January 14, 1999.

ML: "How do you see multilingualism on the Internet?"

MG: "Multilingualism on the Internet can be seen as a happy and above all
irreversible inevitability. In this perspective we have to make fun of the wet
blankets who only speak to complain about the supremacy of English. This
supremacy is not wrong in itself, inasmuch as it is the result of mainly
statistical facts (more PCs per inhabitant, more English-speaking people, etc.).
The counter-attack is not to 'fight against English' and even less to whine
about it, but to increase sites in other languages. As a translation service, we
also recommend the multilingualism of websites."

ML: "What did the use of the Internet bring to your professional life?"

MG: "To work without the Internet is simply impossible now -- as well as all the
tools used (e-mail, electronic press, services for translators), Internet is for
us an essential and inexhaustible source of information in what I would call the
'non-structured sector' of the Web. For example, when the answer to a
translation problem can't be found in websites presenting information in an
organized way, in most cases search engines allow us to find the missing link
somewhere on the network."

ML: "How do you see the future of Internet-related activities as regards
languages?"

MG: "The increase in the number of languages on the Internet is inevitable, and
can only be a benefit for multicultural exchanges. For the exchanges to happen
in an optimal environment, it is still necesssary to develop tools which will
improve compatibility -- the complete management of diacritics is only one
example of what can be done."

Provided as a free service since April 1996 by Study Technologies, Englewood,
Colorado, OneLook Dictionaries, by Robert Ware, is the fastest finder for more
than 2 million words in 425 dictionaries in various fields: business,
computer/Internet, medical, miscellaneous, religion, science, sports,
technology, general, and slang.

In his e-mail of September 2, 1998, Robert Ware explained:

"On the personal side, I was almost entirely in contact with people who spoke
one language and did not have much incentive to expand language abilities. Being
in contact with the entire world has a way of changing that. And changing it for
the better! [...] I have been slow to start including non-English dictionaries
(partly because I am monolingual). But you will now find a few included."

A Web of O