Language Immersion

I came across a language immersion extension for Google Chrome today:

Language Immersion for Chrome is an experimental extension that aims to simulate the experience of being immersed in a foreign language. By switching certain words and phrases from English into a language of your choice, the websites you already visit can provide a way to experience the world from a different perspective.

Features:
- Choose from all 64 languages currently supported by Google Translate.
- Novice-to-fluent skill settings let you immerse at your own pace.
- Click on a translated word to switch it back to English.
- Roll-over a translated word to hear it pronounced.

Say you desire to brush up on your Latin a bit while browsing Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's reflections on the Hobbit. Open the language immersion extension, and select 'Latin' from the long list of available languages. Dial down the immersion to the desired level ('novice' for this example). While reading the article, a number of the words or phrases will have been converted to Latin. For example: "The professor rescripsit. I received his letter..." If there is some question as to what the translation means, simply click the word to have it toggled back to the original language. (I will note that the extension is not perfect, and some languages / websites may provide for a better immersion experience than others.)

There is no one else...

We must turn to God.

Da Pacem, Domine; Psalm 121:7-9

Da pacem, Domine, in diebus nostris Quia non est alius Qui pugnet pro nobis Nisi tu Deus noster.	Give peace, O Lord, in our time Because there is no one else Who will fight for us If not You, our God.
Fiat pax in virtute tua: et abundantia in turribus tuis.	Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers.
Propter fratres meos, et proximos meos, loquebar pacem de te:	For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of thee.
Propter domum Domini Dei nostri, quæsivi bona tibi.	Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee.
Rogate quæ ad pacem sunt Ierusalem: et abundantia diligentibus te.	Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, also now, and always, and to ages of ages. Amen.

USCCB says "virgin" means "young woman"

The New American Bible was revised, and has been released this month by the USCCB. I tend to read and study the Douay Rheims with the Haydock Commentary as a norm, but found myself interested in the "Sample Changes" listed on the USCCB's website. The changes made to Isaiah 7:14 has me really grasping for an understanding at what those in charge of the revisions are attempting to accomplish.

Now, I am not a biblical scholar in any way shape or form, so bear with me as I weave my way back in time through biblical versions. (I am certainly likely to skip important concepts and steps here... so if you want to make this short, skip to the bold words at the bottom of this post.)

2011 NAB: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel." [Why "young woman"... the USCCB states at the bottom of "Sample Change" - "The young woman: Hebrew ‘almah designates a young woman of marriageable age without specific reference to virginity. The Septuagint translated the Hebrew term as parthenos, which normally does mean virgin..." So if it normally means "virgin"... why not translate it as "virgin?"]

1970 NAB: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." [Seems the 70's had something right.]

1609 Douay Rheims: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." [Do we have a pattern?]

Latin Vulgate (Jerome): "propter hoc dabit Dominus ipse vobis signum ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitis nomen eius Emmanuhel" [I am not a Latin scholar]

Hebrew: "כן יתן אדני הוא לכם אות הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שמו עמנו אל׃" [Yeah... I have no clue... I just copied it from some website and started doing google searches for the different groups of characters. I am not a biblical scholar, and I am certainly NOT a Hebrew scholar!]

While this exercise in performing Scripture comparisons was fun, and even forced me to learn a smidgen of Hebrew... the effort really - doesn't - matter. The Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Dogma of our Catholic Faith. Since the Infallible interpretation of Catholic Church on Sacred Scripture does not and cannot conflict with this Dogma of our Faith... it is very odd that this revision was deemed necessary.

Google Translates Latin

It has been noted on numerous web logs and news articles that Google Translate now supports English to Latin, and Latin to English.

Edit: I have been throwing quite a bit at this translator, and I have found it spot on many times and awkward but still accurate other times. Google has an interesting page on the technology behind Google Translate.