. Like most of the Crows, speaks another language, but it’s not the one being studied in class. Honest and sweet, she (and Jesper) are the emotional core of the group, given her ability to care about the Crows' well being more than studying. 

Jesper: agricultural major, hates his major – is pretty sure he’s going to drop out because he doesn’t care about school, a bit of a slacker. Still incredibly smart when he applies himself. The Crows convince him to switch to a trade which is much better for him, now he just needs to tell his dad. (Yikes.) Immediately sleeps with Wylan and they both get awkward about it because they both thought the other wanted something casual, but they definitely don’t. Lets Wylan move in with him. 

Nina: nursing major, is only going through the motions to get a degree because the one she already has doesn’t count because it didn’t transfer correctly when she emigrated, which is total bullshit in her very strong opinion. Speaks 6 languages and the group comes to her with help studying – actually in charge of the studying part of the study group. Shamelessly flirts with everyone and is driven crazy taking a relationship at Matthias’s pace. 

Wylan: music major, homeless and stealthily living on campus because he technically doesn’t qualify for financial assistance (given his family’s wealth even though he has zero access to it). His father enrolled him in a community college instead of his family’s alma mater in order to embarrass him and expects him to flunk out. Wylan is determined to succeed. Works in the cafeteria, can speak class language very well, needs help with the reading/writing elements. Kaz forges some documents to get Wylan financial assistance and into campus housing. The Crows help him (and Jesper) get academic accommodations. Learns how to get help without being embarrassed.

Matthias: criminal justice major, arrested and released from jail, innocent and falsely accused, but having a difficult time getting back on his feet. He has a difficult time letting go of what happened to him and that it effects/limits his career opportunities. Hates how much he needs Nina’s help to pass the class, but he enjoys the one-on-one tutoring with her more than he wants to admit. He would rather slow down a relationship to court. Nina convinces him to let go of his anger and switch to a lit major, which makes him happier. 

I want to read it so badly ... wait, what do you mean that I have to write it first?

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

What's the average language like?

This will be a giant of a post, because this is a subject that I really like. So much of what we think about language just isn't true when you look at the majority of them and I'm not even going into how the languages themselves are constructed, only the people speaking them, if that makes sense. It will make sense in a moment, I promise

First, let's discuss assumptions. When you think of the abstract idea of a language, what do you imagine?

How many speakers?

Where is it spoken geographically?

Do speakers of the language only speak that language or do they speak at least one other language? How many more languages?

Is the language tied to a state/country?

Is the language thriving or endangered?

In what domains is the language used? (home, school, higher education, administration and politics, in the workplace, in popular media...)

Is the language well documented and supported? Are there resources like dictionaries to look up words in, does google translate work for it, does Word/google docs work etc?

Is the language spoken or signed?

Is the language written down? Is it written down in a standardised way?

Do you see where I'm going with this? My perspective on what a language is has completely shifted after studying some linguistics, and this only covers language usage and spread, not how words and grammar work in different languages. Anyways, let's talk facts. (if no other sources are given the source is my uni lectures)

How many speakers does the average language have?

The median language has 7 600 native speakers.

7 600 people is the median number of speakers. Half the world's languages have more, half have less.

Most languages in this tournament have millions of speakers. But maybe that's relatively common? After all, half of the world's languages have more than 7 600 speakers. No.

94% of all languages have less than a million speakers.

Just so you know, big languages are far from the norm. There are 6700-6800 living languages in the world (according to ethnologue and glottolog, the two big language databases. I've taken the numbers for languages having a non-zero number of speakers and not being classed as extinct respectively. Both list more languages).

6% of 6700-6800 languages would be around 400 languages with more than a million speakers. Still a lot, but only a (loud) minority. It's enough to skew the average number of speakers per language upwards though. Counting 8 billion people and 6800 languages, that's almost 1.2 million people per language on average. The minority is Very loud.

Where are most languages spoken?

First of all, I'll present you with these graphs (data stolen from my professor's powerpoint) which I first showed in this post:

49% of all languages are spoken in Africa and Oceania, a disproportionately large amount compared to their population. On the other hand, Europe and Asia have disproportionally few languages, though Asia still has the largest amount of languages. Curious, considering Europe is often thought of as a place with many languages.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a very linguistically interesting place, but we need to talk about New Guinea. One island with 6.4 million people. Somehow over 800 languages. If you count the surrounding islands that's 7.1 million people and 1050 languages. Keep in mind that there are 6700-6800 languages in the world, so those 1050 make up more than a seventh of all languages. The average New Guinean language has less than 3000 speakers. Some are larger, but still less than 250 000 speakers. Remember, this is a seventh of all languages. It's a lot more common than the millions of speakers situation!

So yeah, many languages both in and outside New Guinea are spoken by few people in one or a few villages. Which is to say a small territory. But 7600 speakers spread over a big territory will have a hard time keeping their contact and language alive, so it's not surprising.

Moving on, lets talk about...

Bilingualism! Or multilingualism!

Is it common to speak two or more languages? Yes, it is. This is the situation in most of the world and has been the case historically. Fun fact: monolingual areas are uncommon historically and states which have become monolingual became so relatively recently.

One common thing is to learn a lingua franca in addition to your native language, a language that most people in the area know at least some of so you can use it to communicate with people speaking other languages than you.

As an example, I'm writing this in English which isn't my native language and some of you reading this won't have English as your native language either. Other examples are Swahili in large parts of eastern Africa and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea (the autonomous state, not the entire island).

Speakers of minority languages often have to learn the majority language in the country too. It's difficult to live somewhere where most daily life takes place in one language without speaking at least some of it. This is the case for native people in colonised countries, immigrants and smaller ethnic groups just to mention a few situations. All countries don't have majority languages, but some are larger, more influential and used for things like administration, business and higher education. It's common for schooling to transition from local languages to a larger language or lingua franca in countries with many languages.

Another approach than the lingua franca is learning the language of villages or towns surrounding you, which is very common in New Guinea and certainly other parts of the world too. It's not unusual to know multiple languages, in some places in sub-saharan Africa people speak five or six languages on a village level. Monolingualism is a weird outlier.

Speaking of monolingualism, let's move on to...

Languages and countries

This is a big talking point, mostly because it affected my view of language before I started thinking about it. First of all, I'm going to talk about the nation state and how it impacts languages within it and the way people view language (mostly because it's a source of misconceptions which fall apart as soon as you start to think about them, but if you don't the misconceptions will stay). Then I'll move on to countries with lots of languages and what happens there instead.

So, the nation state

The idea is that the people of a nation state share a common culture, history, values and other such things, the most important here being language. We can all agree that this type of nationalism has done lots of harm to various minorities and migrants all over the world, but it's still an idea that has had and still has a big impact on especially the western world. The section on nation states will focus on the West, because that's the area I know enough about to feel comfortable writing about in this regard.

How do you see this in common conceptions of language? It's in statements and thoughts like this: In France people speak French (but what about Breton? Basque? Corsican? Various Arabics? Some of the other 15 indigenous and 18 non-indigenous languages established in France? What about people speaking French outside of France?), in the US people speak English (but what about the 197 living indigenous languages? Or the 34 established non-indigenous languages? And the many extinct indigenous languages forcibly killed by the promotion of English?).

In X country people speak X, except for the people who don't, but let's ignore them and pretend everyone speaks X. Which most might actually do if it's the single national language that's used everywhere, it's common to learn a second language after all.

This is of course a simplified (and eurocentric) picture, as many countries either have multiple national languages or recognise at least some minority languages and give them legal protection and rights to access certain services in their languages (like government agency information). Bi-/multilingual signage is common and getting more common, either on a regional or a national level. Maybe because we're finally getting ready to move on from one language, one people, one state and give indigenous languages the minimum of availability they need to survive.

I wrote a long section about how nation states affect language, but I realised that veered way off topic and should be its own post. The short version is that a language might become more standardised simply by being tied to a country and more mobility among the population leading to less prominent dialects. There's also been (and still is) lots of opression and attempts to wipe out minority (often indigenous) languages in the name of national unity. Lots of atrocities have been comitted. Sometimes the same processes of language loss happen without force, just by economic pressure and misconceptions about bilingualism.

What does this have to do with the average language?

I simply want to challenge two assumptions:

That all languages are these big national languages tied to a country

That it's common that only one language is spoken within a country. If you look closer there will be smaller languages, often indigenous and often endangered. There are also countries in the West where multiple languages hold equal or similar status (just look at Switzerland and its four official languages)

Starting with the second point, let's take a look at how Europe is weird about language again

Majority languges aren't universal

I'm going to present you with a list of the 10 countries with the most living languages, not counting immigrant languages (list taken from wikipedia, which has Ethnologue as the source):

Papua New Guinea, 840 languages

Indonesia, 707 languages

Nigeria, 517 languages

India, 447 languages

China, 302 languages

Mexico, 287 languages

Cameroon, 274 languages

Australia, 226 languages

United states, 219 languages

Brazil, 217 languages

DR Congo, 212 languages

Philippines, 183 languages

Malaysia, 133 languages

Chad, 130 languages

Tanzania, 125 languages

This further challenges the idea of one country one language. Usually there's a lingua franca, but it's not always a native language and it's not always the case that most are monolingual in it (like the US or Australia, both of which have non-indigenous languages as widespread lingua francas). Europe is the outlier here. People might use multiple languages in their day to day lives, which are spoken by a varying number of people.

In some cases the indigenous or smaller local languages are extremely disadvantaged compared to one official language (think the US, Australia and China), while in other places like Nigeria, several larger languages are widely used in their respective areas alongside local languages, with English as the official language even though it's spoken by few people.

It's actually pretty common in decolonised countries to use the colonial language as an official language to avoid favoring one ethnic group and their language over others. Others simply don't have an official language, while South Africa's strategy is having 12 official languages (there are 20 living indigenous languages and 11 non-indigenous languages in total, and one of the official ones is English, so not all languages are official with this strategy either). Indonesia handled decolonisation by picking a smaller language (a dialect of Malay spoken by around 10% at the time, avoiding favouring the Javanese aka the dominating ethnic group by picking their language), modifying it, and started using it as the new national language Indonesian. It's doing very well, but at the cost of many smaller languages.

Going back to the list, it's also interesting to compare the mean speaker number (if every language in a country was spoken by the same amount of people) and the median speaker number (half have more speakers, half have less). The median is always lower than the mean, often by a lot. This means that the languages in a country don't have similar speaker numbers, so one or a few languages with lots of speakers drive the average upwards while the majority of languages are small. Just like for the entire world.

The US and Australia stand out with 12 and 10 median speakers, respectively. About 110 languages in the US have 12 or fewer native speakers. The corresponding number for Australia is 113 languages with 10 or fewer speakers. There are some stable languages with few speakers documented, but they have/had between 40 and 60 speakers, so those numbers point towards a lot of indigenous languages dying very soon unless revitalisation efforts succeed quickly. This brings us to the topic of...

Endangered languages

This is an interesting tool called glottoscope made by Glottolog which you can play around with and view data on endangered languages and description status (which is the next heading).

I'll pull out some numbers for you:

Remember those 6700 languages in Glottolog? That's living languages. How many extinct languages are listed?

936 extinct languages. That's ~12,5% of the languages we know of. (Glottolog doesn't include reconstructed languages like Proto-Indo-European, only languages where we either have enough remaining texts to conclude it was a separate language or reliable account(s) that conclude the same. We can only assume that there are thousands of undocumented languages hiding in history that we'll never know of)

How many more are on the way to become extinct?

Well, only 36% (2800 languages) aren't threatened, which means that the other 64% are either extinct or facing different levels of threat

What makes a language threatened? The short answer is people not speaking the language, especially when it's not passed down to younger generations. The long answer of why that happens comes later.

306 languages are listed as nearly extinct and 412 more as moribound. That means that only the grandparent generation and older speak it and the chain of transmission to younger generations has broken. These two categories include 9,26% of all known languages.

The rest of all languages either fall into the threatened or shifting category. The threatened category means that the language is used by all generations but is losing speakers. The shifting category refers to languages where the parental generation speaks the language but their children don't. In both of these cases it's easier to revive the language, since parents can speak to the children at home instead of having to rely on external structures (for example classes in the heritage language taught like foreign language classes in schools).

Where are languages threatened?

This map is also from glottoscope and can be found here. I recommend playing around with it, you can zoom in and hover over every dot to see which language it represents. The colours signify threat level: green for not threatened, light green for threatened, orange for shifting, red for moribound and nearly extinct, and black for extinct. I'll come back to the shapes later.

As you can see, language death is more common in certain areas, like Australia, Siberia, North America and the Amazon, but it's still spread over the entire world.

Why are languages going extinct?

There are two important dimensions to the vigorousness of a language: The first is the number of speakers who claim the language as their own and speak it with each other. No speakers means no language. If all speakers move to different places or assimilate by shifting to a dominant language in the area (sometimes for work opportunities or for their childrens' future work opportunities. Sometimes because of which language(s) schools are taught in or disinterest from the children in the language and culture. Sometimes migration of an ethnic group for various reasons leads to language shifts. There are many complex reasons to why the link of transmission can break)

The other dimension, which ties into the first one, is the number of situations in which a language is used. There are many domains a language can be used in, like at home, in school, in the workplace, in politics and administration, in higher education, for international communication, in religious activities, in popular media like movies and music etc. When a language is no longer or never used in a particular domain, it might lose the associated vocabulary. When it becomes confined to a singular domain like the home, the usage goes down. The home is usually the last place an endangered language is spoken.

Usage in a domain is a reason to speak or hear the language. It's a reason to keep it alive. People also forget or get worse at languages they don't use. That's why a common revitalisation tactic is producing movies, radio programmes, news reporting, books and other media in a dying language. It gives people both reason and opportunity to use their language skills. Which language is used in schools is also important, as it keeps basic vocabulary for sciences and explaining the world alive. Another revitalisation tactic is making up new words to talk about modern concepts, some examples are the Kaqchikel word rub'eyna'oj from this tournament or creating advanced math vocabulary in Māori.

What does endangered languages have to do with the average language?

Trying to get this post back on track, these are some key points:

64% of all documented languages are either extinct or facing some level of threat. That's the majority of all language

Even excluding the extinct languages, the majority of languages are threatened or worse

This means that the average language is facing a loss of speakers, some more disastrous than others. Being a minority language in an increasingly globalized world is dangerous

Describing a language

Are you able to look up words from your native language in a thesaurus or a dictionary? What about figuring out how a certain piece of grammar works if you're unsure? Maybe you don't need that for your native language, but what about a second language you're learning?

If your native language is English, there are lots of resources, like online and book dictionaries/thesauruses or an extensive grammar (a book about how English grammar works). There's also a plethora of websites and courses to learn English, and large collections of written text or transcribed speech. If a linguist wants to know something about the English language there's an abundance of material. If someone wants to learn English it's easy and courses are offered in most parts of the world.

For other languages, the only published thing might be a list of 20 words and their translation into English or another lingua franca.

Let's take a look at the same map as earlier, but toggled to show documentation status in colour and endangerment status with shapes:

Here, the green signifies a long grammar and the light green a grammar. Both are extensive descriptions of the grammar in a language, but they differ in length. A long grammar has to contain over 300 pages and a grammar over 150. Orange is another type of grammar, namely a grammar sketch. Those are brief overviews of the main grammatical features or features that may be of interest for linguists, typically between 20 and 50 pages. The purpose isn't to be a complete grammar, only a starting point.

The red dots can signify a lot of things, but what they have in common is that there's no extensive description of the grammar. In those cases, the best description of the language might be a list of which sounds it contains, a paper about a specific feature, a collection of texts or recordings, a dictionary, a wordlist (much shorter than dictionaries) or just a mention that it exists.

Why are grammars and descriptions even important?

The better described a language is, the easier it is to learn it and study it. For a community facing language loss, it might be helpful to have a pedagogical grammar or a dictionary to help teach the language to new generation. If the language becomes extinct people might still be able to learn and revive it from the documentation (like current efforts with Manx). It also makes sure unique words or grammatical features as well as knowledge encoded in the language isn't lost even if the language is. It's a way of preserving language, both for research and later learning.

What's an average amount of descripion then?

36,2% of all documented languages have either a grammar or a long grammar. That's pretty good actually

38,2% of all documented languages would be marked by a red dot on this map, meaning that more languages than that don't have any kind of grammar at all, maybe only as little as a short list of words

The remaining 25,6% have a grammar sketch

So as you see, the well documented languages are in minority. On the brighter side, linguists are working hard at describing languages and if they keep going at the same rate as they have since the 1950s, they'll reach the maximum level of description by 2084. Progress!

Tying into both description of languages and domains where language is used...

What about technology and language?

There are many digital tools for language. Translation services, spelling and grammar checks in word processors, unicode characters for different scripts and more. I'm going to focus on the first two:

Did you know that there are only 133 languages on google translate? 103 more are in the process of being added, but that's still a tiny percentage of all languages. As in 2% right now and 3,5% once these other languages are added going with the 6700 language estimation.

Of course, this is for the most part a limination with translation technology. You need translated texts containing millions of words to train the algorithms on and the majority of languages don't have that much written text, let alone translated into English. The low number still surprised me.

There are 106 official language packs for Windows 10 and I counted 260 writing standards you can use for spelling checks in Word. Most were separate languages, but lots were different ways to write the same language, like US or British English. That's a vanishingly small amount. But then again:

Do all languages have a written standard?

No. That much is clear. But how many do? I'll just quote Ethnologue on this:

"The exact number of unwritten languages is hard to determine. Ethnologue (25th edition) has data to indicate that of the currently listed 7,168 living languages, 4,178 have a developed writing system. We don't always know, however, if the existing writing systems are widely used. That is, while an alphabet may exist there may not be very many people who are literate and actually using the alphabet. The remaining 2,990 are likely unwritten."

(note that Ethnologue classes 334 languages without speakers as living, since their definition of living language is having a function for a contemporary language community. I think that's a bad definition and that means it differs from figures earlier in the post)

Spoken vs signed

My last point about average languages is about signed languages, because they're just as much of a language as spoken ones. One common misconception is that signed languages reflect or mimic the spoken language in the area, but they don't. Grammar works differently and some similarities in metaphor might be the only thing the signed language has in common with spoken language in the area.

Another common misconception is that there's only one sign language and that all signers understand each other. That's false, signed languages are just as different from each other as spoken languages, except for some tendencies regarding similarity between certain signs which often mimic an action (signs for eating are similar in many unrelated sign languages for example).

Glottolog lists 141 Deaf sign languages and 76 Rural sign languages, which are the two types of signed language that become entire languages. The difference is in reach.

Rural signs originate in villages with a critical amount of deaf people (around 6) that make up a fully fledged language with complete grammar to communicate. Often large parts of the village learn tha language as well. There are probably more than 76, that's just the ones the linguist community knows of.

What's called Deaf sign languages became a thing in the 1750s when a French guy named Charles-Michel de l'Épóe systematised and built onto a rural sign from Paris to create a national sign language which was then taught in deaf schools for all deaf children in France. Other countries took after the deaf school model and now there's 141 deaf sign languages, each connected to a different country. Much easier to count than spoken languages.

Many were made from scratch (probably building on some rural sign), but some countries recruited teachers from other countries that already had a natinonal sign language and learnt that instead. Of course they changed over time and with influence from children's local signs or home signs (rudimentary signs to communicate with hearing family, not complete languages), so now there's sign language families! The largest one unsurprisingly comes from LSF (Langue des Signes Française, the French one) and has 63 members, among them ASL.

What does this have to do with average languages? Well, languages don't have to be spoken, they can be signed instead. Even if they make up a small share of languages, we shouldn't forget them.

Now for some final words

Thank you for reading this far! I hope you found this interesting and have learned something new! Languages are exciting and this doesn't even go inte the nitty gritty of how different languages can be in their grammar, sounds and vocabulary. Lots of this seem self evident if you think about it, but I remember how someone pointing out facts like this truly shifted my perspective on what the language situation in the world truly looks like. The average language is a lot smaller and diffrerent from the common idea of a language I had before.

Please reblog this post if you liked it. I spent lots of time writing it because I'm passionate about this subject, but I'd love if it spread past my followers

[jeff-the-box-boy]

Random sinner headcanons and stuff

This is not all my hcs, I have some for Vergil as well. This is probably most of the sinner hcs I have tho

Yi Sang

Enjoys fermented, rotten and spoiled foodstuffs

Kinda looks like a Victorian orphan (pale, thin, probably scrounges around on the floor for food)

Fibromyalgia, type 1 diabetes, nyctalopia, pica, depression, autism, depersonalization, sea sickness, motion sickness, nut allergy, pet spit allergy, (to be continued?)

Yi Sang and his multitude evil exes like Ramona Flowers (Dongrang, Dongbaek, Gubo)

Stupid sense of humor but he rarely laughs, mostly just smiles to himself when he makes a name pun or hears an accident innuendos

Doesn't like conflict, especially personal conflict with people he cares about

Faust

Autism, NPD, lactose intolerant, (to be continued possibly)

Has a special interest in trains, was much more prevalent in childhood (Still prevalent in adulthood, it's why everything seems kinda train themed despite them being on a bus)

Plus sized fat girl

Indulges in Yi Sang's stupid puns and stuff, sometimes making puns of her own with him

Don

ADHDtism, delusions of grandeur, probably schizophrenia or STPD, pet hair and spit allergy, (TBC)

Never gets bed head or knotty hair

Very strong arms

Fixated on the fixers part of the fixer fandom

Writes fixer fanfic

Ryoshu

Probably ASPD, (TBC)

Has favorites when it comes to the other sinners (Faust, Sinclair, and Hong Lu)

Was likely an artist for the ring in her past

Shibari enjoyer, mostly rigger but does not mind modeling

Meursault

Autism, SPD (schizoid), hypersexual, hyperthymesia, (TBC)

Studies the people around him and slightly changes how he acts around them to make conversation less of a hassle/go smoother (I have a few examples of this kinda happening in canon)

Keeps a mental list of things he likes and does not like about the other sinners:

How they treat him, things they say that stick out, reactions to things he does, random tidbits and pieces of backstories

Also has like an actual physical notebook but his memory is good enough, tends to be full of shockingly detailed and realistic sketches with very few notes

Collects scraps of newspapers, pictures, and documents he finds

May or may not have pocketed an old Gregor propaganda poster

Hong Lu

ADHDtism, pica, latex allergy, nut allergy, (TBC)

Vaguely multilingual (not fluent) and sometimes practices with the sinners, like speaking German with Sinclair and Gregor (he sounds very funny when he speaks german)

Emotionally intelligent

All of his questions are genuine, except sometimes he asks stupid questions specifically to annoy Heathcliff:

Sometimes he just wants to hear Heathcliff explain something even if he already knows about it

He also plays along with light jabs and insults Heathcliff does, falsely proving them correct (often making Heathcliff groan or very fuckimg confused)

Good with hair styling and decent with makeup, if the girls have sleepovers he's definitely invited to them

He eats lipstick and chapstick. He takes big fucking bites out of them. He likes mint flavored lip balm.

He often steals lipstick from Rodya seeing shes one of the few on the bus that uses it but he makes it up to her by buying her more expensive makeup or food

Heathcliff

Possible IED, inferiority complex, C-PTSD, lactose intolerant, (TBC)

Lower empathy for rich people; higher empathy for poor people

Like using nicknames, they come naturally to him

Defaults to things like "bloke" and "lass" but he does have a few sinner specific ones

Ishmael

OCD, cyclothymia, Insomnia, nut allergy, (TBC)

Distracts herself with busy work, shes always trying to do something

If she has nothing to do she often stims or fiddles around with stuff like her hair, her fingers, or bounces her leg and stuff

Doesn't like feeling useless or inadequate

Showers and cleans herself multiple times a day

"scrubbing the sea water/whale spit(?) off"

Rodya

HPD, possible BPD, dyslexia, gambling addict, binge eater, inferiority-superiority complex, lactose intolerant, (TBC)

Left handed but claims ambidexterity

"Wanna hear something to get your brain thinking?" Proceeds to say some stupid shit that seems like it could be philosophical but it's actually a big nothing burger (sometimes Yi Sang actually tries towards interpret her nonsense in an actual poetic way)

Tries her hardest to ignore and not face problems, especially her own

Sinclair

Severe anxiety, DPD, PTSD, dyscalculia, possible BPD, nut allergy, pollen allergy, (TBC)

He has many bad habits that have stuck with him since childhood/school

Biting his nails and cuticles up while stressed

Not drinking enough water (doesn't want to pee during class/a meeting)

Waits till the end of a briefing to ask questions or for help 

Wears his gloves to stop his nail biting 

He also just has really cold hands

He's bites the inside of his cheeks when he can't bite his nails

Internalized homophobia but like.. in a weird way. Like. Does gay things but, either feels bad abt it, like guilty, or tries to make not gay excuses for it. But like only for himself?

Projects self hatred and his trauma on his enemies, which makes it easier for him to attack them

When both him and Demian are asleep at the same time they can share dreams and interact with each other in them

Outis

Autism, possible PTSD, latex allergy, (TBC)

She's a kiss-ass towards Dante because she had to be a kiss-ass during the war in order to move up in position

Kinda glues herself to Dante's side, she explains things that don't need explained or says she's gonna protect them (Ishmael does it better) (Dante doesn't bother trying to get Outis to stop)

The oldest sinner (until proven not)

Looks down on many of the other sinners, she kinda ranks them in her head (waste of breath, fixable, I can work with this, decent, the manager)

Gregor

Autism, PTSD, survivor's guilt, immunocompromised, pollen allergy, latex allergy, other possible allergies,  seasonal depression, disassociation

Doesn't really know how to take a compliment since he doesn't usually get complimented 

TOUCH STARVED.

Has long antenna coming from his head along with the bug arm, also unfinished/underutilized/healed over wings that sometimes nub up under his back when he's stressed but don't break through his skin (like g corp Greg's wings)

Whenever he's in battle his eyes kind of glaze over and he disassociates, buggy bits kinda take over

Gregor doesn't like killing especially when it's not very necessary, makes him think of the war and his buddies 

Gregor also has watery eyes, this is not specifically during battle but just in general. Sometimes when he lays on his side the eye on that side starts to tear up and leak

During intense moments, little bits of exoskeleton and chitin harden on him; like a patch of shell on the side of his or his buggy shoulder extends up a bit

Actually prefers stale or slightly turned food since he got modified but he doesn't tell anyone cause he's embarrassed and kind of ashamed of it (based on book Gregor not liking fresh food and only eating rotten or bad food, but less intense)

Dante

Amnesia, latex allergy, some kind of chronic pain (arthritis possibly), (TBC)

Nonbinary they/them intersex clock with a pair of sick tits (Dante deserves boobs)

Actual like. Dark gray skin 

Usually a bit of a nervous loser but occasionally has bouts of confidence/competence/authority similar to how they were from before they lost their head

Also likes to keep themself busy with work similar to Ishmael (they are trying their hardest to be a really good manager despite being thrown into this role suddenly)

Communicates with people that aren't the sinners through writing, simple sign language (they're still learning), making a sinner translate, or tracing letters on people

Gets phantom pains all the time, especially is a sinner died an exceptionally painful death recently

Clock has feeling like a real head

Gets repairs and check ups for their internal mechanisms, the clock even more sensitive inside the clock. all the wires and gears and stuff feel strange

Gregor and Ryoshu sometimes take smoke breaks with each other or light each others cigarettes 

Meursault and Heathcliff sometimes "play dress up" or "cosplay" with Don, Heathcliff refuses to be anything that's not somewhat badass though (Meursault has worn a dress before. Meursault does not talk about this incident.)

Outis and Gregor have a mutual kind of respect, and disdain for each other. They respect each other as veterans. Outis is a bit disappointed in his deserting and not seeing the war till the end. Gregor is freaked out by her "at least I didn't die" mindset compared to his "why was I the one that had to live" mindset

Gregor empathizes greatly with Dante whenever he sees them being dehumanized because of their prosthetic. He actively tries to talk and befriend Dante to make sure they never feel lonely or worthless

Gregor and Yi Sang both have midnight cravings and they dig through the dining room trash can for stale food. One night they both ran into each other in the dark while making their way to the trash can, Gregor nearly exploded in embarrassment. They don't talk about it, or at least Gregor doesn't. Both of them think about it pretty often though, more often then they'd expect

[transcriptioncity]

Multilingual Note Taking Services

The Evolution and Impact of Multilingual Note Taking Services Multilingual note taking services have deep roots in the ancient need for accurate record-keeping. As societies began to interact more frequently, the necessity for multilingual documentation became apparent. Early traders and diplomats required reliable records in multiple languages to ensure clear communication. This demand led to…

[pattern-recognition]

making all official government-issued signage and documents multilingual because an undiluted democracy should strive to “put an end to every kind of privilege as quickly as possible, as completely as possible and as vigorously as possible.” - V. I. Lenin

<

making all official government-issued signage and documents multilingual because it looks really cool

[kindheart525]

Dottieverse Fun Facts

Just a list of random fun facts about the Dottieverse cast! I've done separate posts on some of these tidbits but I wanted to put all the info in one place and add some bits that might not warrant posts on their own

I’ll keep editing this post as I come up with more fun facts! This isn’t complete by any means so keep checking back for more. Please feel free to suggest some too and maybe they’ll be added to the list!

Dottie Dompler

Her favorite drink is boba tea

Writes film reviews on Letterboxd in her free time

Doesn’t remember what she studied in college as she spent most of her time there picking up dudes

Keeps two diaries: One for general thoughts and feelings and another exclusively for documenting her love life in detail

Has an OnlyFans

Actually has some ex-girlfriends (one or two from experimenting in college and a few trans lady exes who presented as male when she dated them)

Kip Pimling

Is left-handed

Loves Chappell Roan and other similar artists

Used to do musical theater in middle school and still loves to do karaoke

Started seeing a therapist as an angsty preteen and still goes regularly for mental health upkeep

She and Dottie dressed up for the Barbie movie 30th anniversary theater re-release (in 2053)

Got her B.A. in psychology fully online so she could stay in her hometown and intern for Smiling Friends

Ell Pimling

Fucking horrible at driving; always goes way over the speed limit

When she wants to talk to a tall person she just climbs them

Her taste in women overlaps with Giorno's so they often bond by gushing over attractive female athletes together

Nee Pimling

Has a small, persistent bruise on his bicep where he pinches himself every time his conscience “acts up”

Dur Pimling

Secretly skilled in graphic design; all of the advertisements for his and Nee’s laundromat were made by him

Blep Simpson

Multilingual in Wingon, Latin, American Sign Language, Hebrew, and English (which she never speaks but can understand)

Gola Simpson

Talks with Allan’s inflection and pronunciation style

Wore a wig as a teenager out of insecurity

Giorno Simpson

His social media is mostly full of videos of him doing various workouts but he also has a "making fun of short people" series which has featured Suzy, Eep, Chad, and Ell

Secretly very good at singing but doesn’t let anyone hear it

Glorp Simpson

Suzy Simpson

Owns a vast collection of hats to wear for every occasion

Is a horse girl; she owns a little pony named Rapunzel with a long mane that matches hers

Really wants to do coordinated Halloween costumes with Eep, but since Eep will never go out with her she does it with her niece Royal instead

Eep Simpson

Chad Simpson

Enjoys collecting fancy watches, and also has some silly kid ones from his sisters

Likes horses like Suzy does, but he doesn't like dirt so he bonds with her over sharing facts and watching races rather than riding them

Crawdad Crustacean

Has a southern accent that comes and goes

Pim “Beef” Pimling-Simpson II

When strangers in public ask him why he doesn’t have legs, he makes up different horrible stories about how he lost them to make them regret asking

[jattendschaton]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you so much @ladyofthenoodle for tagging me! I love being part of things 🥺 <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

On my main account there are 37 publicly posted

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

Main account has 207,377, but if I included the other account and my unpublished stuff it's 280,000+

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Miraculous Ladybug, but I have dabbled in others!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

honestly it was embarrassing to list these out :'):'):')

Out of the Closet Dropping All Pretenses On Open Secret electrify me, i'm dying to burn knowing you

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Most of the time I do! I dont tend to respond to rude comments anymore and sometimes I dont know what to say, but I try to respond to most comments!! I feel so lucky to receive any of them, I just want the commenter to know how much I appreciate them <3<3 There has been at least one time when I was so overwhelmed with a lovely comment that I never responded because I just liked looking at it so much 🙈 but that person was also a friend of mine so I did express to them privately how much their comment meant to me

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For published fic, definitely whistle stop. I have written a lot of other angsty stuff though that will never see the light of day </3

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I feel like after a certain point, they're all kind of equally happy in their endings, but I guess live chat? I dont know though, I really dont tend to reread my fics

8. Do you get hate on fics?

ajskdljkl yes I have gotten hate on fics before

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I dont think I've written anything that would classify as a crossover

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I don't think the translation is up anymore but it was like my second or third fic and I was over the moon that someone liked it enough to put in the time to translate it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not seriously. I've been part of a few projects where we were going to cowrite a fic together that never ended up getting finished and I've set up a document to cowrite a fic with a friend that we never did anything with :/ I'd love to co-write a fic though, I think it's so cool when people collaborate like that!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Lovesquare and original ot4 of Alyadrininette <3

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

As far as published works from my main account there are a lot :') but the one that hurts the most is probably Where the Devils Are rip

16. What are your writing strengths?

I don't really have an answer for this!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

asjdjkl if I dwell on this too long I will never write another sentence so I'm also going to skip this one!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think it's really cool when other people who are multilingual do it! I've dropped a word or two in when it felt right, but otherwise I personally stay away from writing it because I lack the knowledge to do it justice. I do sometimes make up languages for magic purposes, though!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First fandom I published fanfic for was Miraculous Ladybug!

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

asjdklf ahhhh I have no response to this because I dont reread my writing. I think probably the closest thing I have to a favorite at any point in time is whichever one I wrote the most recently

tagging: @rosekasa @marimbles @picayunearts @emsylcatac @anna-scribbles @talkstoself (no pressure to anyone tagged if you dont want to do it of course, I'd just always love to see more stuff about your writing!) and anyone else who'd like to participate! I know it can be kind of sad if no one tags you in one of these things and you wanted to do it so just let me know and I will add you <3

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi, I'm trying to come up with a good friend/assistant for a Detective I'm writing. What's a good job/occupation that could help them beforehand? I don't want to do doctor/medical as that's a bit played out and wouldn't work into her story.

Occupation of Detective's Helper

First, it depends on what type of detective they are, because there are detectives, private detectives, and private investigators--and private investigators are sometimes referred to as detectives. Detectives work with a law enforcement agency, private detectives are employed by law firms, insurance companies, or corporations, but they are bound by the law like regular detectives. Private investigators, on the other hand, can be hired by anyone in the private sector and although they're bound to the law to the same degree as any other citizen, they're more likely to do things detectives can't due to being law enforcement/employed by a high profile organization.

For law enforcement detectives, any number of people within the law enforcement agency might assist them. You would need to research the specific type of law enforcement agency, see what their structure is, and find out the different people who commonly help investigate cases.

If you're going with a private detective or private investigator, although it's almost as played out as medical assistants, you could go the techie route... either the computer whiz who can "zoom and enhance" on gritty video images and triangulate last known whereabouts using cell phone pings. Or, the person who the detective goes to for the latest technical gear... the night vision goggles, the covert listening devices, and the cameras that look like random objects.

Other options for private detectives and private investigators:

-- If the they go undercover a lot, they might have someone who helps them with fake IDs, fake documents, etc.

-- Although it's in the same ballpark as the medical stuff, a scientist or other lab worker who analyzes finger prints, DNA, etc.

-- An expert in something the private detective/private investigator deals with often, like gangs/factions, the underbelly of the city, political connections, etc.

-- Someone who can pull strings in high places, like the D.A.'s assistant or the mayor's summer intern, or even a local politician.

-- Someone who can get any information about anything... they just know the right places to look/ask.

-- Someone in the media who has a lot of connections or has their finger on the pulse of the city.

-- If the detective/investigator works in a place where they're going to encounter people who speak a different language, or a lot of different languages, they might have a multilingual interpreter who can translate for them.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but keep an eye on the comments in case anyone else has ideas!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[hiding-in-the-vault]

I would like to apply to the position of evil henchman/minion.

The following document lists my skills, abilities and previous jobs. If I get the job, i can provide at least one type of baked goods per week.

Ooohh what do we have here? A ghost? A tad ghoulish, perhaps? It is about time I expand more resources into the supernatural division. They haven't been getting the due attention lately, but it really is such a profitable endeavor. You seem qualified enough to lead that new development! Multilingual, no less. Consider yourself hired.

The paperwork will be sent to whatever cave or lake you are current residing in.