Language Links

Language Links is a reference tool for solidifying your knowledge of multiple languages. It is not a teaching tool per se, but can help to strengthen your recall of languages you already know to some extent or are currently studying. It is further a conceptual way of organizing language learning: each word list attempts to group the most common terms used in human expression by themes common to that expression.

For each conceptually grouped list of words, each term is displayed in ten culturally significant languages. These languages include two classical (Greek and Latin), three Romance offshoots (Italian, Spanish and French), two Germanic (English and German), one Slavic (Russian), and two Asian (Chinese and Japanese). Each term is listed with its closest concept in the other nine languages, and so may occur multiple times in each list to capture different meanings.

The fun comes when touching each language button: the current list appears sorted in that language, allowing you to see occurrences of multiple language links. The "Previous" and "Next" buttons then scroll through the list as sorted by the last selected language, showing how the terms in the selected language relate to the other languages.

The following idiosyncrasies of notation need to be mentioned: classical Greek accents are not noted, except for initial rough breathing indicated by an apostrophe. Chinese characters are traditional, and pinyin is not indicated at this time. Japanese kanji are not indicated if identical to the visible Chinese characters.

Language Links is the culmination of an ongoing personal project. I have been compiling basic word lists for the last few years, and finally realized that they could best be presented on the iPad. I hope you enjoy the result as much as I do! Feedback on the data in the lists is certainly welcome.

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