... and win an iPad 2!
Language is a complicated matter. Remember how long it took you to know when to use which words, and how? Language is not something we learn overnight, and we keep on learning new words every day! Now imagine you want to teach a computer to grasp just a tiny bit of language... You will need examples, lots and lots of examples to learn from.
This is what we build the SoNaR corpus for. A corpus is a large collection of texts or speech, with which computers have already learned to translate, speak and predict what you want to write. Google Translate, the voice on your GPS or the T9 or Swype dictionary in your cell phone are just a few examples. Building such systems requires a corpus. And when it comes to text used in new media such as SMS, we still need a lot more data, especially for Dutch.
That is what we need you for! Have a look at
http://www.sonarproject.be and donate your Dutch text messages to the SoNaR project.
Language technology and linguistic research will benefit from your contribution. And someday, you might benefit from improved language technology in your phone, on the web, or maybe on the iPad 2 you could win! Everyone who donates text is automatically entered in our iPad prize draw!