TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a language communication method for facilitating communication between users fluent in different languages.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

[0003] In a global world, online users fluent in different languages are required to communicate with each other. Whilst communication between two users fluent in respective languages may be manageable using known translation tools, effective communication between groups of three or more online users fluent in respective languages is largely impossible.

[0004] The preferred embodiment provides improved techniques for such groups to communicate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an online language communication method for facilitating communication between users fluent in different languages, the method involving: a first (e.g. French) user providing an initial message in a first language; a second (e.g. German) user receiving a second language translation of the initial message; a third (e.g. Italian) user receiving a third language translation of the initial message; the second user providing a second language reply message to the second language translation; the first user receiving a first language translation of the second language reply message; and the third user receiving a third language translation of the second language reply message.

[0006] Advantageously, the group of three users may seamlessly communicate by all providing and receiving messages in their respective languages.

[0007] The method may further involve: the third user providing a third language reply message to the initial message or the reply message from the second user; the first user receiving a first language translation of the third language reply message; and the second user receiving a second language translation of the third language reply message.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a language communication system for performing the language communication method, the system including: first, second and third computers used by the first second and third users; and a translator for translating the messages passing between the computers.

[0009] The system may generate a message pane for each message to be typed. The system may include a language selector for selecting language of the user.

[00010] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an online language communication method for facilitating communication between users fluent in different languages, the method involving: a user of a group sending a message in a native language to a translator; the translator sending one or more translations of the message to one or more other users in the group, each other user receiving the translation in their native language.

[00011] Preferably, each of the users send messages to, and receive messages from, the translator in their native language. Preferably, the group is an e-mail group or group using a messaging platform. [00012] Any of the features described herein can be combined in any combination with any one or more of the other features described herein within the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[00013] Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:

[00014] Figure 1 is a schematic view of a language communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[00015] Figure 2 shows a sequence of steps involved in an online language communication method using the system of Figure 1 ;

[00016] Figure 3 shows a Chat App messaging platform performing the method of claim 2; and

[00017] Figure 4 shows the replacement of translated words.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[00018] According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a language communication system 100 for performing a language communication method as described in detail below.

[00019] The system 100 includes a French computer 102a used by a French (i.e. first) user 104a that speaks French language only, a German computer 102b used by a German (i.e. second) user 104b that speaks German language only, and an Italian computer 102c used by an Italian (i.e. third) user 104c that speaks Italian language only. [00020] The system 100 also includes a Webserver 106 in communication with the computers 102 over the Internet 108. The Webserver 106 includes an electronic translator 110 (e.g. Google™ translate) for automatically translating email messages between the users 104. The translator 106 sends translations of the messages between the users 104 in the e-mail group, with each user 104 receiving translations in their native language. Accordingly, each of the users 104 send messages to, and receive messages from, the translator 106 in their native language.

[00021] The computers 102 are loaded with or remotely access e-mail communications software which communicates with the translator 106 to perform the message translations.

[00022] The e-mail software operating independently on each computer 102, generates a message pane for each message to be typed and sent, or received. The e- mail software further includes a language selector for selecting the language of each user to assist the translator 106 in determining the required language for the sent and received messages, on a user by user basis.

[00023] Each user 104 has a system account with settings (e.g. nationality or language) stored in the database 112.

[00024] According to the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an online language communication method 200 for facilitating communication between the three users 104a, 104b 104c fluent in different languages using the system 100.

[00025] At step 202, the French user 104a writes an initial e-mail message in the French language copying the German user 104b and the Italian user 104c. The translator 106 translates the sent e-mail message into German and Italian.

[00026] At step 204, the German user 104b receives the German language translation of the initial email message from the translator 106.

[00027] At step 206, the Italian user 104c receives the Italian language translation of the initial message from the translator 106. [00028] At step 208, the German user 104b writes a German language reply-to-all e- mail message to the received German language translation. The translator 106 translates the reply e-mail message into French and Italian.

[00029] At step 210, the French user 104a receives the French language translation of the German language reply message from the translator 106.

[00030] At step 212, the Italian user 104c receives the Italian language translation of the German language reply message from the translator.

[00031] At step 214, the Italian user 104c writes an Italian language reply-to-all message to either the initial e-mail message or the reply-to-all message from the German user 104b. The translator 106 translates the Italian language reply message into French and German.

[00032] At step 216, the French user 104a receives a French language translation of the Italian language reply message from the translator 106.

[00033] At step 218, the German user 104b receives a German language translation of the Italian language reply message from the translator 106.

[00034] Advantageously, the e-mail group of three users 104a, 104b 104c can seamlessly communicate by all providing and receiving messages in their respective languages.

[00035] Send Process

[00036] The Sender 104 types their message into a free text box in their native language.

[00037] Once typing is completed, the sender clicks a "share/send" button.

[00038] A share pop-up window opens with: a. Insert email addresses of all recipients b. Select view/edit privilege for each recipient c. Language Selections i. "From" dropdown defaults to Senders native language ii. "To" dropdown next to each recipient

1 . For email addresses with a registered system Account defaults to recipient’s native language

2. For email addresses with no system account sender selects language

[00039] The sender 104 clicks confirm/send to send Email.

[00040] The sent message is stored in senders account in a "Sent" folder with who message was sent to (i.e. the addressees).

[00041] Receive Process

[00042] The recipient receives the email notifying them that they have received a message from a system user 104 with a link to access the message.

[00043] Recipients with a system account receives the email as above, in addition to the message being stored in a "Inbox". They can also get a separate notification.

[00044] Recipients can see email addresses of everyone in the e-mail "conversation."

[00045] Reply Process:

[00046] A Recipient can click "reply/reply all" to navigate them to the free text-box with all recipient’s email addresses pre-loaded

[00047] If Recipient does not have a system account "reply/reply all" navigates that user to a "sign-up" page to register.

[00048] Communications module

[00049] The system includes a communications module implemented with the communications software described above. The communications module includes the following:

Message List, • Drafting Pane,

• Reading Pane,

• Email notification of new messages, and

• Contacts List (Individual and Distribution lists)

[00050] Message List

[00051] Folders are listed down the left-hand side of the screen and consist of:

1. Inbox (Messages in this folder default to “Native Language” view),

2. Sent (Messages in this folder default to “Original” view),

3. Deleted (Messages in this folder default to “Original” view), and

4. Drafts (Messages in this folder default to “Original” view).

[00052] Users have the option to change the currently selected view to any of the available translation views.

[00053] To the right of these folders is the message listing for the currently selected folder showing:

1. Senders Name,

2. Message Subject, and

3. Date and Time of message receipt.

The foregoing list can be sorted by any of the items above and messages can be searched by Sender and Subject from the same search box.

[00054] To the right of the message list is the message pane, this is where the Drafting View and Reading View is displayed.

[00055] Action Buttons for Messages:

1. New Message: Blank draft message (Details Below) is displayed in the reading pane.

2. Bulk Delete: Deletes (Moves to deleted folder) all selected messages (1 or more) in the list.

[00056] Drafting View [00057] The drafting view allows a user 104 to draft a message in the message pane and send it to one or more individuals. The destination users do not need to be existing members of the system 100.

[00058] The drafting view has the following interface features:

1. Message Language (Defaults to the users selected “Native Language”),

2. “To” list which autofills using contacts in their contact list. The user 104 can also click on the “To” as a button to open a “Contact List” pop-up that allows them to add listed recipients. Recipients can be added by email address and with unknown email addresses (Non-system Users) the recipient’s destination language needs to be set. This can be done as a popup during the “Send” process.

3. “CC” as per the “To” list however are listed as a “Carbon Copy” recipient,

4. “Message Subject” as a plain text entry,

5. “Message Body” as a RTF Textbox that allows text mark-up, formatting, and spell check capabilities (If required, able),

6. “Send” button that sends the message,

7. “Save” button that stored the message in drafts, and

8. “Discard” button that cancels the process.

[00059] Reading View

[00060] The reading view allows a user 104 to read the selected message on the message list, in the message pane. Clicking on an unread message in the message list and showing it in the message pane changes its unread status to “Read”.

[00061] The reading view has the following components:

1. Original Language and Translated Language (In the case these are the same only the original language version with full formatting is seen without the 3-layer view -

1.e. a translation selection view, a docstore view and a bookstore view)

2. Senders Name and Email Address

3. Date and Time of Message Receipt

4. Recipient Names for known contacts and Email Addresses for unknown contacts. 5. Message body in 3-layer or single layer view depending on content. The user 104 can choose the view they want with the options of: a. “Translated view” (3-layer) with all available translations (Depends on all recipients native language) i. Layers can be show/hidden as per doc/ & book store. b. “Original view” which is the original text and formatting of the original message.

6. The following action buttons: a. Reply, b. Reply all, c. Forward, d. Delete, e. Mark as read, and f. Mark as unread.

7. In the 3-layer view, users that have signed in or registered can make suggestions.

[00062] Email notification of new messages

[00063] When a user 104 is sent a message through the system 100, they are sent an email to their primary email address with a message to say that “{Sender} has sent them a multi-lingual message” with a button link on the email pointing to that message.

[00064] Contacts List (Individual)

[00065] This feature has the same screen layout as the messaging system (Folders, List, Pane) and operates as a basic tree hierarchy (Folders) “Contacts” list with the following fields for a contact:

1. First name

2. Last name

3. Email address

4. Company

5. Notes

[00066] The default folder for contacts is labelled “Your contacts”. [00067] Action Buttons for Contacts:

1. New Contact (Popup to collect fields above with “Create” and “Discard” buttons),

2. Bulk Delete: Deletes all selected contacts in the list,

3. Edit: Edits the selected contact (Is disabled/hidden if multiple contacts are selected),

4. On contact reading pane and with a selected/highlighted contact: a. Send Message: Open a “Draft Message” window with the selected contact in the “To” field, b. Delete Contact c. Edit Contact: Open the contact details in a popup to allow the details to be edited.

[00068] Process description - Send Message

1. The User 104 clicks on “New Message” and a new draft message appears in the reading pane,

2. User 104 checks that the “Message language” is correct and completes the recipient(s), subject, and message text areas,

3. User clicks the “Send” button,

4. The system 100 checks that it knows all the recipients in the database, if there are any unknown recipients it asks the sender for each of the unknown recipient’s native language,

5. The message is translated to the required languages, and placed in the inbox of each recipient (Unregistered users are provisioned a temporary inbox until registration),

6. Separate notification emails/URLs are sent to each recipient coded to each recipient,

7. Users that are currently logged into the system 100 receive a “web notification” and increment to the “unread” counter on the top menu link to the “Messaging Module”.

[00069] Process description - Receive Message [00070] The Recipient receives an email with a message detailing the sender and a link button to access the message. As described in “Email notification of new messages”.

[00071] Clicking on the link opens the system website. The system 100 knows from the link ID who the recipient is that is trying to access the message:

1. For registered email addresses: a. If the user is not logged in, the system 100 presents a login form, or b. If the user is logged in, the system 100 takes the user directly to the Messaging Module and opens the message automatically.

2. For unregistered email addresses, the message opens in the messaging module, where they can view the message in 3-layer view. Flowever, if the user clicks on any “Action” button a pop-up requesting they create an account is displayed for their email address only. a. On submitting the form, the user account is created and activated. No email address verification is required as the email address existence has already been proven. Additionally, no approval from Admin is required for them to start communicating on the messaging platform. However, their recipient count for each email will be reduced to ten (10) until their account has been approved by Admin (to Deters Spammers). The popup closes and the action button the user pressed continues (e.g. Reply, Forward, etc.)

[00072] Figure 3 shows a Chat App messaging platform 300 for performing the method 200.

[00073] The platform 300 includes the 3-layer view check-box filter 302, namely for showing an original layer 304 showing the original text sentence in a native language, a word layer 306 showing automatic translations of individual words in the original layer 304, and a sentence layer 308 showing an automatic and grammatically correct translated sentence of the original layer.

[00074] As shown in Figure 4, a user 104a can select a word in the word layer 306which will provide similar suggestions or alternative meanings in a box 400. [00075] The user 104a can select or enter, and then save a more suitable word in the box 400, which then appears as a replacement in the sentence layer 308.

[00076] A person skilled in the art will appreciate that many embodiments and variations can be made without departing from the ambit of the present invention.

[00077] Although described above with reference to three users, the preferred embodiment can be used for large groups on distribution lists (i.e. 100 or so recipients). The preferred embodiment can incorporate a Blind CC function for some recipients.

[00078] The user accounts can store email addresses and distribution lists so users don't have to copy and paste email addresses from any other Email Account.

[00079] The system 100 further includes additional features such as:

1. “Recall” messages,

2. Blind Carbon Copy,

3. Handling distribution lists,

4. Inserting a document from storage,

5. Customise the email message sent to non-system users,

6. Attachments (Images, Documents, etc.),

7. Conversation View (Grouping),

8. Flagging Messages,

9. Setting message importance,

10. Creating folders and moving messages between folders, and

11. Signatures.

[00080] In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.

[00081] Reference throughout this specification to ‘one embodiment’ or ‘an embodiment’ means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases ‘in one embodiment’ or ‘in an embodiment’ in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations.