I enter Albert Heijn and the first intuitive action I take is to take my phone out of my pocket and open Google Translate. Package labels here in the Netherlands are typically only in Dutch so as someone who does not speak the language, I have to rely on external help to interpret the texts. I open Google Translate, hit the camera button, hold my phone above a label and can understand virtually any text written on the package to some limitations.
Real-time translation today
Google launched a new service of Google Assistant that acts as a real-time translator for 27 languages (Liao, 2019). “Google announced that the voice assistant is getting a new “interpreter mode” that can translate in real-time so you can hold conversations with someone who doesn’t share the same tongue.” (Liao, 2019).
I start to wonder with such translating applications in the present, what is the point of learning foreign languages. Won’t we just use the same technologies with more advanced functionality in the future to interpret a language we don’t speak?
The example of a taxi driver
A good taxi driver 20 years ago had to know the map of his operating area in a pretty detailed manner to be able to navigate well. Today the same taxi driver uses an application on his phone that tells him which route to take. There is no need to speak ‘the language of the road’, to know the map by heart. Do foreign language skills translate to this example?
If an app will be better able to translate live spoken language than a person, it will save time and will prevent misunderstandings due to the limited language skills of the person. This means people with lower language skills than a machine will rely on it for efficiency purposes.
Positive externalities of learning languages
Some argue that besides providing us with the opportunity to communicate in a foreign language, learning languages provide other positive effects as well. It is proven for example, that learning a language at any age improves brain function (Wanjek, 2014). So it might be the case, that someone learns a language for this secondary effect. In reality, I see limited potential for this, as many substitutes exist for improving brain function.
My hypothesis is that we will have a common language (likely English) spoken by most people and devices that translate any other language to English and the other way around. This would also mean an end to other languages in the long run.
I’d be interested in knowing how you think about this question! Will our children learn foreign languages?
Bibliography:
Liao, S. (2019). Google Assistant’s new interpreter mode can translate conversations — but it’s not magic. [online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/8/18170806/google-assistant-translate-languages-real-time-interpreter-ces-2019 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2019].
Shopin, P. (2017). Elon Musk and linguists say that AI is forcing us to confront the limits of human language. [online] Quartz. Available at: https://qz.com/1005275/language-matters-more-than-ever-in-the-age-of-ai/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2019].
Wanjek, C. (2014). Learning a New Language at Any Age Helps the Brain. [online] livescience.com. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/46048-learning-new-language-brain.html [Accessed 14 Oct. 2019].
Dear Benedek. Like you said I think soon technically translators will be quicker and better than humans. And therefore, they should be more effective and more useful to use. This is all perfect in theory, but I think one think redresses this, the identity and origins of humans. People are always eager to know where they come from and have a own identity. For example, the French, they are very proud people and many of them don’t want or can’t speak english. People are not eager to change, they want consistency. I truly believe when technique surpasses people, they will be to stubborn to accept it and implement it in their life.
I do agree that it is becoming increasingly easier to communicate across the globe with tools such as Google Assistant!
Nevertheless, I am sure that each language is part of a unique culture. This article gives some other interesting reasons why foreign languages might still be worh to learn: https://cla.auburn.edu/forlang/resources/twenty-five-reasons/
Dear Benedek,
This post was very interesting to read, specially “the language of the road” section! I had never stopped to think about that, but it’s true, technolologies do really help you get places (literally) without being an expert. As well, I think it is impressive how Google Translate can automatically translate a language just by taking a picture. It is definitely an efficient tool when you are visitng a foreign country for tourism or even for a short-term living period. For example, when I went to Paris for exchange I was only there 4 months; unless you have started learning the language beforehand, according to Rogers (2017), it will take 24 weeks to learn the French language, which is not enough time for an exchange period.
However, I believe in many cases people learn a language because it allows you to bond more with the people and the culture of the foreign language, not just because of interpreting reasons (for example at the supermarket). For rapid encounters translating technologies are useful, but to establish friendships I do not think they are/will be successful. Imagine a friend reunion with everyone talking to you through an indirect medium (your phones), wouldn’t it be weird? In my personal opinion, I enjoy learning languages because of the satisfaction I receive from it and the small cultural aspects I discover through learning languages.
Still, I agree technologies will really play an impact on helping resolve miscommunications caused through language differences.
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Rogers, S., 2017. This Map Shows How Long It Would Take To Learn Another Language. [online] Interesting Engineering. Available at: https://interestingengineering.com/this-map-shows-how-long-it-would-take-to-learn-another-language [Accessed 15 Oct. 2019].
Hi Benedek,
Thank you for an interesting read about how the virtual translation evolves! Firstly, I do not fully agree with you that there won’t be a need in the future to learn languages. In my opinion, there will always be benefits of learning new languages and even though more and more people tend to use a Google translate for that, it still lacks the communication part! The same goes to the children in the future, because knowing the local languages open so many doors, not only in terms of job opportunities but simly in day-to-day conversations. I do believe if you need to translate something in the shop it might be convenient to use some software, but you will definitely lack the communication and emotional expressions when using Google translate to express yourself to people. Besides, learning new languages is developing one’s brain cells, there are some alternatives indeed, like playing chess online, but again it misses communication part, which is so vital nowadays.
I noticed you also slightly touched upon the quality of translation that Google translate performs. The example you provided with the labels in the store can indeed go in favour of using easy-to-access translation everyone has on their phones. However, what about official documents, academic writing or novels. In such cases Google Translate has failed multiple times to provide the proper quality of translation (McGuire, 2019). Moreover Sheppard (2011) concludes saying, it is preferable to use services from sworn translators, when writing medical papers as the machine translators (MT) lacks the sensitivity of syntax. In the future we may of course expect the quality of MT to become highly satisfactory, but would anyone of us like to read a book now completely translated by Google Translate? What about using MT to translate text between non-English languages. So far, if one wants to translate text between language X and language Y and both are non-English, then it uses English in the intermediary step (Sitt, 2016). What about representatives from the two largest numbers of native speakers, Chinese and Spanish? Firstly, it would translate Chinese into English and then from English to Spanish. One may expect to lose some language integrity throughout the whole process.
I am also wondering regarding your hypothesis; about the future of English, indeed it became common to believe that now a large part of population should be able to speak English. However, it does not decrease the importance of other languages. Here is an example, what is a chance of finding a job in non-English speaking country when their local language is not your native language? Will you use Google translator? Just some food for thought!
Thank you for a good piece of writing!
Best,
Yana
Sitt (2016) https://www.ulatus.com/translation-blog/translation-service-essentials-why-not-just-use-google-translate/
McGuire (2019) https://www.argotrans.com/blog/human-translation-better-than-google-translate/
Sheppard (2011) https://www.em-consulte.com/en/article/293595
Dear Beni!
What an interesting perspective you raise in your blog post! I agree with your idea that in the future it may be less important for individuals to learn languages, especially when instant-translator devices are commercialised.
However, I also believe that learning languages will remain an important skill in the future. Firstly, companies will continue to appreciate it if their applicants are fluent in several languages. So I would even see it as a “personal competitive advantage”, when others rely on translators, we might still be able to speak the language ourselves.
In addition, one should never underestimate the human factor. I believe that you will be able to establish a much closer relationship with someone if you make the effort to learn and speak their language. The communication itself is also much more personal if you communicate in a common language, rather than through translating devices. Especially in “people-jobs” such as consulting, HR or law, it is important to appeal to the emotions of the people and understand the true meaning of their words.
Furthermore, when studying or learning a language you also familiarise yourself with the culture and understand the true meaning of what other people say (Genc & Bada, 2005). So, I believe simply hearing the translation of a language will not always be sufficient in truly understanding the person, especially when the cultural distance is high.
But all of this competes with the increased convenience and reduced effort associated with translators. So maybe knowing an additional language will become a scarce but highly appreciated resource in the future.
Best Regards,
Celina
Sources:
Genc, B. and Bada, E. (2005). Culture in language learning and teaching. The Reading Matrix, 5(1).
Hi Benedek,
Interesting post! I agree on the fact that Google Translate is an easy and helpful tool for everyday use and that similar translation tools will become even better in facilitating communication. However, I think learning a foreign language will still be necessary, because it is culture-based and made out of complex structures and idioms. Some words do not even exist in the other language. By using translation tools solely, misunderstanding may arise if the tool is not able to convert the message correctly. Especially when it involves important decision-making, this might be risky. Therefore, we will still need people to learn a foreign language.
Hi Benedek, very interesting point of view! I only partially agree – in the case of going to the supermarket such a tool is super helpful as it is also readily available. However, I think that in terms of human social interactions, really knowing a language is a whole different level, I cannot really imaging having a technology-reliant conversation. Additionally, according to the Guardian (2014), learning a language makes you smarter. So I really hope that our children will get the chance to learn as many languages as possible though I also think that more and more languages might converge to English or Spanish – maybe even eliminating local dialects in the long term.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/04/what-happens-to-the-brain-language-learning