inevitability. So we have to laugh at the
doomsayers who only complain about the supremacy of English. Such
supremacy is not wrong in itself, because it is mainly based on
statistics (more PCs per inhabitant, more people speaking English,
etc.). The answer is not to 'fight' English, much less whine about it,
but to build more sites in other languages. As a translation service,
we also recommend that websites be multilingual. The increasing number
of languages on the internet is inevitable and can only boost
multicultural exchanges. For this to happen in the best possible
circumstances, we still need to develop tools to improve compatibility.
Fully coping with accents and other characters is only one example of
what can be done."

Alain Bron, a consultant in information systems and a writer, wrote in
January 1999: "Different languages will still be used for a long time
to come and this is healthy for the right to be different. The risk is
of course an invasion of one language to the detriment of others, and
with it the risk of cultural standardization. I think online services
will gradually emerge to get around this problem. First, translators
will be able to translate and comment on texts by request, but mainly
sites with a large audience will provide different language versions,
just as the audiovisual industry does now."

Guy Antoine, founder of Windows on Haiti, a reference website about
Haitian culture, wrote in November 1999: "It is true that for all
intents and purposes English will continue to dominate the web. This is
not so bad in my view, in spite of regional sentiments to the contrary,
because we do need a common language to foster communications between
people the world over. That being said, I do not adopt the doomsday
view that other languages will just roll over in submission. Quite the
contrary. The internet can serve, first of all, as a repository of
useful information on minority languages that might otherwise vanish
without leaving a trace. Beyond that, I believe that it provides an
incentive for people to learn languages associated with the cultures
about which they are attempting to gather information. One soon
realizes that the language of a people is an essential and inextricable
part of its culture. (...)

From this standpoint, I have much less faith in mechanized tools of
language translation, which render words and phrases but do a poor job
of conveying the soul of a people. Who are the Hait