Softcatalà works to create a medical dictionary in Catalan

Softcatalà is a Catalonian non-profit organization that promotes and regularizes the use of the Catalan language, within the realm of technology, mostly within the Catalan region. Softcatalà works to translate software and computer programs into Catalan, and then they work to disseminate these new versions onto Internet platforms. One of their main missions is to make these programs that they develop widely available on the Internet and to make access to them free for everyone.

Recently, Softcatalà worked with the Catalonian Generalitat Department of Health in order to compile a dictionary, in Catalan, that includes all current medical terminology. They gathered the terminology from medical dictionaries such as the International Classifications of Diseases, TERMCAT, and the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicine. As a result, they successfully created a 110,000-word medical dictionary in Catalan.

This dictionary is available on the data portal of the Catalonian Generalitat Department of Health as well as through Microsoft Office, Google Docs, and other Internet platforms. It is available to everyone, but most importantly it is a vital tool that is available to health professionals.

Softcatalà has had many projects however, most notably they created the program “Catalyst of Softcatalà”. This software serves as a tool for anyone who has a computer with Apple macOS or Microsoft Windows to easily translate their computer into Catalan. This software includes language packs and spell-check tools that make it much easier for Catalan speakers to work in Catalan.

The programs and software that Softcatalà has created serve as a reference point for many other organizations that wish to translate their product into Catalan. For example, the app “Telegram” used the Softcatalà assistance guide to help to translate their app into Catalan.

On the Softcatalà website, they have an extensive dictionary as well as a multi-lingual translator that translates words from English, Spanish, French, Romanian, German, Aragonese, Aranese, and Portuguese, into Catalan.