

First: This is a "repost" of a thread that seemed to get in some activity before the original Forums closed. I will post some words in regards to "dying languages" at the end of .. say "the main gist" that I wanted to tell with this posting.
As the title says - I am convinced that UbiSoft games, especially the Assassins Creed series, can be incredible for education. From a historical point of view as well as from a language learners point of view. See, I had the pleasure to enjoy AC:Odyssey on Stadia. All of those accessibility options, everything subtitled, easily readable, very well voiced - really awesome! Now, we are going into a new generation. Stadia .. from a tech point of view, for now at least, seems kinda left behind. So going with my Playstation 4 (soon 5) might be the way to go. However - AC games are known for not supporting various languages in the west, including, but likely not limited to Japanese.
Here I ask myself: Why do this? It might not be too many learners. Or not too many that really are interested in languages other then those they did grow up with. However - and this is me speaking out of experience - the number of people using games as a tool of gaining fluence in language is growing. I dunno by how much, but people get into Korean, Chinese, Japanese, they love the sound of their chosen language, they want to immerse themselves in it as much as possible, so .. why not give them the option? I mean the game already has support for all those languages. So .. why not make them available to people everywhere when those people do want to access those languages?
UbiSoft really does seam to be aware of their games capability of educating in regards to history. But they really, really seem to underestimate their ability to play a big support role in regards to language learning as well.
With this post, I of course am selfish in trying to convince UbiSoft to maybe implement a feature that I would really like. But maybe others do think like me, do see opportunities that come with multiple language supportet? If so, please do comment here, make this a big thread that maybe even gets an official reply. Who knows?
Anyway, thanks for keeping up with me for one longer read and thanks for your comments in advance
So, now for "updating" on the issue of that some languages over time will become extinguished and thus supporting many is not beneficial:
I, honestly, believe in the beauty of different culture, language and aesthetics. Reason is simple: it does enrich and will continue to enrich our lives. Not saying that there not might be some languages disappearing in the future. However, take Valhalla as an example: old Runes, old language concepts, old concepts of belief - this is what peeks peoples interests. Nordic languages themselves have seen quite some rise in popularity. If you don't believe me, just check how university courses on those topics are doing.
And that's not even it. I mean, take Japanese. It is difficult. You can even call the Kanji usage outdated. However, despite it being rather difficult and having what might seem an archaic writing system, it does have a lot of benefits in regards to readability and the speed in which one can process written information when the person is capable of fluently doing so. Besides, those Kanji have some history on their own, they evolved, having many ways to pronounce them opened up opportunities for a special kind of humor - it's awesome what humans do with language.
Now imagine a world with English and Chinese. Kids might relish. Because, you know, the educated people will speak 2 languages. You could choose to skip on language learning and still rather easily make your way. But with languages gone parts of culture would go away. Text forms go away. Expression in music goes away. I really, really hope humanity, as it stands right now, is capable of preserving at least the "bigger" languages that are still spoken today in the form that they are used today - as living languages.
But .. anyway, take this as some straying to the side in response to another posting in the now already closed "old" forums
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Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.
@herbstlicht I fully agree with what you said.
Multilingualism is essential, it's what makes human kind better.
And I'm not worried for the future, even if some major languages will grow in the future (I here think about Spanish for instance, in the US, or French in Northern Afrika)
the % of "other languages" will remain roughly the same (between 70 and 75% of all spoken languages), according to the UN's rapport on languages.
As for the main subject, I'd love to have Valhalla in other languages! And why not having a version in Old Norse! (we can always dream, cant we haha)
ᚦᚢᚱᚠᛁᚾᚱ᛬ᛘᛁᛏ᛬ᚦᚢᚱ
ᚦᚢᚱ᛬ᛘᛁᛏ᛬ᚦᚢᚱᚠᛁᚾᚱ
@torfinr In old Norse? :3 I guess there might still be a few people out there that studied well enough to be what might be considered fluent. But people for a full voice cast? Would be awesome, but I just can't imagine it :3
However, Norse, Old Norse, is something that might be coming back in some way. Northern mythology and history is and was in focus of the media, of popular movies and series for quiet some time - and is likely to stay this way or even gain in popularity some more.
Meaning: we ain't for knowing what the future holds for us.
@herbstlicht Also, I'm always aiming for historical accuracy or overall credibility:
I'd hate to have a medieval japanese samurai to speak something else than... japanese.
Sure, it's fine if it's subtitled, but a samurai speaking German, French or English.... no thanks!
ᚦᚢᚱᚠᛁᚾᚱ᛬ᛘᛁᛏ᛬ᚦᚢᚱ
ᚦᚢᚱ᛬ᛘᛁᛏ᛬ᚦᚢᚱᚠᛁᚾᚱ
@herbstlicht Well it's perfectly fine if everybody speaks their native language and English. Everybody can communicate, perfect.
Back on topic: I checked Odyssey and I got a bunch of Asian languages and Arab as options for install (in Europe). So what makes you think there is a limitation? You can probably install any localization available, as it should be.
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