Hello 👋

My name is Harris S. Mowbray and I am a computational linguist from the United States. While getting a degree in International Relations, I started my life project of working with nations around the world to develop Braille for every language that doesn't have it yet, with the goal of allowing visually-impaired people to read and write any language that they want. Since graduating in 2022, I have grown my skills and now work with diverse communities to develop dictionaries, keyboards, teaching resources, and solve other linguistic problems.

I am always looking for more opportunities to put my linguistics and coding skills to good use. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in working together, refer to my contact information below or feel free to reach out on LinkedIn. Presently I work remotely on the East Coast ().

My website hosts various linguistic projects that I did in collaboration with communities around the world including dictionaries, keyboards, and resources to learn different languages and alphabets. The rest of my projects can be found on a separate page on my website. Additionally, my résumé can be found at this link.

Portfolio

Ponca Dictionary

info about dictionary

Online Casino

info about casino

Braille Converter

info about casino

Virtual Keyboards

info about keyboards

Learn Alphabets

info

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Braille and how does it work?

Braille is a tactile system of writing designed to allow visually-impaired people to read and write. Cells composed of dots form various patterns which correspond to letters, numbers, or punctuation marks. Braille has been developed for many languages to adapt to the various alphabets and writing systems used around the world.

How do you make Braille for languages around the world?

Braille was invented by Louis Braille in the 19th century to write allow blind people to read the French alphabet, and it was soon adapted to other major languages around the world. Generally, Braille is similar across languages; for example, the Braille symbol ⠙ represents the letter D in Spanish Braille, D in Italian Braille, D in Indonesian Braille, and even the equivalent letter Delta (Δ) in Greek Braille. In 1953 UNESCO established international standards regarding the uniformity of braille alphabets which govern patterns to follow for the creation of new Braille alphabets. I reach out to communities around the world and follow UNESCO's guidelines to develop new Braille alphabets to help visually-impaired people.

What inspired you to make Braille for different languages?

After reading about how Braille works in different languages, I wanted to develop it for smaller languages in order to help aid their revitalization and do my part to help reverse the global trend of language loss.

Are you blind or is anyone in your family blind?

I am not blind and neither was anyone I knew growing up. Through my work, I have become friends with blind people around the world.

What languages do you speak?

While I can speak a bit of Polish, Italian, Greek, and some other languages, the only languages I speak fluently are Spanish and my native language, English.

Where are you from?

I was born in New York City, grew up in the Silicon Valley, and went to university in Washington DC where I remained for a couple years after I graduated.

Where do you live now?

Currently I am semi-nomadic and traveling around the world for work/adventure, though I am somewhere in the United States the majority of the time.