Other recently expired empires, such as the British, Dutch, French, had left some residue for locals grudgingly to admire: habits of administration, a legal system, even just a useful language.

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"We live in an ever smaller global community and we probably are at a point where we believe having some language skills is a useful thing - it's what I would call a vocational skill really, " he says.

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It's not just about a better understanding of communication over the ages, either, as the timeline of a language can also play a useful role in determining the order of pre-history events, such as the movement of populations over a continent.

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But the apps that have turned the iPhone into a more useful tool -- be it as simple as a flashlight or as sophisticated as a language translator -- have been relatively rare.

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That could be useful for travelers lost in a foreign city, or choosing what to order in a menu written in another language.

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