Despite being the highest-grossing sector in the world of entertainment, gaming is still viewed as a waste of time in certain circles. However, with global lockdowns forcing people to stay home during the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s been an increase in players picking up controllers. They do so to connect with the rest of the world through online multiplayer games at a time when physical contact has been prohibited in certain places.
Gaming, then, has been a force for good in these testing times.
Preserving minority languages
A platform that has been central to connecting people around the world is Twitch. It’s a service where users can host streams of themselves playing games, and it has recorded an increase in registrations over the past year. Data company Statista reported a peak in January of 9.89 million active streamers on Twitch. The top-ranked user is a gamer named Ninja, who has 16.8 million followers.
While it has a multitude of benefits for gamers, this virtual hub has offered up another, more surprising positive: the preservation of almost extinct languages.
As reported by US tech website The Verge, thousands of like-minded people are working together to keep native languages alive through Twitch streaming. Where once these minority dialects would have been limited to households and circles of friends in far reaches of the world, they are now being showcased through game streaming.
Twitch, recognising certain petitions started by motivated activists, introduced 350 new tags recently that help users to find specific content. These include a number of minority languages designed to help those searching to discover certain channels.
However, despite adding tags for languages such as Ukrainian, Twitch overlooked the likes of Basque, Galician and Maori. Basque is one of the oldest languages in the world and is native to the Basque Country, an area that has been seeking independence from Spain for decades. Galician is spoken in a remote part of Spain, while Maori comes from New Zealand and the surrounding Pacific Islands. These three languages in particular have generated popular campaigns that have gained momentum.
Users can set their preferred language when they log in so they’re able to navigate the site in whatever option is easier to read, but of the 29 options available right now, Arabic still hasn’t made the cut
#3000Twitz, the hashtag associated with recognising the Basque language, has been trending across Twitch and other social networks. It's also one of the most-voted-on threads in the Twitch UserVoice community pages.
"Twitch in Galician" is a service that posts across its social media feeds whenever a Galician-speaking streamer is about to go live, and has even made it to the user-generated content of Reddit, the self-proclaimed "front page of the internet".
In the case of Maori, Twitch user Rangiora has been at the forefront of his native language's campaign. His streams are educational and entertaining, and he's being championed by other Maori Twitch users to achieve "Partner" status (official Twitch recognition) on the platform and carry the fight for recognition onwards.
Why is Twitch neglecting the Arabic language?
While the platform no doubt has a mammoth task on its hands to create tags for every language in existence and keep all of its community happy, it will probably meet these demands in the future. However, Twitch has a much bigger and more fundamental problem when it comes to the Middle East.
At present, users can set their preferred language when they log in so they’re able to navigate the site in whatever option is easier to read. But of the 29 options available, Arabic still hasn’t made the cut, despite it being the fifth most-spoken language in the world, after English, Mandarin, Hindi and Spanish, with about 274 million speakers, according to Statista. Meanwhile, Hungarian Magyar, which has about 13 million speakers worldwide, is one of the options.
As Twitch users are deeply aware, the lack of Arabic as a default language on the platform is somewhat holding it back in the region when it comes to finding new subscribers.
I think [Twitch] having a fully localised user interface will help me reach a wider audience that won’t struggle with the language
Abdullah Bashan,
Twitch user
“A large group of my Arabic audience can't understand English at all,” says Omani streamer Ahmed Al Maimani, who goes by the handle Pisty. “This makes it very difficult for them to navigate the platform, know how to watch my streams or even find my profile. And this affects my viewership greatly.”
Despite this, Al Maimani still plays to 75,000-plus subscribers. But the possibilities of where that could go with a bit more attention to Arabic is sky high.
“Streamers and eSports communities are growing rapidly in the region, with hundreds of new talents given Partner status on a daily basis,” Al Maimani explains. “Many bigger ones [Arabic users] reach the top spots globally with their streams, too.”
It’s a sentiment that’s shared by fellow streamer Abdullah Bashan, or Abdullah Reviews, as he is known online. “I am mainly a YouTuber as my biggest fan base is there, since it is fully localised in Arabic,” Bashan says. “When I decide to make a livestream on Twitch, I notice a lot of my fans lose interest in it. I think [Twitch] having a fully localised user interface will help me reach a wider audience that won’t struggle with the language. Especially for younger people as my streams are family-friendly.”
The National reached out to Twitch to find out if there were any plans to rectify this issue, but a representative said they were unable to comment at this time.
Although these groups have different immediate targets – smaller communities looking for recognition and GCC users' need for Arabic as a default setting – the long-term goals are the same: to preserve languages and unique dialect through Twitch.
We live in a fast-moving society where things are easily forgotten about, but while this hyper-digital age has increased the pace at which technology and ideas are thought up, actioned or lost, it’s warming to know that playing video games is also enabling people to connect and come together for important causes, even when times are tough.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
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The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
RESULTS
Bantamweight
Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK)
(Split decision)
Featherweight
Hussein Salim (IRQ) beat Shakhriyor Juraev (UZB)
(Round 1 submission, armbar)
Catchweight 80kg
Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Otabek Kadirov (UZB)
(Round-1 submission, rear naked choke)
Lightweight
Ho Taek-oh (KOR) beat Ronald Girones (CUB)
(Round 3 submission, triangle choke)
Lightweight
Arthur Zaynukov (RUS) beat Damien Lapilus (FRA)
(Unanimous points)
Bantamweight
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (RUS)
(Round 1 TKO)
Featherweight
Movlid Khaybulaev (RUS) v Zaka Fatullazade (AZE)
(Round 1 rear naked choke)
Flyweight
Shannon Ross (TUR) beat Donovon Freelow (USA)
(Unanimous decision)
Lightweight
Dan Collins (GBR) beat Mohammad Yahya (UAE)
(Round 2 submission D’arce choke)
Catchweight 73kg
Martun Mezhulmyan (ARM) beat Islam Mamedov (RUS)
(Round 3 submission, kneebar)
Bantamweight world title
Xavier Alaoui (MAR) beat Jaures Dea (CAM)
(Unanimous points 48-46, 49-45, 49-45)
Flyweight world title
Manon Fiorot (FRA) v Gabriela Campo (ARG)
(Round 1 RSC)
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
