Word of the day.

Focus on the Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary

2013-06-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

A big upgrade to our dictionary products for iPhone and iPad went live this week. There's lots of great stuff in this upgrade, and you can read about many of the highlights here and here.

One of the most exciting new developments is our dramatically improved French-English dictionary from Collins and Le Robert. The newly retitled Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary uses the Collins Robert Concise Dictionary 8th Edition © HarperCollins Publishers and Dictionnaires Le Robert 2011, combined with Ultralingua's beautiful and powerful user interface and search engine. We love the result, and are confident it's the best French-English dictionary available for iOS.

The Collins-Robert dataset is exceptionally rich with usage notes, example phrases, grammatical details, notes on regionalisms, etc., along with great coverage of English and French vocabularies. It also includes hundreds of special cultural notes, like the "Journaux" entry shown here.

The app also comes with helpful introductory material in both French and English:

Combine Collins and Le Robert's world-class data with Ultralingua's sophisticated linguistic software, and you get the most powerful French-English reference available, in an app that's a genuine pleasure to use.

The upgrade to Ultralingua 2.3 also applies to our other Collins dictionaries: Spanish-English, Italian-English, German-English, Portuguese-English, Russian-English, Mandarin-English, and English monolingual.

Questions or suggestions? Use the comments section below, or contact us at support@ultralingua.com.

Free Ultralingua iOS Upgrades to Version 2.3

2013-05-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

We are delighted to announce a major upgrade to our dictionary products for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This upgrade will be accompanied by a 50% off sale for all our iOS dictionary apps.

Owners of any of our version 1.5.4 dictionaries will receive a free upgrade to version 2.3. In addition, if you have one or more of our standalone dictionaries, you can activate iCloud, download the Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf for free, and your standalone dictionaries will be together in the single Bookshelf app--again, with no additional fee.

As an additional big thank you to those of you who have already upgraded to Ultralingua 2, we have some special freebies. See our FAQ for details.

Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary and more from Collins

We're particularly excited about our collaboration with Collins and Le Robert. Together, we have adapted the world-class Collins Robert Concise Dictionary 8th Edition © HarperCollins Publishers and Dictionnaires Le Robert 2011 to work beautifully in Ultralingua's app.

This will be a free upgrade for those of you who have already purchased the Collins French-English Translation Dictionary and Verbs, now retitled the Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary. We have had a great time working on this project with the people at Collins and Le Robert, and we're thrilled with the results.

The upgrade to version 2.3 also applies to our other Collins dictionaries: Spanish-English, Italian-English, German-English, Portuguese-English, Russian-English, Mandarin-English, and English monolingual.

More new titles: Dutch and Latin

You may also notice four new Dutch bilingual dictionaries (Dutch-English, Dutch-French, Dutch-German, and Dutch-Spanish), all of which come with our brand new Dutch conjugator and the usual collection of great Ultralingua features. The Dutch dictionaries are available only through the Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf.

We've also made big changes in our Latin-English dictionary, which is now based on the 1879 classic A Latin Dictionary by Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, digitized and made available in the public domain by the Perseus Digital Library, and edited for Ultralingua by classicist Rob Hardy, Ph.D.

New features

Besides improvements in the data, what's new in Ultralingua 2.3? So much! You can see this illustrated guide to the new features for plenty of detail. In brief:

• Streamlined navigation, for fast consultation. All searching, conjugation, number translation, etc. happens from a single search box, with all results on a single screen.

• Smart search searches both languages simultaneously, finds root words and accent-insensitive matches, adjusts for articles and prepositions (e.g. "l'homme" finds "homme"), etc.

• Mark words and conjugations as favorites, and share them using Twitter and Facebook.

• The dictionaries feature a beautifully rendered, completely redesigned dictionary display.

• The powerful and convenient in-line verb conjugator includes translations and many new tenses.

• iCloud enables you to combine your separate Ultralingua dictionaries into the convenient all-in-one Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf app.

• Change fonts and font sizes.

Learn more

• A video demonstration of some of the new features

• A how-to video for combining separate dictionaries into the Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf

• Our FAQ for the upgrade

• Our illustrated guide to the new features

Let us know if you have questions. Thanks for all your support!

"Springtime" at Ultralingua: App Store features and a French-English sale

2013-04-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

On this lovely, warm spring day beside the Mississippi,

we're excited to see Ultralingua products keep getting attention on the iTunes App Store. This morning we woke to find our French-English Dictionary featured front and center on the iTunes App Store's Reference page. To celebrate, we have lowered the price of our iOS French-English Translation Dictionary and Verbs to $9.99.

Our word game Psychobabble has been featured, too, spending the past month on the iTunes Education page. (We didn't originally conceive it as an educational game, but we have heard from school teachers who use Psychobabble to stretch their students' brains between lessons, and that their students love it. We're not going to argue with that!)

Thanks for your support, which helps make Apple notice us. Keep sending your friends our way, and we'll keep building the best products we can!

Coming Soon: Free iOS Upgrades

2013-04-05T17:27:00.001-05:00

In a few weeks, we’re making some big changes to Ultralingua’s apps. In this post, we want to tell you about our plans and ask for your suggestions.

But first, we want to apologize for a mistake we made last summer. We know we let some of you down when we released Ultralingua Dictionary 2.0 without an upgrade path. We screwed up, and we are sorry. We want to do better.

We also want to say a big thank you to those of you who paid to upgrade to Ultralingua Dictionary 2.0 despite the cost. When we roll out the upgrades described below, we’ll include some special freebies for those of you who have already moved.

So what’s the plan? Since last summer, we’ve been trying to figure out how to give users of the version 1.5 Collins, Vox, and Ultralingua products an upgrade to the new app. After a lot of experimenting, we finally found a way to do it - for free.

If you have more than one dictionary, you will be able to choose whether to keep them separate (like the 1.5 versions now) or put them together in a single app (like Ultralingua Dictionary 2.0). Either choice will be free.

To make sure this upgrade is as useful to you as possible, we want to hear from you.

Which features do you use the most in your 1.5 app?
What would you like to work better or differently in your 1.5 app?
Have you tried Ultralingua Dictionary 2.0-2.2? What did you like and dislike about it?
Any other suggestions?

Leave us your replies in the comments below, or send them to us here.

We’ll update our FAQ regularly with new details about the upcoming changes. We’ll have more information for you in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we are eager to hear your ideas, and to work with you to give you the best language tools we can.

Free iOS Upgrades FAQ

2013-04-05T13:26:00.000-05:00

What’s in this update/upgrade?

We are giving users of the version 1.5 Collins, Vox, and Ultralingua products a free upgrade to version 2.3 of the Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf app. You can read about the improvements and reasons for this free upgrade in our blog post.
We've added some great new features to version 2.3. Check out our illustrated guide to all the features of the new Bookshelf app.

How do I download the update?

When we release the update, a red and white badge will appear in the corner of your App Store icon on your iOS device. Here are the steps to update your app:

Open the App Store app and select “Updates” in the lower-right corner of the menu bar across the bottom.
Select your Ultralingua app for an individual update, or tap “Update All” at the top of your screen to download all available updates for the apps on your device at once.

How do I move my current Ultralingua, Collins, or Vox dictionaries to the Bookshelf app?

Update your apps to version 2.3.
Turn on iCloud and make sure iCloud - "Documents & Data" is turned on.
Open each updated dictionary at least once so it can sync with iCloud.
Download the free Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf app from the App Store.
Open the Bookshelf app. iCloud will make your previous dictionaries available for download under the "Downloads and Updates" section of the in-app store.
Tap each dictionary in this section to download it.
Please note: This could take several minutes based on your internet connection speed, number of dictionaries, and iCloud's responsiveness.

Can I change the font back to the one used in the previous version?

Yes, just tap the "aA" button and choose Helvetica, the same font used in the older version of the apps.
You can also increase and decrease the size of the font by tapping the smaller or larger "A" buttons until the text is the size you like.

Where did the verb conjugations go?

Don't worry, they're still there. When you search for a verb you'll see an entry for the verb itself with its translations. Directly above that is another entry for the verb with the word Conjugations in it. Tap that cell to expand it and you'll see the present tense conjugation.
You can change the tense by tapping the button with the word Present in it, or tap the right-pointing arrow next to it to see all of the tenses on one screen.

What iOS version do I need to run the updated app?

The Ultralingua Dictionary requires iOS 5.0 or later. This means that older iOS devices will not be able to receive the update. Here’s the list of compatible devices:

iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5.
iPod touch 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation.
All iPads.

Can I preview the dictionaries?

Yes! You may download the Ultralingua Dictionary Bookshelf app and try a sample dictionary. You’ll be able to see the letter “m” entries for any of our currently available dictionaries, and use all of the features.

What if I don’t want to download the update?

Once you update your app, the older 1.5 version will be gone for good. If you wish to keep your old app exactly as it is even after we release the update, do not select “Update All” - even if you have other updates available for apps on your device. You will need to select other apps’ updates individually to preserve your Ultralingua 1.5 apps.
The same is true if you update your apps via iTunes on your computer. Do not select “Download all free updates” or you will automatically receive this update. You will need to update your other apps individually to preserve your Ultralingua 1.5 apps

I already bought the version 2 upgrade - what’s in it for me?

We’ll start by saying thank you for your support, and for continuing to use Ultralingua!
We’re happy to offer you some complimentary products in appreciation for already making this transition. Contact us at support@ultralingua.com and let us know what you’d like from the list below:

One free dictionary for each dictionary you’ve already purchased.
Free PRO subscription to the Ultralingua Online Dictionary.
Free Mac or Windows versions of Ultralingua.
Free puzzle credits for our new word association game, Psychobabble.

I am a current Ultralingua Dictionary 2.0 user - how will this affect me?

You’ll receive the latest features and improvements with this free update, including the addition of the Collins, Vox, Latin, and Dutch dictionaries to the in-app store.
Your dictionaries, favorites, and history will remain the same.
You will continue to receive free updates with improved features and new dictionaries going forward.

New Algorithm Reconstructs Extinct Languages

2013-03-25T17:09:00.000-05:00

There’s a new scoop on a recently developed computer program that seems like a promising solution to the intense and slow-going task of reconstructing lost languages. Intended to locate the long-forgotten root words of younger, inter-related languages, the algorithm could help us learn more about what extinct languages sounded like and how people once communicated.

Developed by researchers in California and Canada, the new algorithm is more flexible than previous automated systems, allowing it to more accurately search out root words from larger and more complex language trees.

The usual process for reconstructing extinct languages involves assessing word from modern languages that have grown out of the old ones, and inferring what the earlier root words may have been, based on how the sounds of languages change over time. Though remarkably accurate in the hands of professional researchers, the process is slow. As one of the developers, Alexandre Bouchard-Côté, describes in Nature, researchers expect not only that this program will help to reconstruct languages, but also to test hypotheses about how they evolve and change over time.

Tested on over 600 languages primarily spoken in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the algorithm’s results matched those of linguists working out the same process “manually” 85% of the time. But the program doesn’t take into account everything that a linguist would look for when examining the same problems, suggesting that its accuracy may be improved upon, but also that there are some things that researchers still can’t leave up to machines.

And even as they move forward, researchers are cautious - developers of the program and other linguists advise against relying too heavily on this kind of technology. University of Pennsylvania linguist Don Ringe says that the current 85% success rate of the new program “will never be good enough,” and that researchers can’t allow themselves to become dependent on approximations - the business of language can be hard work!

However, programs like this may be increasingly useful in the coming years, as languages are becoming endangered and going extinct faster than ever before. As a smaller and smaller group of dominant world languages become more widely spoken, indigenous languages and other local languages are fading out of use - some estimates suggest that up to 90% of languages currently spoken in the world will become extinct by 2050.

A world with more multilingual people who can communicate together sounds pretty cool, but we don't want it to be at other languages' expense! What do you think we can do to preserve - and to research - languages in our rapidly changing world? And what role should technology play in the process?

Psychobabble: great game with a new name

2013-03-22T12:52:00.000-05:00

We're delighted to announce the launch of Psychobabble, our word association game for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

This game is a ton of fun to play for all ages. We love playing it with family and friends huddled around an iPad shouting out ideas, and it's also great on your own.

Late last year we launched this game for iPad under the name Word for Word. We heard from lots of customers, who gave us four clear messages:

They loved the game, and wanted more
They wanted more free puzzles up front, and a way to earn free puzzles
They were confused because if you search the App Store for "word for word", our game was nowhere to be seen
And, of course, "when is it coming out for iPhone?"

We went back to our design boards and put together Psychobabble. It's the same great game, plus:

you get more free puzzles up front
every time you reveal ten reward words, you get a free puzzle
you can use your puzzles and puzzle credits on multiple devices using iCloud
Psychobabble runs on iPhone and iPod Touch
there are several new puzzles, with more coming very soon

If you already have Word for Word, just let the App Store app update it, and you'll get all the new features. The name will change, but your puzzles and credits will stick around.

To learn more about Psychobabble, check out our original post about the game and this video:

Also, if you're interested in why we changed the game's name, see our owner Jeff's blog post.

Happy babbling!

Ultralingua: Featured Reference App!

2013-02-28T16:20:00.001-06:00

Wow! We're so excited that we're being featured on the iTunes App Store's Reference page. Our Spanish-English Dictionary app is one of the reference apps currently being showcased - and our nice banner is the first one that comes up.

Thanks for the boost, iTunes!

Techy Textbooks: iPads in Northfield Schools

2013-02-22T13:17:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week, the Northfield school board here in Minnesota passed a program to provide iPads for every student in the district. Students from sixth grade to senior year in high school will receive individual iPads that they can use anytime, anywhere. Classrooms of younger students will be provided with several iPad minis each for children to share during scheduled time with the devices.

Under the banner of its Transformational Technology program, the Northfield school district has developed several new initiatives that introduce smart technology and devices into public school classrooms since January last year. After approving a plan to provide iPads for teachers and staff over the summer, Northfield has now moved to get the devices to students. Supporters of the plan suggest that leasing the iPads and iPad minis to classrooms will be easier and perhaps cheaper to update than paper textbooks, which quickly become outdated and expensive to buy new. Corey Butler Jr. writes on the Northfield Patch website, “The tablet would replace most items in a traditional classroom—textbooks, notebooks, quizzes, DVDs, handouts and just about anything else paper-based.”

On the school devices, students may be able to take notes, read along in course texts, watch class videos, email teachers and classmates about school related projects, and more. Younger children may play educational games or participate in other learning activities using the iPads. Some restrictions will be placed on the iPads to ensure that students do not access inappropriate content on school-owned devices. The iPads may also cater to a wider variety of student learning styles than traditional textbooks. Butler writes, "For a student who learns better from visuals, he or she could watch a short video about the anatomy of an insect. For someone who learns better by reading traditional text with a still photo, it’s there as well."

The decision, and the conversations leading up to it, have been controversial. Ultralingua’s own Latin specialist Rob Hardy took up the dissenting position during the final school board meeting, but he, too, was open to the idea of students using tablets and other tech devices in the classroom -- he just advocated a more gradual approach, allowing students to bring their own devices to school rather than have the district provide them. Companies like Apple seem to be doing more to reach out to schools and educators, too; Apple's site now has a special series of pages dedicated to iPads in education.

Northfield is actually where Ultralingua was born, and is home to several Ultralingua staff members and contributors, so we’re especially eager to see how the city’s bold combination of technology and education will work for students, teachers, and parents as the program develops. Do you think education and technology can work together in the classroom, or should iPads and class sessions be kept separate? What do you think is the best way for educators to adapt to more tech-savvy students and an increasingly tablet-filled world? Join the conversation in the comments or on Facebook, or check out the Northfield school district's site for more information.

Update! Ultralingua Dictionary 2.2 for iOS

2013-02-21T14:24:00.001-06:00

We've been dropping hints here and there, but now you don't have to wonder any longer: our update to our Ultralingua Dictionary app went live this morning! Say hello to Ultralingua Dictionary 2.2 for iOS.

When you go to the App Store on your iOS device and download the update, here's what you'll get:

Bug fix. We caught a bug that was slowing down the app over time. Now that it's all patched up, the app should perform speedier and better than ever.
Conjugator box. We heard from you that it was a hassle to have to move back and forth between verb conjugations and the actual dictionary entries, so we came up with a cool new solution: the conjugator box. All the power of our smart search bar, but now on verb conjugation pages. Just type in the next verb you'd like to conjugate to be sent right there, without having to go back a page to search the dictionary again.
New dictionary available. Now the French-English Medical dictionary is available for purchase in the Ultralingua Dictionary's in-app store.

Along with our recent 1.5.4 update, our apps should be running quickly, smoothly, and with easier-than-ever verb conjugating power. And stay in touch over the next few weeks, because we have more surprises on the way that will make our dictionaries better and more accessible for old and new users alike. For now, download the new version and let us know what you think!

Spotlight: Essentials Editions

2013-02-12T15:01:00.001-06:00

We told you about our new line of beginner dictionaries along with our Ultralingua Dictionary 2.1 update a while back, but we think that the Essentials editions deserve a closer look. Language teachers helped us to choose which entries were the most important to new language learners so that we could develop these affordable, streamlined dictionaries centered on the first two years of language study. The Ultralingua Essentials editions come with all the same features as our regular dictionaries - history, favorites, advanced search - but rather than overwhelm new learners by giving them everything, these dictionaries give you everything you need to know.

For instance, if you’re a first or second year French student and you want to know the word for “therapy” en français (surprise! - it’s “thérapie”), the entry is right between “theory” and “there” in the Essentials Edition. But in the standard edition, there are 29 other entries between “theory” and “there,” including words you’re unlikely to use in everyday speech or in a language class, like entries for electroconvulsive therapy, metric theory, and theosophy. And while the standard dictionary includes entries for “over there,” “down there,” “up there,” “in there,” “hey there!” and others, the Essentials edition gives you just the two simple words for “there” on its own - y, la - which can easily be used in place of one of those more colloquial phrases.

We also thought it might be more important for Essentials users to have words like “étudiant” and “études,” (students, studies) without having to worry about words like “étrille” - which can mean either a curry comb or a velvet swimming crab. We're sure there's situations in which no other word but the one for a particular kind of crab will do, but probably not in your first few years of learning a language.

And no need to worry that the Essentials will sell you short. When it comes to the most important stuff, like verbs, the entries themselves are just as rich as ever. For example, the French-English dictionary includes the same 8 definitions and translations of “think” in both the standard and the Essentials editions. Similarly, the entries for “ȇtre” are identical in both dictionaries, including the helpful usage note.

And since the Essentials editions are built as subsets of the standard Ultralingua dictionaries, not only are they cheaper, but once you’ve honed your skills with your Essentials edition, you are eligible for a discounted upgrade to the complete version of your dictionary.

Whether you’re settling into your new language class this semester, planning a trip for spring break, or just trying out something new, we think that the Essentials editions are a great introduction to languages and to our dictionaries. Once you fire up your Ultralingua Dictionary app, you can preview the letter “m” in the Essentials editions just like you can in the standard dictionaries, so you can see what kind of content you’re getting. Check them out, and let us know what you think!

A Tale of Two Bugs

2013-02-08T16:21:00.000-06:00

Ultralingua 1.5.4 for iOS is ready for download. If you have Ultralingua 1.5.3 or earlier, go to the App Store app on your iPhone or iPad and tap on Updates to get the latest version.

First things first: we want to apologize for the bugs in 1.5.3. We know they made Ultralingua unusable for many of you, and we are very sorry for that. Even though everybody makes mistakes, it's a serious matter when our mistakes influence so many people. (Also, we just hate making mistakes!)

We also want to thank you, our wonderful customers, for your good will, patience, and willingness to help us during the time it took to get these bugs diagnosed, repaired, tested, submitted to Apple, reviewed by Apple, and released. With your help, we have identified and corrected weaknesses in our testing procedures, and future versions of this app will be stronger as a result.

Here's the story. Last week, we released Ultralingua 1.5.3 for iPhone and iPad. The big news was that we had added iPhone 5 support and made some improvements to our search. At least that's what we hoped would be the big news. Instead, we started hearing immediately from customers with two problems:

Rotation between landscape and portrait modes on many iPads with iOS 6 was not working correctly.
On some iPhones, if you tapped in the dictionary search box, the app would freeze and eventually crash.

The rotation bug we figured out within minutes of its being reported. Our testing regimen includes instructions to test rotation for both iPhone and iPad on all major versions of the operating system, but we inadvertently skipped that step for iOS 6 iPads when testing Ultralingua 1.5.3.

The iPhone freezing bug was an unusually nasty one. For two full days after the bug was first reported, we tried and failed to make the problem happen on our many different iPhones. We used reports from customers to narrow our attention to a small portion of code. But that made the problem even more baffling, because that code had functioned properly without changing at all since early 2011.

Finally, we were lucky to hear from one of our customers who is also an iPhone/iPad software developer. Our new hero Joanna gave us detailed descriptions of the bug's behavior, tested a dozen experimental versions of the app, and demonstrated the bug to us via a screen-share from the UK to Minnesota. All those experiments helped us figure out the combination of phone settings required to replicate the bug, which made it possible for us to find and fix the problem. After that, of course, we took our time testing 1.5.4--we didn't want a repeat performance.

In the meantime, we did our best to help the many customers who wrote in to report the bugs and ask for help.

Thanks again for your patience and your assistance. We strive to create great products, but when we stumble, it helps to have such excellent customers.

Now, it's time to get back to making the apps even better!

Ultralingua in the News

2013-01-31T12:54:00.002-06:00

We came across a pleasant and welcome surprise earlier today: CBS Philadelphia posted this quick review of our Ultralingua Dictionary app yesterday. They say,

Translation dictionaries are pretty common in the app store, but you’ll be hard pressed to find one that’s more thorough than the Ultralingua Dictionary.

Thanks for the kind words, CBS Philly.

iOS Update: 6.1

2013-01-29T14:16:00.001-06:00

Heads up, iOS users! Yesterday, Apple released an update to iOS 6. The new 6.1 now includes expanded LTE support to over 30 more iPhone carriers and over 20 iPad carriers around the globe, so more people than ever can enjoy super fast web browsing, downloading, and streaming (and our iOS apps, of course). And now Siri, always trying to keep you on track, can help you buy movie tickets with Fandango. With a few bug fixes and more ease reporting problems with Maps, you have a nice update to start your week. Check out this little video from Gizmodo to see how iOS 6.1 is running.

Download the update from your device and start planning your next movie date -- or if you haven't picked up Word for Word yet, download it and start playing faster than ever!

Behind the Scenes: Word for Word with David Liben-Nowell

2013-01-15T13:22:00.000-06:00

We love exploring the ways people connect to each other through language. So while we always enjoy announcing new apps or games or updates, we also like introducing you to the people who help us make them.

In this case, David Liben-Nowell is a New York Times published puzzle-maker and word-bender extraordinaire who helped us create Word for Word, our new game app for iPhone and iPad. In addition to being a word puzzle savant, David has been friends with our founder, Jeff, for years. The two of them have plenty in common: both teach at Carleton College here in Minnesota, both are big language researchers, and both love word games.

Prior to coming to Carleton, David received a BA from Cornell, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD from MIT. In addition to his teaching at Carleton, David is doing impressive research in applied techniques from theoretical computer science. He says that his work features “a particular focus on large-scale information networks and their evolution.” Recently, David says that he has researched “problems in algorithmic game theory, and the propagation of information in social networks.”

As someone who regularly brings together language and computer science in his work, David was clearly just the guy we needed to help us develop Word for Word. After coming up with some of the game’s more challenging word webs, David filled us in on his process, and some of the challenges of coming up with good puzzles. For instance, David says that he writes his puzzles mostly without the help of outside sources. He usually has some help from tools online, he says, like “dictionaries, common phrase resources like OneLook, and semantic networks of word associations like the Edinburgh Associative Thesaurus.” “But,” David says, “lots of it is my brain.”

The start to building a Word for Word puzzle is similar to coming up with themed crossword puzzles, David says. First, he concentrates on “coming up with an interesting and compelling punchline” to use as the theme or center of the game. He says, “I tend to scribble down phrases that interest me, and then start to wonder about what I can do with them. Can I turn that into some kind of a picture? Maybe one word is the center of the entire puzzle, and everything builds out from there? Is that interesting enough?” After coming up with a word or phrase to focus on, David then starts to build in the other connections and associations.

This seems like a pretty straightforward process, but it might be harder than it sounds. David says,

One of the hard things about this type of puzzle, oddly, is that it's so unconstrained. The presence of constraints in a puzzle is often what makes it interesting to write -- the writing is a puzzle too. In a crossword, the hard part is dealing with the fact that the answers have to work both across and down (and that the entire puzzle has to be symmetric). In puzzles for Word for Word, there's no such structural constraint from the puzzle (aside from not having too many crossing lines or too giant a puzzle), so you have to impose constraints on yourself.

And even when he’s figured out the puzzle’s structure, David says, “There's always a challenge in making interesting little corners of a puzzle, too, where three words connect to each other in three distinct ways.”
The attention to detail in the big picture as well as the smaller clues is part of what makes the game so fun to play.

To see what else David has come up with, download the app for free and play for yourself! We have a lot of exciting plans in store for Word for Word, so check back soon for the latest news.

Looking Back: Our Highlights of 2012

2013-01-10T15:34:00.002-06:00

It’s been a fun, fulfilling, and fast-paced year for us here at Ultralingua. We want to celebrate the start of a new one by looking back and sharing twelve of our favorite things from the twelve months of 2012.

The new Ultralingua Dictionary App. Apple asked us to streamline our offerings in the App Store, so we took it as an opportunity to build our best dictionary app yet. The new Ultralingua Dictionary brings together 19 of our expertly developed and designed dictionaries and thesauri, so you can keep your purchases and make new ones all in the same place. With conjugations, super search, history, favorites, forward and back buttons, customizable font settings, in-app tips and support and more, we think it’s something pretty special. Now we’re working on new ways to make our app and dictionaries more flexible and easier to use, with updates and changes planned early in the new year. Keep an eye on the blog to find out what we’re cooking up!
Word For Word. Our new word association game for iPad has had the office buzzing over the last few months as we’ve tested each puzzle and each more refined build. We’re glad we finally got to share Word for Word with you just before the end of the year (and that we got to play games for work). If you’ve one of the lucky folks who got a new iPad or iPad mini for the holidays, try it out and tell us what you think. And keep an eye out for future updates and improvements headed your way.
Ultralingua Dictionary Essentials. The newest addition to our series of dictionaries and thesauri in the Ultralingua Dictionary app, our Essentials editions offer newer language learners and students affordable, streamlined dictionaries centered on the first two years of language study. All the same features as our regular dictionaries, but with more focused and navigable content, so you can get the words and tools you need most, wherever and whenever you want them.
Versions 1.5.1 and 1.5.2. In 2012, we shipped versions 1.5.1 and 1.5.2 of our original iOS app series, bringing us to a total of 19 free updates since the App Store opened in 2008. We wanted to take care of our original apps even while working on new stuff, so we fixed bugs, cleaned up the interface, and added new options for copying and pasting words and entries. Update number 20 might be coming soon!
Updating the Online Dictionary. We revamped our Online Dictionary over the summer to make it a better and more accessible way to translate, conjugate, and play with language. Breaking out the champagne to celebrate the site going live made for an exciting first day for some of our new interns.
Starting the blog. Since we got it up and running in March, the blog has become a great place for us to share stories and science about learning languages. Even better, it allows us to stay in touch, so that when we have a sale, release a new product, or feature another great company, you know about it.
The big move. After about eight years of shifting from room to room in an old school building, in June we happily moved into our new offices right on the Mississippi River. We love our new neighborhood, and our views of the water and the city.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. We had such a blast getting together with other developers, learning about the newest products and features Apple is working on, and thinking about how to make our own products better. Oh, and California was nice, too.
Partnering with Physicians for Haiti. In May, we teamed up with the translators at Physicians for Haiti through our Apps for Aid program, providing them with our French-English Medical, Spanish-English, and Haitian Creole-English products to help them carry out their mission to “to inspire, empower, and support the development of leaders among Haiti's next generation of health professionals” in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. They gave us some great feedback, and we’re looking forward to hearing more about their work and how they use Ultralingua this year.
The Ultralingua Team. A lot has been going on with the Ultralingua staff in 2012. Developer Adrian graduated from college, former marketing communications manager Ashleigh got married and traveled all around Europe, company founder and chief technology officer Jeff is on sabbatical (so he gets to hang out with us in the office more than ever), autumn interns Daley and Kevin have stuck around to help out after the end of their session, developer Jenn made a lot of delicious gluten-free treats, project manager Bill wore a lot of great socks, and developer Shaun and his wife Tawny welcomed baby Hazel into the family. Let's see if 2013 can top all that!
Partnering with TechSoup. We were happy to get our apps to organizations and nonprofits who could put them to good and productive use through the help of TechSoup. We’ve gotten some great feedback about our dictionaries and some interesting stories from Ultralingua users through the program, and we’re eager to share our apps with more people through TechSoup this year.
Continuing our work with Assistiveware’s Proloquo2Go. Our work with AssistiveWare and Proloquo2Go has been so rewarding. We’re glad that our language technology helps Proloquo2Go users to experience the power and pleasure of using language to communicate with others. AssistiveWare’s updates to Proloquo2Go this year have made the app better than ever -- thanks for letting us help!

We’re looking forward to another exciting year of bringing you smart language learning tools, and are eager to see what we’ll look back on in this year’s list. In fact, we have a few big updates and surprises coming up very soon, so check back often to see how we’re kicking off the new year. What experiences with language, travel, and technology did you have in 2012? What do you have planned for 2013?

Holiday Sale! $20 off Mac and Windows

2012-12-22T12:45:00.003-06:00

The time is here! To celebrate the holiday season, we wanted to share something special, so for the next week, we're giving you a $20 voucher for dictionaries for Mac and Windows. Just enter the coupon code HOLIDAY at checkout on our website from today until Friday, December 28th to get over 50% off the dictionaries you've been waiting for.

If you've loved our apps but want more in-depth resources, or if you use the Online Dictionary but want to translate and conjugate even without an internet connection, our desktop dictionaries have what you're looking for. Ultralingua for Mac and Windows come with smart features to help you get the most out of your dictionary and your language learning experience, such as:

custom flashcards
grammar references and usage examples
hotkey lookups in multiple applications
verb conjugation in any tense

All accessible on the desktop of your computer, with no internet access required.
Now is the perfect time to pick up a new dictionary as a treat for yourself, or you can Give Ultralingua to someone special. Just remember to shop on our site and enter HOLIDAY by the 28th.

Happy shopping, and happy holidays!

Word for Word: Our Word Association Game for iPad is Here!

2012-12-19T09:58:00.002-06:00

We're excited to announce Word for Word, our compulsively playable word association game for iPad.

This game will suck you in, and your friends and family with you. We've watched dozens of play-testers play it, and they just keep wanting to play and play. Word for Word is perfect for a plane ride, a coffee break, around the dinner table, or sitting by yourself in the evening. Puzzles range from quick and easy to extra-clever challenges crafted by our New York Times™ crossword contributor.

Your brain loves making connections. Word for Word is just the therapy it needs.

Playing the game

Dr. O'Babel, your friendly psychoanalyst, starts you out with a carefully chosen word or two:

Then he challenges you to guess related words:

Keep following the associations to reveal unexpected connections, puns, jokes, and surprising themes.

Need a hint?

If you get stuck, just drag the lightbulb to any cloud to reveal a letter:

After recharging for a few seconds, the lightbulb will be ready to serve again. You can play it however you like--no hints at all if that's your style, or with unlimited hints to keep the ideas flowing.

Pro puzzles

This is a word game like no other. We partnered the best and brightest from our team with an all-star author of NY Times Crosswords, David Liben-Nowell, to write puzzles that will delight and challenge you. Through word association you'll find puns and punchlines that don't exist in any other game.

David's word puzzles have also been published in the New York Sun™, the Penguin Classics Crossword Puzzles™, and Games Magazine™, and we know you'll love what he put together for us. To play his puzzles, just look for "David" in the author list when you're picking which puzzle to play next.

There's more where that came from

After trying out the free puzzle, you can get more from the in-app store. Buy packs of puzzle credits, and browse the puzzle list by difficulty, popularity, and author to choose exactly the puzzles for you.

We're going to keep new puzzles coming, and we have lots of plans for making the game even better. iPhone support is right around the corner. (You might even find yourself itching to write and share your own Word for Word puzzles. Stay tuned in 2013!)

Check it out. The first puzzle is free, and we can't wait to hear what you think. Enjoy!

Tools To Try: Innovative Language

2012-12-13T09:28:00.000-06:00

Whether you’re looking for a productive way to fill your downtime over the holidays, you want to add learning a new language to your New Year’s resolutions list, or you just love language and want a new way to build up your skills, we have good news.

We’re happy to introduce you to our friends at Innovative Language Learning. With hundreds of apps to choose from in more than 40 different languages, they are currently the world’s largest developer of mobile education apps. Their system of engaging audio lessons paired with their broad range of fun and easy to use resources, plus an active and encouraging user community, make Innovative Language Learning a good match for new learners and fluent speakers alike.

And while that sounds great on its own, it gets even better: from December 10th to December 23rd, InnovativeLanguage.com is having an amazing sale! Every 24 hours, Monday-Friday, you can get a new deal on featured apps, audiobooks, software, and subscriptions.

Check out their offerings for French, German, Spanish, and Japanese, where you can see the deal of the day and the countdown til the next one.

For more on Innovative Language Learning's story, take a look at their cool interactive timeline of their growth and accomplishments since their start in 2005. Now is your chance to learn on your own terms (and on the cheap!) with InnovativeLanguage.com.

Featured user: Rothrock on German, Spanish, English, and Hindi!

2012-12-07T09:35:00.000-06:00

Rothrock in Mexico City with his mother

We love hearing from people who use our apps and programs. We’re always open to your suggestions and requests, but we like to hear about you, too! It’s kind of amazing how many cool people we meet just from casual emails sent to our support address; first we get an email about a bug or a request for a new language app, and suddenly we’re in conversation about travel, language learning, and whatever other experiences and adventures you have to share.

Meet Rothrock, an Ultralingua user with a great language story that encompasses not only German, French, and Spanish, but also Hindi!

Rothrock’s interest in learning languages started early, with Spanish and French classes in junior high. He says, “The young me decided he liked the romance of French and continued with it all the way through high school,” and it stuck - though he doesn’t use his French much now, Rothrock says, “I have some residual bits of it to this day.”

Then Rothrock spent his junior year of high school abroad in Germany, where he studied at one of the country’s Gymnasiums, and eventually developed fluency in the language. Though he says some of those skills might be a little rusty by now, Rothrock has plans to start studying it again soon.

At first, Rothrock’s experience with Spanish sounds like a familiar one: he is one of many people who started to re-learn the language to get more out of his regular trips through Mexico with a friend. Perhaps less familiar, though, is the fact that Rothrock started working on his Spanish through courses at a local community college with his mother, who in her 70s decided she should learn a new language before starting her service in the Peace Corps. Adventurousness and a passion for language learning seems to run in the family.

Rothrock also practices his Spanish by attending regular bilingual meetings at his local library through the Intercambio program, “a weekly meeting where the first 45 minutes are all in Spanish and the second 45 minutes are in English. Native speakers from both sides come together to talk, exchange ideas, and have fun.” And Rothrock’s Ultralingua Dictionary is popular with other members of his Intercambio group, too; they provide opportunities for conversation and collaboration when people get stuck. He says,

Often during the meeting there will be words that members of either side don't understand or don’t know the translation for, or synonyms which are on the tips of someone's tongue, but that they just can't get out. I usually have my iPad or iPhone with me, and invariably they will turn to me and ask me to look it up. It is very rare for your dictionary to let me down. And while the native Spanish speakers will occasionally say that this or that word is preferred in their country, we have never found a wrong entry.

Rothrock’s efforts to learn Spanish have paid off. He says, “I know that as my grasp of Spanish has improved I've enjoyed my travels more and more—I'm able to communicate with people in shops, on the street, hotels, and discos.” He hopes to continue his trips back to Mexico once or twice every year.

In the meantime, Rothrock has other language learning keeping him busy. About twelve years ago, Rothrock says he wanted to do something different, and “decided to learn a non-European/Latin scripted language.” Inspired by his love of Indian cuisine and culture (including a soft spot for Bollywood films), Rothrock started to teach himself Hindi, studying the language on and off for about five years. Eventually, he “gained a decent level of awareness and could understand quite a bit.” This time, he didn’t have to travel very far to practice his new language skills. “A few years after I started learning Hindi,” he says, “I moved to New York City and lived in a desi (the Hindi word for local, homegrown, native, i.e. South Asian—Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani) neighborhood.”

One thing Rothrock appreciates about his Ultralingua Dictionary is “that it gives so many samples or usages and which part of speech words are for.” He told us a great example of why that function can be so helpful; he says,

My Spanish teacher tells a funny story of how she had students making up recipes. Some student had mistaken the verb "to boil" for the noun "a boil." Let's just say that was a particularly unappetizing recipe! That wouldn't happen with the Ultralingua Dictionary. It is so clear that furúnculo is a medical term for a skin infection.

While we love that we get to be a part of Rothrock’s learning process, what we find especially inspiring about his story is how so many of his language learning experiences have been rooted in community, from his German school to his Hindi-speaking neighborhood. Do you have a story to share about language learning in community, or in a new or immersive environment? Tell us about it, and we might feature you on the blog next!

Sneak Peek: Our First Big Word Game

2012-12-06T13:19:00.004-06:00

UPDATE: Word for Word is available now! We also have an announcement here.

Thanks for all your name suggestions. We picked a pleasingly goofy one. You'll have to try the game's tutorial to find out. Try it out--it's a blast!

---

A while back, we had this idea for the ultimate word game for language lovers. We wanted to combine all our favorite things about word games: clever puzzles, great gameplay, fun themes, and free content. At the center of it all, we could put our understanding of words and how they connect.

We are getting really close to launch, but we want you to help us with ONE IMPORTANT THING...

We need you to help us name the doctor!

We've tried Dr. Babel, Dr. Wortspiel, Dr. Wortwortlich, and a few others, but we can't settle on one. Check him out and let us know what you think we should call him in the comments! If you suggest the name we pick we will hook you up with tons of free puzzles once we launch the game.

Ready, set, name him!

Apps No Writer Should Live Without

2012-12-04T08:30:00.000-06:00

Indie Reader published their list of 8 Apps That No Writer Should Live Without, and guess who made the list?! Among other great apps (we especially love Grammarly and Contour) Ultralingua ranks as one of the best resources for writers of all kinds. Check out the rest of their list here!

History of the French language Part 2

2012-12-03T13:05:00.000-06:00

Today's post comes from the desk of Herman Koutouan, our French language specialist. It's the second in his series on the history and evolution of the French language. Enjoy!

Salut tout le monde! Comment allez-vous? (How are you?)

Welcome to the second part of our French-language evolution series! As you may remember from my initial post a while ago, our primary task consisted in tracing the origins of the French language and establishing the “truth(s)” about it.

Where we left off...

After our introductory historical inquiries conducted in the first segment of that series, we came to the conclusion that French as a language was not as “homogenous” and as unified as it now seems to be. Put simply, the French language has beaucoup de papas et mamans (many daddies and mommies)☺!

We learned that it all started around the 4th century BC, when Celtic tribes migrated to Western Europe [in the region called the Gaul – they then became known as Gallic tribes] and established themselves more firmly in the region during the following centuries. Keep in mind that these Celtic tribes were primarily “oral” societies that were far from being a unified group.

Also, they had to rely on the Greek written alphabet to write their own language, which already adds an interesting layer of “linguistic mixture” to the emergence of French as a language. A major change will occur for these Celtic/Gallic tribes in the 1st century B.C., with the Roman invasion conducted by Julius Caesar between 58 and 50 B.C., and that’s where we left off.

Our way or the highway

So this current chapter will deal mostly with the Roman occupation of the Gaul (Western Europe) and the role its language (Latin) played in the constitution of the French language.

Source

The military conquest of the Gaul by the Romans was quite rapid, although the “civilizing” process happened more gradually, with more profound effects. For example, at a linguistic level (since we are discussing the origins of French), the Romans did not quite impose Latin on the Gallic tribes. Instead, they just ignored the other local “barbaric” languages.

To enjoy full rights of Roman citizenship, the locals had to adhere to the Roman way of life, and that included, of course, its Latin language. Also, the Roman army now included many indigenous (Gauls) troops who had to learn Latin in order to be able to serve in the Roman army. Moreover, the Gaulish oral traditions began to disappear with the introduction of Latin schools and the Roman alphabet. All this proved very consequential in the linguistic transformation of the Gaul under the Roman dominion.

But did you know that the Romans had one of the most intricate paved road networks in Europe at that time? Latin was now able to travel as far as the countryside and imprint its influence on more Gallic tribes.

Long-term bilingualism

Obviously, the cohabitation of Latin alongside the other Gallic dialects would create a kind of bilingualism that would endure until the fifth century. We would call this period the Gallo-Roman era, that is, when both the Roman traditions and the indigenous Gallic languages and customs seemed to live side by side, seamlessly. But over time, Latin and the complex civilizing process engaged by the Romans will eventually supersede all Gaulish languages, which will die off by the fifth century.

Tremendous transformation

But then something fascinating occurred: the Latin of the first century (the time of the conquest of the Gaul) underwent tremendous transformations and was no longer similar to the Latin spoken in the Gaul during the fifth century.

Let’s say that Latin inherited some “local” flavors. Indeed, as a consequence of the daily business activities and interactions with the non-Roman, Gaulish populations, a new Latin will be born, which will be called vulgar Latin, as opposed to the “purer” Classical Latin of the previous centuries.

Keep in mind that the Vulgar Latin was not uniform in its constitution, just as the Celtic/Gallic tribes weren’t. You see, Rome had many provinces across Europe, and the Latin spoken in each province often varied greatly from one region to another. Now, you must be wondering, "Mais qu’est-ce que tout cela a à voir avec le francais?" (But, what does all this have to do with French ?)—Well, let me tell you, that’s where the notable Franks come into the equation and things get even more interesting.

The Franks were part of a Germanic group in contact with other groups in the Northern Gaul. Obviously, this will give rise to some fascinating linguistic mixtures, and the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Northern part of the Gaul will be changed forever, to finally give birth to what we now know as French.

But this shall be the center of my third segment in this series: The Great Germanic Invasions. So stay tuned and à très bientôt!!! Merci!

Ultralingua Dictionary icon: Before and After

2012-11-28T11:32:00.000-06:00

When we started working on the icon design for our new Ultralingua Dictionary app, we knew we wanted to make it very different from the original apps. Since this single new app includes all of our Ultralingua dictionaries, our old flag system wouldn't work, which was fine, since we weren't happy with the flags anyway. (Which flag do you use to represent English: UK, US, Australian? What about Portuguese: Brazil or Portugal? Spanish? Flags are troublesome.)

We wanted it to be clear that the new app included plenty of language options, and we thought it should be pretty obvious that it was a dictionary app.

At the end of the internal design process, we had an app icon we liked.

We launched with that icon, and we got some pretty good feedback about it, but we wanted to take it a little further and knew we needed to bring in some expert help.

Enter: the Icon Factory. We brought them on to create the original Ultralingua globe icon years ago, and we love their work. So, we asked them to polish up our new dictionary app icon to make it even better.

Their changes make the icon deeper and more defined, and we love the result.

Icon Factory did some great work, and we're grateful for the subtle but beautiful improvements. What do you think - do you like the change?

Major update: Ultralingua 2.1 for iOS

2012-11-28T11:21:00.000-06:00

We have a lot of good news for those of you using Ultralingua for iPhone and iPad. Version 2.1 for the new Ultralingua app is available now, and it has loads of new features and improvements.

Essentials Editions

The most exciting news is our new beginner dictionaries. By consulting with language teachers and using what we know about languages, we created dictionaries specifically for beginners out of a subset of our standard Ultralingua dictionary content.

Five new Essential titles are available now: French-English, Spanish-English, German-English, Italian-English, and Portuguese-English. Each includes:

Thousands of translations students need in their first two years of language learning
Verb conjugations in six tenses beginner students need most:

English: present, past, future, present progressive, past progressive, imperative, participles
French: present, past, imperfect, passé composé, conditional, imperative, participles
Spanish: presente de indicativo, pretérito perfecto simple, pretérito imperfecto, condicional simple, futuro, imperativo, participios
German: present, prateritum, perfekt, plusquamperfekt, futur, imperative, participles
Portuguese: present, preterit, imperfect, future, conditional, imperative, participles
Italian: present, imperfect, past, future, conditional, imperative, participles

All other standard Ultralingua features: favorites, history, advanced search, etc. The app has all the same features, but the dictionary content is tailored to new students.

These dictionaries were created specifically for beginner students in their first two years of language study, and because they are a subset of the greater Ultralingua complete edition titles, they are considerably cheaper.

If you purchase an Essential dictionary for $4.99, you're eligible for a discounted upgrade to the full version!

Other improvements

Update to copy and paste: You could copy individual words before, but now you can copy and paste whole entries as well.
Advances to our "Did you mean?" search results (those suggestions that display for misspelled words). Spelling correction results are improved to handle uppercase properly, and it's generally smarter about what it suggests in many cases.
"Email support" button takes you to our web support form if you don't have e-mail configured on your device
Snazzier icon
Matte style buttons and art to better match iOS 6 visual style
Simplified the store so you can see all the titles for a given language pair

Bug fixes

Fixed stemming of plural nouns in Spanish. A handful of Spanish words weren't returning proper results if you searched their plural form, so we fixed them.
Various typo corrections in dictionaries and conjugators
Fixed some display glitches when rotating the device in History or Favorites view
Fixed a (rarely occurring) bug in which you would tap one dictionary but get taken to a different one

Download the new version from the App Store now to take advantage of all these new features, and let us know what you think in the comments here!