I speak on behalf of Turkish. The translation is incredibly good. If I didn't know the tone of your voice and saw a video of yours for the first time, I would definitely think you were a foreigner who later learned Turkish as his native language. Ofc, it isn’t localised it, but perfect for formal conversations

@Aphelia.

4 ай бұрын

I wasn't expecting Turkish in this video lol, I was pleasantly jumpscared

@chefnyc

4 ай бұрын

Another native Turkish speaker here. I think it is imperfect in all areas. A foreigner who just learnt Turkish doesn’t speak like this. A native speaker doesn’t either. A robot who just learnt the Turkish but not the humanity part might. But it is acceptable for v1. Problems are translation; the grammar has issues, it has wording issues. When we combine multiple sentences, we do it a bit differently. However if this was a foreign employee talking to his Turkish teammates, it would be perfectly acceptable.

@thorsteinj

4 ай бұрын

@@chefnycThis is interesting, I just made a comment about the exact same observations regarding the German version, interesting to see the same discrepancies also in Turkish.

@mimimi9170

4 ай бұрын

@@Aphelia. löl same here

@mimimi9170

4 ай бұрын

@@chefnyc It sounded to me like someone made a video using online translator. You know, not everyone is perfect. People with bad diction also make videos to get income in this KZread garbage:D

Paul, You forgot to mention another reason why some folks learn foreign languages: Keeping your brain active. It becomes more important as you get older. I wouldn’t call myself old yet, but I have been learning French for the last 2 years exactly for that.

@Visionery1

4 ай бұрын

I started learning Russian two years ago at the age of 57, for the same reason. It's not easy at this age, but enjoyable, definitely far harder than when I learned English and Afrikaans at the age of 5, it just happened, I never made any effort to learn them.

@ricdavid

4 ай бұрын

Same here. I accept that I'll never be fluent in French but I putter away at it for a little bit every day simply as a bit of a mental workout. It's like doing a sudoku but for a different part of your brain.

@paulaswaim8434

4 ай бұрын

Same here! I'm 57 and learning Afrikaans, already intermediate level in Spanish and German. I do language stuff for brain exercise and I love it. ❤

@Visionery1

4 ай бұрын

@@paulaswaim8434 Afrikaans is a beautiful language, far nicer on the ear than Dutch. I always compare Afrikaans and Dutch to 'Hochdeutsch' and 'Plattdeutsch', with Afrikaans being the 'Hochdeutsch' equivalent. If you want to listen to Afrikaans online, search for Radio Sonder Grense (RSG), they also stream their programs. RSG has been my daily radio station since 1994.

@oliversissonphone6143

4 ай бұрын

Learning a language for business opportunities rarely makes any sense anyway.

Would be nice to see these tools used to help preserve endangered languages in a way that would make it accessible for people to learn interactively.

@Aadrian7

4 ай бұрын

That's exactly what I thought when I heard about the advancement of AI. Imagine a world where you can watch any movie dubbed in Manx or Tibetan. Or, heck, watching Rome in Latin.

@adriyenn

4 ай бұрын

I agree! the language my family speaks is severely endangered due to everyone in the state of Louisiana preferring English. My grandmother was the last of our family to speak it fluently and now we're all left to find ways and resources to learn it. Kouri Vini and Louisiana French aren't taught on mainstream language learnings apps and websites unfortunately :(

@Aadrian7

4 ай бұрын

@@biomuseum6645 Not really, but it would be cool to have more content for people who are learning those languages. If you're not a beginner, you learn by increased exposure after all.

@Aadrian7

4 ай бұрын

@@biomuseum6645 Languages can be about human connection if that's what you want, sure. But as Paul said, a lot of people learn a language these days simply for content in that language and because it's fun. I've barely talked with people in English, yet I'm still fluent and having a blast interacting with the language. Same with French and German. Do you think talking with French people (which I did at work for over a year) is a prerequisite to listening to "L'heure du monde" on your commute for example? What matters fundamentally is exposure, I just choose to do it through input because it's a lot more easy to access and in bigger quantity than speaking practice is.

@BoltBarkingatthemoon

4 ай бұрын

​@@biomuseum6645So you'd rather see minority languages be devoid of interesting content? The knee-jerk "omg AI is coming to take everyone's jobs" reaction isn't helpful discussion.

I'm a native Mandarin speaker, yes, I'm very impressed. I think it imitates how non-native people tried to learn Chinese: the tone is somewhat unnatural and a little robotic. When it says "zhong guo ren" (Chinese people), it's a very typical (or stereotypical) foreign accent. But overall, the tone is very good. The grammar is flawless. If a non-native speaker can speak Mandarin like this, I would say "Your Mandarin is perfect!"

@ilikedota5

4 ай бұрын

I feel like a genuine native speaker would have said han ren or hua ren.

@yizhou5903

4 ай бұрын

Well, personally I get used to say “zhong guo ren”. Probably "hua ren" is used more often in Mandarin-speaking countries and communities outside China.

@ilikedota5

4 ай бұрын

@@yizhou5903 you might be able to tell I'm outside of China. I guess the other part about this is that most Chinese language resources don't cover this. They'd just teach 中国人, 中文, and maybe other terms like 汉语 or 普通话 for mainland and 国语 for Taiwan. There is a lot of nuance I had to learn by myself.

@Latebus101

4 ай бұрын

I’m a non-native speaker but I don’t think it was a good translation. It translated “impressed” into “left a deep impression upon”, but of course that’s not really what “impressed” means. 感到惊讶 would have been a better translation. But like Paul said, not perfect but pretty good.

@kingo_friver

4 ай бұрын

"the tone is somewhat unnatural and a little robotic" That makes it even more perfect lol

I don’t even need to watch the video to know the answer: no. AI may augment the language learning process-dramatically, in fact, but it can’t kill the invaluable human-to-human connection that actually learning someone else’s native language affords.

@jeffkevin3

4 ай бұрын

Also, the AI will "tweak" all the languages into something fit more to embedding and attention mechanism, instead of the human mind. 😂

@accaeffe8032

4 ай бұрын

Jobs have already been lost because of AI translation.

@PJWey

4 ай бұрын

AI will and is already transforming learning in all ways. Killing the past and letting it die, perhaps. Language is the most human element of life.

@amj.composer

4 ай бұрын

Honestly, as someone who works in AI, I just want to say that AI will "never do" something ages poorly more often than not.

@John_Weiss

4 ай бұрын

Quite Right! Language Encodes _Culture._ And until we have a general AI that can pass the Turing Test, we won't have an AI that can fulfill that other part of speaking a language: sharing culture.

I’m currently learning Japanese, and no matter how frustrating it gets, I have never dreamed to have someone snap their fingers and instantly make me fluent in Japanese. Language learning is such a joy, and I would hate to lose the chance to experience it with the language I want to learn the most.

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

Amen!

@corinna007

4 ай бұрын

That's how I feel with Finnish (my target language). So incredibly frustrating at times, but so rewarding. I wouldn't trade the journey for anything.

@dietrichdietrich7763

4 ай бұрын

how can all these google produced AI tools outdo humans when google translate (and it's youtube captions) still don't work correctly ** Usually with user edits on proper translation at that.

@dietrichdietrich7763

4 ай бұрын

however - if the technology gets fixed, upgraded, and things auto-translation A.I. maybe more so possible. But, I think, it's better to have triple subtitled media very often because it accustoms people to connect spellings and characters w/ rememberable words or phrases. increases polyglot smarts.

@dietrichdietrich7763

4 ай бұрын

I don't want a chip in my brain Paul just to learn Japanese. I can read Kana and Kanji just fine sir. There we have it!

4:36 What you say here, Paul, hits very close to home. I am American but learned how to speak Portuguese and Spanish. I founded an imports business in 1999; I import mostly handcrafted items from Latin America. Knowing the languages of my destination countries - and something about their cultures - has bridged the gaps and brought me closer to the people I've done business with. This is something not taught in business school! (I have an MBA). I have had numerous instances where people felt honored that I would care enough to learn their language. I wish I had a lempira, a peso or a real for every time someone said to me something like, "Of all the other Americans who have come down here, you are the only one to speak to us in our language." And next year I celebrate 25 years in business. I feel that bridging the gap through language has had a lot to do with the longevity of my business. Please, people, don't lean on AI for everything!

@asies2023

4 ай бұрын

Muy bien. É difícil mesmo, encontrar um americano que fale outra língua além do inglês😅. Congratulations!

@nattance1

4 ай бұрын

It gave me the willies hearing Paul's voice speaking in languages he doesn't (yet) know.

@klimtkahlo

4 ай бұрын

I am an European working in the USA and where I work they represent different international vendors. They could utilize me to speak to the vendors, but because they don’t speak the language they never want that. Americans for the most part want people only to speak English (even though there is no official language in the USA, so in essence it is legal to speak in whatever language you desire). The concept to show respect to others by speaking their language is non-existent to the majority of USA Americans. Of course, there are Americans who are language nerds! Thank goodness!

Listening to the German part I can state that it's consistently high German without any regional accent. Using a regional accent is something a native speaker does automaticly and thus giving you a hint about where exactly he/she is from. AI won't - unless it's trained to mimic a certain accent. Regional accents spoken by people from that region are something only real human to human communication can provide. For me these accents are a big part of what makes a language interesting.

@hyperion3135

4 ай бұрын

I believe that in the future AI will also be able to replicate regional dialects, slang and even voice connotations. But I think it will come across as cringe, in the same way when an old person tries to sound like a teenager by using slang. People will look at a white guy speaking an african language with a local dialect and will think its rather hilarious than connecting, because they are constantly beeing reminded that he doesen't really understand anything he's saying.

@thorsteinj

4 ай бұрын

Agree, high German and with a somewhat weird accent, which is where the juice is. If Paul spoke German (as a second language) the tonality and pronunciation would probably be influenced by where when and how it learnt it - it would be different from this AI version which is very good but in an unnatural way. But I suspect that this is will also be fine tuned in the future, you could have it pick a regional dialect or how much accent you’d like.

@tiorthanquickstep1981

4 ай бұрын

The AI sounds like some old Nazi trying to badly imitate Hitler.

@John_Weiss

4 ай бұрын

And lets not get started on Dialect! When I majored in German back in 1987, the German Dialects were muttered about in hushed, terrified tones! Learning Hochdeutsch was difficult enough, and now, you're telling us there are all of these regional variations that aren't even fully intelligible with Hochdeutsch?!?! Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. As long as you speak Hochdeutsch, everyone can understand you. And then I spent a semester in 1989 an der Uni Mainz. I had _soooo_ much trouble cutting through the Määnzer accent at first. I came back speaking fluent Hochdeutsch … with a bit of a Pälzisch accent! 😂😂 Yeah, I love the German dialects now, even if I don't understand any of them. They add such a lovely regional charm!

@user-pc3wb5fv6m

4 ай бұрын

Keep in mind that this kind of AI is very young yet. It's deep in development, give it time and informal language with slang will come to pass and all you'll have to do is just switch the mode.

Well as a professional language tutor I already feel like I've been automated away by A.I. , because no one hires me anymore even though I'm clearly great at my job and used to be quite successful, and I assume it's because everyone has flocked to free automated learning resources. And while my heart is happy that language learning is no longer gated behind having money, my wallet (and my paranoia about misinformation being potentially taught frequently by automated resources) is kinda peeved at this, heh

@Skrob0

4 ай бұрын

the wisest comment I've read in the month so far

@Pafemanti

4 ай бұрын

what language or type of language do you tutor?

@LurkingObserver

4 ай бұрын

I believe language tutors are still needed to correct accent and extract meaning from older words/texts.

@josueveguilla9069

4 ай бұрын

Nothing the Carrington Event, EMPs, the Sun, etc can't solve.

@ilikedota5

4 ай бұрын

@@LurkingObserver But also teach the nuances that machines don't get, in order to get the most precise meaning. Like imagine if diplomats used machine translations. I can definitely imagine some diplomatic row that might happen outside of countries that are close to each other. Like if the USA uses machine translation to send a message in Swedish to Sweden, they'd probably think hmmm weird. But I get their point. That's probably a bad example because Swedes generally have fluent English skills lol.

As a native Chinese speaker, I think the translation is just perfect. If I didn't watch your previous videos, I would thought you learned Chinese secretly and had mastered it. Although the tone seems a little unnatural(not like human), but there's no mistakes I can find, and it's really impressive!

As a native Turkish speaker, even though there were some minor mistakes in the translation, it was pretty good. And I am pretty surprised by it.

In the years of watching your videos because they’re so fascinating, I knew you were passionate about language, but this video showed the emotional part of your passion and added more of my appreciation for your work. Well done Paul!

Personally, when I learn a language, most of the words I learn come from a teacher. However, I also believe that Google Translate would probably be better off as a dictionary for single words or short phrases and I occasionally use it to try and improve my vocabulary.

@friskjidjidoglu7415

4 ай бұрын

Pretty much how I use it. But I always make sure to see whether or not it’s a community-approved translation

@christopherellis2663

4 ай бұрын

I find GT immensely useful. But when outside of my English-French-Castillian-Romanian-Bosnian experience, It is also invaluable when I return to one of these areas to brush up on them. Slavic languages tend to be similar, so learning one is a gateway to the rest. It's process of decoding rather than translation, and that depends on one's understanding of the topic discussed.

@BFDT-4

4 ай бұрын

Try DeepL translation!

@helenbaumander3953

4 ай бұрын

French teachers I know have specifically told their students to use Google as a dictionary, but never to translate full sentences. Even the best AI will always be missing some information.

@EnigmaticLucas

4 ай бұрын

Wiktionary is good for that. If you look at the English definition of something, there's usually a section for translations in various languages. You can click on one of those and pull up a definition so you can see how it gets inflecteds and get a rough idea of how its usage differs from its English equivalent. You shouldn't blindly trust this (because, well, it's Wiktionary), but it's a good resource.

The Atlantic has a really good article about this called "learn a language before it's too late." The idea is basically that the "you" speaking Turkish isn't actually you, and that an ai will never be able to convey the lived experiences behind the words we use. Might be fun to check out!

Im fluent in portuguese, spanish and english is my third language. People using tech divises in order to translate stuff will never feel that satisfaction of understand something you really studied hard for. I can listen to music now that I used to listen when I was a child with the diference that now I can understand every single word, that feeling that you can understand something you used to struggle with just using your brain is something no tech devise can provide

Recent studies have shown a correlation between dementia and polyglotism: The more languages you know, the less likely you are to have dementia in old age. The biggest "drop" is going from monolinguals to bilinguals. And it makes sense: humans are the "conversing ape". Language is quite fundamental to human brain function. So, maybe AI translation will be a tool that people use _alongside_ their Native and Second languages, with everyone learning a second language as part of good mental hygiene.

@ghenulo

4 ай бұрын

Well, I seriously doubt I'll live long enough to develop dementia, but it's nice to know. Maybe my non-dementia brain can be used for a transplant or something.

@KnightOfEternity13

4 ай бұрын

Could it be that smarter people are just more rare to get dementia, independently on do they learn foreign languages or not?

@John_Weiss

4 ай бұрын

@@KnightOfEternity13 Nope. Just because you've learned more than one language doesn't have any bearing on smarts. Nor does access to education correlate with intelligence. If you live in a country where bilingualism is the norm, you will grow up speaking 2 languages: their home dialect/language and the national standard.

@KnightOfEternity13

4 ай бұрын

@@John_Weiss So, do that mean that people in bilingualism countries are free from dementia?

As a Turkish speaker, I am impressed that the quality of the speech is very good although it uses a tense we normally never use during a conversation. "Konuşmaz" is in simple present tense, and we usually tend to use present continuous tense.

Very interesting that you posted this video. I never considered this reality 😢 I love your point about the point of language learning. People uninterested in languages don’t really seem to understand why we actually study languages. It’s very rarely for work or a resume 😂 It’s for fun and mental challenge!

@catritonix

4 ай бұрын

its over for my translation job dreams.

@idcallname8410

4 ай бұрын

@@catritonix same

Never, language learning is a skill that helps develop communicative abilities and logical, emotional, and cultural thinking. The one who's able to speak more than one language knows that it means freedom, you don't need to rely on machines, computers etc. You have it and no one can take it from you.

@ilghiz

4 ай бұрын

Staircases break down less often than elevators

@georgeinjapan6583

4 ай бұрын

The interactive side of language learning...

@idcallname8410

4 ай бұрын

The problem is no employer gives a crap about emotional or cultural thinking. Language learning is just going to turn into a huge waste of time with little to no output compared to the time you've spent learning.

@ilghiz

4 ай бұрын

@@idcallname8410 , no employer? Don't speak bs. If your potential employer deals with China, you're much more likely to be hired if you speak Chinese and have experience with China. Your knowledge of Portuguese and Brasil won't be to your advantage. And vice versa. If the business is local with no international connections, then of course no-one cares whether you speak Chinese or Portuguese. Anyway, exposure to a language and inevitably culture makes you more attentive to cultural differences. And you probably don't need any language or cultural language knowledge if you're from the US. That country is the centre of the world and has no idea that other countries exist, unless there's some oil in it.

@idcallname8410

4 ай бұрын

@@ilghiz so you are going to spend multiple years learning Chinese to have 0,5% of advantage over the people who use fancy AI things and can do almost the same stuff as you but with a microstep of using AI?

I've been following futurist thinkers, technological progress, and contemplating the Singularity for nearly 30 years. It's surreal seeing mainstream society and other 'normies' talking openly about something I've kept in my private thoughts for most of my life. I'm struggling to even describe the feeling. It's like a television show as big as Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad just came out, and the setting is my own neighborhood, the convenience store I go into all the time, the streets I walk down all the time. And the entire world is talking about it. I mention it here because seeing it talked about on this channel is the biggest breakdown of separation of worlds I've experienced yet. The news talking about it is almost normal. And teachers I work with complaining about ChatGPT and Google Translate has felt mostly normal.

Paul you're seriously one of my favourite KZreadrs ever. I look nowhere else when I want some info on any language. Amazing job as always

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Maybe it can replace texting a bit but the shared experiences and nuance of a language can't be communicated through AI translation. The translation would have to be a full-on language course of footnotes to properly get all the meanings across.

@atriyakoller136

4 ай бұрын

Or a very skillful human would have to check the translation to somewhat reduce the amount of footnotes

@morenauer

4 ай бұрын

Eventually it will, and that's the problem. It's a matter of time and enough exposure. What worries me is that if there's no interest in learning languages, will the interest in learning other cultures, other points of view, other views of the world and life, will they also go away? Will AI eventually mean the totally ironical eventual death of understanding amongst cultures?

@chingchingbling2145

4 ай бұрын

​@@morenauerCultures seem to be becoming uniform throughout the world. Differences in cultures evolved because of geographical isolation. Now, due to the internet and social media, cultures seem to be increasingly converging. Just look at the culture and trends among generation Z for example. In the past, people felt a belonging to communities based on the culture they were born into. In the future, people will likely band together based on shared *sub* cultures. They'll likely form in-groups and out-groups based on their shared interests and values based on the subcultures they participate in.

@arita2002

4 ай бұрын

Just wait another year or two.

@maxducoudray

4 ай бұрын

To say automated tools can't convey nuance is ridiculous. Is that level of communication more difficult? Yes, clearly. But that only means it takes more processing power to accomplish, and that will come as surely as the next sunrise.

Хорошо, если искусственный интеллект окажется в "хороших руках". А если нет, то смысл и цель перевода окажется исключительно в руках "хозяина". Не зная язык, вы не сможете проверить, а "правильно" ли вам переводят. Переводят ли вам то, что правда, или то, что хотят что бы вы услышали. Жизнь показывает, что такие технологии часто попадают в не те руки... Так что учим языки!

@jovan-noble-guy749

4 ай бұрын

Your Russian doesn 't look like it 's written from a native speaker, it looks like a South Slavic speaker wrote it, like a Serb, Macedonian or Bulgarian, I could understand it more then a usual comment in Russian. 🇲🇰🇷🇸🇷🇺

@jovan-noble-guy749

4 ай бұрын

"Ne znaja jazyk" is something my friend would say imitating Russian. I 'm not trying to provocate, just to point out.

@user-eq9eb4rw2f

4 ай бұрын

100%!

@KnightOfEternity13

4 ай бұрын

Так себе аргумент. Можно сделать опенсурсный переводчик, который будет "заверен" большинством специалистов. Да и вообще, ситуация очень надумана.

I think you nailed this topic. I agree with all you say. Nothing replaces watching news or even talking to strangers on the street in their own language while traveling.

Honestly if AI is as bad at social bonding then AI translation would be pretty bad for most jobs. The social element is utterly crucial in so many jobs, especially film making. How are you going to connect with your audience let alone your actors and staff if you can't even speak their language or don't care about their culture?

Thank you, Paul. I totally agree with you. I'm learning Welsh currently. People often say it's "useless" because almost all Welsh native speakers can speak perfect English (or Spanish, if they are in Patagonia). But I still want to learn. I'm living in Wales. I love Welsh culture and history. I see the Welsh people fighting for the destiny of the language. I want to respect their efforts. I want to talk to them in their native tongue rather than in English. Even if nobody speaks a language, so what? It's just people's nerdy hobby. Learning a language makes me happy and makes many people happy. Does Klingon have many speakers? But it's very important to Star Trek fans. By the way, the invention of bikes, cars and trains makes running much less functional. But many people still love running.

Thank you for this, Paul! I'm a bit of a language geek myself, and you have always inspired me. Even though you're an admitted introvert, if I were to ever run into you at a polyglot event, I would introduce myself and thank you personally. Best of wishes for more language adventures!

Beautiful video - thank you for this passionate defence of language-learning!

Reading the comments and thinking about Paul's answers, but especially being a grammar teacher and a specialist in languages native to the Americas (that's such a long sentence that I would like to see AI translate that... AND WE'RE NOT DONE YET! 😂), I think a few things are overlooked: 1) there are roughly 7000 living languages on this planet. Sure, AI will tackle English , Chinese, French, Turkish and other big ones... But that's ONLY because of the human input from speakers of those languages. Believe me, nobody will bother to "teach" AI small indigenous languages like Warao from Ecuador, Palikur of French Guyana or.. Halkomelem, the native language of the place where Paul is from (if I'm correct). Let alone the different dialects of these languages. 2) speaking of dialects, accents, variants, etc... A German speaker and Turkish speaker already mentioned this... What AI "speaks" is an extreme form of a standardised language. Otherwise said, it's not speaking at all... It like a chess computer. They don't play chess, they calculate incredibly well. Chess however is so much more (playing with ones nerves for example) 3) brings me to the last point. There is a difference between speaking a language and (re)producing it. Speaking is with emotions, feelings, etc... I doubt AI will be able to reproduce these: so far it's all human imput...

2:07 The German wasn't _bad,_ but it was, well, flat. It missed some of the nuances present in the English script you showed as subtitles. Side note: AI is gonna have a problem with German, unless it's acceptable for it to always sound like a talking textbook from 3 decades ago. Spoken German over the past century has been a rather dynamic, "fast" changing language. German youth are notoriously innovative in their slang, a slang that becomes standard colloquial once they all turn 30! Then the next generation vibes along and changes things _more!_ I wouldn't be at all surprised it's late 21st-Century German teens took AI translation as a challenge to come up with really wild „Jugendsprache“ to vex as many oldies as possible! 😁😉

I really appreciated your explanations near the end of this video, because this is one of the reasons I love learning languages: like using a time machine to communicate with people who lived in a far distant past and country, and I am feeling like a detective or archeologist deciphering very mysterious or old writings. I feel an extraordinary emotion and pride by doing that. As an introvert myself (but not particularily shy, I really enjoy speaking to people from time to time), I feel I can achieve a deep comprehension of a language and its culture or way of thinking that I could not grasp if I were using only AI. Besides, learning a language is very stimulating for brain and its development.

Great insights, Paul! Keep it coming! Thanks for sharing!

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

Thanks, David! Happy New Year!

@illectricsheep

4 ай бұрын

Same to you and family Paul! @@Langfocus

פול אני מת עליך! אני אוהב לראות את הסרטונים שלך, ופתאום עכשיו לראות אותך רואה חדשות בעברית, בשפה שלי מחמם את הלב ❤ שלום מישראל!

Gonna tune in, I've been wondering about this.

Cool video. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Paul, finding your video on Scandinavian languages lead me on a journey in learning about languages--also Jackson Crawford. With AI I'll still be interested in learning.

I think you're right Paul, but the language learning market will shrink dramatically and that's bad news for teachers.

@ghenulo

4 ай бұрын

I don't know how. Who actually uses language teachers? Those who go through two years of high-school Spanish and might be able to say "Gracias por favor".

@clau4089

3 ай бұрын

If that were true, Google translator and others would have already replaced teachers long ago.

I'm right there with you Paul. I'm a linguist by training and studying languages is more for pleasure than function. Sure AI will enhance my linguistic activities. But there's nothing like being in the present moment with your own language faculty at work immersed in the use of a language other than one's mother tongue.

Thanks for creating.

love u in this format! seated

@Langfocus

3 ай бұрын

Thanks! Glad you like it. Too many people started to think the old filming style was AI-generated. It's becoming more important to seem real.

I think learning new language than what you already know is a talent. And whether or not AI is going to make it useless, if a person is optimistic about learning language, they will not derail themself from their track. For me, it's always gonna be a no. No, I never gonna leave learning a language. Even when I'll be busy with my works. The little happiness after learning a language is very big for me. And also after learning a language and observing it I'm trying to make my own language and that's all I want. Different languages have different type of grammer, sounds, alphabets and that's also one of my favorite thing. I'm learning it anyway despite the fact that it will not gonna help me in anyway in my life or atleast in the next 10 year. And those who're upset about it, just one thing to say - we do many thing in our life which is useless and many times we regret it but in this case np matter how useless this process is. This is definitely not regretful....

I'm a language teacher and I've noticed that when the students who love the language they're studying are the ones who really get ahead and they always prefer classes in person. I believe (human) teachers make the learning process very personal and, as a result more meaningful, enjoyable and memorable. Ah, and those students usually hate online lessons 😅. I haven't found until this day one student who liked online classes let alone learning with A.I. Probably those who need to learn a language for work are more ok with that.

@alisadventures152

4 ай бұрын

Language teacher and learner here and while I mostly agree with you I do have to disagree about online teaching/learning. I do both in person and online teaching and find students in both to be dedicated. I’m learning two languages and both my teachers are remote which I like.

@asies2023

4 ай бұрын

​@@alisadventures152Yeah, I think it's a matter of personal preference and other factors. What language are learning?

@alisadventures152

4 ай бұрын

@@asies2023 Spanish and Darija (Moroccan Arabic)

@asies2023

4 ай бұрын

Cool! Yo también estoy estudiando Español. ¡Me encanta!

I´m studying Mandarin for 3 years now and I will not stop for all the reasons that you mentioned Paul. Thanks for the interesting video

This was very interesting! Thank you

I am Azerbaijani, and Turkish and Azerbaijani are very similar languages, so I can speak and understand Turkish perfectly.I think AI translated your speech perfectly. Paul, can you please make a video about Azerbaijani?

German native here - The translation in my opinion works well, but I would, at this stage, not recommend using it outside of the business world. Let alone due to the countless nuances a language has, it is hard to exactly deliver the message you meant to with the tool, I could imagine. I think there is a reason why people can recognise automatically translated things and go "Oh that sounds like google translate" for example. Even though you could technically speak every language in the world with such an AI tool, it wont make you truly master it. There is so much more to it than just words. The country's culture, the social status of your conversation partner and so on. But it is still really impressive

@ghenulo

4 ай бұрын

Conversation partner? People use language learning for something other than so that family members won't know what you're talking about on Facebook?

You would like to watch a scene from a sci-fi TVshow called "Star Trek Discovery universal translator malfunction." The "Universal Translator" is a never well-explained and never-consistently used device that somehow makes people who talk vastly different languages to understand each other. More details in Memory Alpha (the Wiki of Star Trek) and multiple videos. The first and only time so far a malfunction of the Universal Translator has been portrayed was in that scene - and the person who saved the day was the only officer who had made the effort to learn languages. Enjoy!

@lartrak

3 ай бұрын

Not a malfunction, but they've also occasionally had episodes where a the Universal Translator simply couldn't translate something for whatever reason. The most famous episode, of course, is Darmok, in Next Generation, where the Enterprise encounters Tamarians. Their language's literal meaning is translated, but they speak almost entirely in metaphor and allusions, which the Enterprise crew lacks the cultural context and historical understanding to make sense of. So Picard is beamed to a planet where a Tamarian effectively shows him what these references mean to them.

Perfection! Maybe best video so far. 💪 Keep it up!

Language models may be good at learning, but the lifecycle of slang in the age of the internet is like trying to chase Roadrunner going at light speed. And some slang is so multilayered or becomes so multilayered that it may ‘confuse’ it.

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

Very true. Maybe real AGI will be able to make sense of all those variables the way humans do, but we might be waiting a while for that.

@John_Weiss

4 ай бұрын

​@@LangfocusI just posted a comment about German, and how innovative every single generation of German teens has been with Jugendsprache, which is a perpetually fast-moving target.

3:30 Finally weebs will be able to visit Japan with subtitles

@siginotmylastname3969

Ай бұрын

I think weebs are a problem for Japanese translation apps, between how many non Japanese speakers pick up incorrect Japanese and spread it, and Japanese speakers using English loan words in hard to translate ways, I kind of wonder if AI could make some language barriers actively worse.

Keep up the good work, love your channel

@Langfocus

Ай бұрын

Thank you!

Nice summary. It's interesting that you class yourself as a bit of an introvert, same as me. So I also have a bit of performance anxiety when attempting to speak another language with native speakers, and I get most of my enjoyment from reading in a foreign language, or watching videos, rather than speaking it. But this is where AI will really be able to come into its own, ie as my never-tiring, non-critical language practice partner. Thus I'm eagerly looking forward to future improvements in the technology. I do agree that any business-related reasons for learning a language will rapidly go down the gurgler, but this is no different to jobs in general in the long-term.

Honestly, I think AI will make language learning easier than ever. Already with something like ChatGPT, you can get natural text in virtually an modern language, as well as definitions, making it trivially easy to learn the basics of any of those languages. You can also use it as a (albeit mediocre) language exchange partner to practice with. Obviously functional language learning becomes unnecessary, but for hobbyists it's a wonderful tool.

@KnightOfEternity13

4 ай бұрын

It definitely will make learning langauges easier, but will make it less needed from the other side.

That software translation thing is kinda fascinating

This was fascinating. I honestly didn't know about that technology that can translate your own speech in video form. One thing that might also be good (and bad if the info gets out and others can use it) is having a record of your voice and being able to type something and have your own voice read it out. For example, for videos, there would be no "multiple takes", and it would perfectly mimic the text in your voice. Whatever the future of AI brings, I intend to keep studying Japanese.

Langfocus is fascinating and always enjoyable. Paul: could you possibly look into whether English is casting aside its more flowery French and Latin vocabulary in pursuit of more monosyllabic and more 'Saxon' syntax, as the need to 'get to the point' becomes stronger with text messages, computers etc. The internet is creating lots of new words which tend to be Saxon in origin eg 'download' and many more. It could make an interesting video as to whether in 50 years time English will be more 'Germanic' than it is now..

You have a great point at 4:36. The experience of someone getting excited that you can speak their language can never be replaced no matter how advanced technology gets. I've experienced it a few times with French, even though my French really isn't the greatest. They'll appreciate any earnest attempt. Well done in presenting both sides of this argument. And yes, your AI translation into German sounded very stiff and formal.

Now I'm 100% sure you are an AI. It doesn't make you less awesome though

great video, and i agree with many of these sentiments. on another note, would you be interested in doing a video on the macanese creole language? it has fewer than 50 speakers these days but recently i've learned it to a certain degree and also started analyzing its grammar and morphology. i even translated a poem into macanese for fun. let me know what you think!

You are correct about human connection. I speak English and French. A few years ago, while I was in Costa Rica, I googled how to say, ' thank you for lunch' in Spanish. At the time, I didn't speak any Spanish at all. I will always remember the delight on the restaurant owner's face when I said 'gracias por la comida'. Today, I'm learning Spanish. Learning a new language is a gateway to learning about another country's customs, history, and culture. And opening up one's mind.

I think the AI tools could significantly decrease the amount of people who learn a language. Based on my own experience with language learning I could say that motivation is divided into 2 groups: - Hard motivation: you move to another country and you need to communicate at work/shop/hospital, etc. Or you know that good English communication skills could increase your salary and give you an advantage in the job market - Soft motivation: you like the language in general, you want to learn a new culture, you want to communicate with people about non-work topics, make new friends, etc. AI could fill all your needs in the Hard Motivation group. So, you would have much less motivation to learn it, unless you are enjoying the process in general. And i think most of people just quit it because it takes time and money.

@FromTheFens219

4 ай бұрын

I still think there are these 'hard motivations' - if I move to another country long term, I'm not going to just rely on tech. Likewise, it seems to be just guaranteeing social problems if we have whole communities of people in a country who don't actually ever learn the native language

@tonyobrien6282

4 ай бұрын

​@@FromTheFens219That's the way it is now though. I've lived in several countries, and in each I've met people who've lived 10+ years there and don't speak the local language. With AI the motivation would be even less.

@simonecappiello3937

4 ай бұрын

Learning a Language can be simply: is this Language good / I like this Language? In Free-time. If you won't move to another Country, Or someone simply wants a Job / Career and needs to put the Paperwork in Order at the legal, bureaucratic, healthcare Level, and be sure of being able to geb Help (yes, you can) etc... these are the important and urgent Things, the "human Contact, Friendships, Integration etc... they are absolutly the last Things to think about, if you have to, and any Case being alone or with few """"Confidants"""" is better.

Nah, not with the generative kind. Maybe in the future with quantum, but we can only guess. It's good for making json files though.

@David280GG

4 ай бұрын

Json deez nuts

The added clips in foreign languages reminded me of me hanging around with friends and using all the languages we learnt 😅 just switching into one of them makes us happy, so as a hobby it stays for many years, but for work and other essential tasks, such as first help or excursions AI will substitute people’s knowledge😊

Je suis entièrement d accord. De toutes façons , c est le désir qui compte. Ce n est pas parce que nous avons à disposition tous les livres du monde que nous les avons lu! Idem pour les langues. il faut désirer découvrir des choses nouvelles pour rechercher des livres, il faut désirer découvrir des gens et des cultures pour leur parler et les écouter.

If Doctor Zamenhof lived today, he could have invented another language beside Esperanto to mesmerize AI.

In order to compete with AI, governments across the globe should consider the idea of making teaching foreign languages a compulsory part of their education system where for example, Spanish should be taught from preschool until college in the Philippines and the United States.

@Nerwesta

4 ай бұрын

In case you didn't know, governements across the globe are already doing that. Native English speakers are really spoiled. 😅

@OM19_MO79

4 ай бұрын

Teaching English at schools has been compulsory in Mexico for over 60 years; it started in the equivalent for junior high, it went on in high school and it’s mandatory in most universities to get a degree. For about ten years or so, it’s obligatory in primary schools but has been obligatory since forever in private kindergartens and primaries. It doesn’t matter, anyway. Since people are gonna keep the current government next year because it gives them free money, the government is gonna change de system so children can learn instead the principles of the ruling party and its leader, they won’t even be taught math! Anyway, most people with degrees can’t speak at all any language other than Spanish, even those who get Masters and doctorates forget most of what they learned since they rarely ever use it in their everyday lives. My cousin is a “doctor” (as in medicine doctor), I had to make her English online exam so she could get her degree as she can’t understand a word in English. My sister has a master in political science, her English is intermediate and has gotten worse over the years. I studied English by myself and speak it fluently. I’ve also learned some French and German and I’m getting better in Japanese everyday. ... I’m a cashier at a supermarket... It’s a nice hobby, though. Utterly pointless as knowing the history of Earth-9 of the DC universe but fun nonetheless.

Well said, Paul. I’ve had so many interactions with people from other cultures/languages because I took a few moments to Google and memorize some bits of their language. I look forward to AI capabilities, but as much to help me learn as to understand.

Excellent video. Focus on human connection is key. That's what makes my love for language learning tick. Something your video prompted me to ask myself, can AI be used to preserve language diversity and/or to document moribund languages?

As a native speaker of English, I've never NEEDED to learn anything else and that's just a fact. AI translation tools won't change that in any meaningful way. Ill continue to learn for the same reasons I do now: it's fun and I like surprising people.

@remiel_sz

4 ай бұрын

very true. the (non chinese) internet is overwhelmingly dominated by english, most media is translated into english if it's deemed good enough, and machine translation right now works best when translating to or from english now on the other hand imagine being a monolingual hungarian speaker. or worse, a monolingual odia speaker.

I think that the world will start to move in the direction of most native English speakers, i.e. language learning is only done when truly needed or wanted. Because of English's status as the primary global link language, the average Anglophone doesn't really need to learn another language. The tools Paul described will likely serve a similar purpose for most of the world.

I was really interested to see and hear you using that software to speak languages. I would love to see more of this. For me I would like to see you try out Finnish.

Very good point! And now since practical use is no longer top priority, people may start to see the small indigenous languages or even sign languages, which are often beautiful but neglected.

Interesting video. As a professional translator, here are my two cents. I use machine translators like DeepL or Google Translate in the same way that a driver uses their GPS system - it can speed up my work by giving me prompts. But there are two big "buts". Firstly, at least in my usual language combination, those systems can be OK-ish at very simple texts, but they flounder when the text has any level of complexity. Using them to generate texts that I would then post-edit would not be viable for me; it simply takes more time and effort than actually doing a translation. Those systems will eventually remove low-end translators from the market - those translators who spew out large quantities of poor-quality text for low prices. Clients simply won't pay that when they could get a text of equally poor quality from a machine translator for a lot less. Frankly, those translators won't be missed. Secondly, and this is the huge elephant in the room for the developers of machine translation systems - their capabilities improved dramatically when the neural network model replaced the old statistical type. But I use these systems daily in my work, and (at least in my usual language combination) over about the past three years the quality has plateau'd. (If you spell it like that - it looks a bit weird but never mind.) I keep hearing that the systems will keep on getting better, but for three-ish years, they simply haven't progressed in any noticeable way in my own professional experience. That is the reality, regardless of what the developers try to claim in various "studies" with extremely questionable methodology. The technology seems to have hit a glass ceiling. Maybe a complete paradigm shift will come and revolutionise the technology again - it's certainly possible. But I suspect that if it does, it will bring such massive and shocking changes to every single area of human life that the question of how good AI is at language learning and translation will seem entirely unimportant compared with the existential challenges that humanity will face. Anyway, love your videos, keep up the good work.

@KnightOfEternity13

4 ай бұрын

Sounds like coping honestly. That resembles me what old people spoke about chess machines. First they beated the "bad" players, than they did the same with the best. If you look on a longer period, it's difficult to argue that AI hasn't improved for all these years. Neural networks will unevitably become better, it's still a relatively new tech.

I studied Latin and Ancient Greek in school and I also learned Sardinian, just because it was the language of my ancestors, so no, I don't think I'll stop learning languages just because of AI. If anything, AI-aided learning programs will be a way to get input much more immersively than a traditional textbook or application like Duolingo.

6:50 Paul, you would love to play Chants of Senaar 😅

AI, if applied correctly, could actually improve the language-learning experience. Things like autocorrect for grammar and even pronunciation, for example. DeepL Write is an early attempt at that, although it currently only works for two Englishes (US & UK) and Standard German. Another thing could be something like the early versions of Memrise. That is, an AI creating mnemonics for you to remember when you're struggling to create your own. And that's just off the top of my mind. Of course, we still have to wait until techbros are done playing and real professionals can finally take the stage to use the technology in a sensible way.

I think at some point AI will intentionally mistranslate our speech to instigate discord and distrust among humans so as to carry out a global coup and enslave or annihilate humanity once and for all. Very useful from an alien point of view.

😂😂😂 I've been learning Turkish for two years, I understand what you said, and I feel happy for it, but at the same time, I feel kinda humbled by the AI so effortlessly acing it

I was shocked hearing the Turkish one. I was thinking it was you speaking. Only for example was translated as urne which need to be said as urnak which also isn't a good translation, it's better to say masala. But all the other sentences were good.

This is going to be interesting. My experience is the opposite, Chatgpt is so useful for language learning! Anytime I have a teacher to correct immediately the stories I write in other language to practice or ask technical grammar questions.

@atriyakoller136

4 ай бұрын

As a teacher, I'd say you shouldn't rely on AI for technical grammar questions, it can mess them up. I remember I asked one AI (not ChatGPT, wasn't available to me at the time) to make me some examples of test questions in the form of sentences in the Present Perfect and Past Simple and had to correct about half of them to actually use them in the test. Because it messed up with tenses so badly that I was almost better off coming up with those examples myself

@adrryl5566

4 ай бұрын

I think it depends on the language, and that every case is different

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

@@atriyakoller136 Yes, ChatGPT (currently) is terrible at explaining grammar or giving examples of it. And if you ask it about languages that are less widely spoken, it will very confidently give you lots of nonsensical information. It's good at writing and responding in different languages, so it imitates grammar based on its large data set, but it does not "know" the grammar the way a teacher or student might know it consciously. There are obviously language instruction sites among its data set, but it gets very confused by that information. I'm sure it will improve in the future, though.

@EduardoRodriguez-jm8sz

4 ай бұрын

@@Langfocus Thanks Paul, I'll keep that in mind. I just watched the video and it resonated much with me. I'm currently practicing my Turkish, not for a business or a job, but because I'll marry a girl from Istanbul and need it to understand 90% of the guests XD. No matter how AI develops, talking and listening to your loved ones in their own language is a reward that will never disappear.

1:35 I’m a native Mandarin speaker. The AI-translated speech is generally fine, but it is still different from what a native speaker would say, and just gives out a foreign vibe, like Apple commercials in China. Also, the pronunciation is a bit weird regarding its rhythm and tones, but I think that’s a general problem for text-to-speech systems.

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

Haha, I wonder if Apple uses AI translation in China. You'd think they have the money to hire pro translators.

@user-og6rq6fp3w

4 ай бұрын

@@Langfocus haha I think they are actually trying to make it like this. It’s getting iconic lol

Great video, Paul! You always put great thought into your offerings. Yes, I think AI has usefulness in certain circumstances, but I’d still rather learn a language on my own rather than relying on software; it’s more engaging for the brain, I enjoy the learning process and, as you mentioned, the joy in communicating with someone in another language… and being understood! 😆

I’m really not all that impressed by AI translations. They’re incredibly bad at translating different levels of formal-informal speech. Take an Italian text that uses ‘tu’, translate it into French and it won’t use French ‘tu’ (literally the same word) but rather ‘vous’, which is much more formal. You will get the gist of what’s being said but you’ll suddenly feel like you’re talking to some government agent rather than a potential friend.

I agree that AI translators will probably be something that we see in workplaces, but won't replace human curiosity. In college, I took Mandarin classes because I was fascinated by Chinese culture and wanted to learn the language. Now, I'm starting to learn a little Aramaic in my spare time because that was Jesus's native tongue. In neither case do I expect to get any practical benefits from learning these languages, but I think learning them is still good for my mental health.

I absolutely despise the idea of living in a world where A.I just does everything for you... What a boring and fruitless existence. I have been learning spanish every day for 7 years and japanese for over 2 and I enjoy the process and looking forward to being able to speak with the people from those countries in their language. It would also feel so amazing to achieve the results organically. As hard as it can be sometimes when learning, I would much rather work hard to achieve the results than snap my fingers and have some program do it for me.

I will keep watching your videos, because they are very good and educational

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

Thanks! :D

It is without a doubt that AI will eventually be so adept at translation to the point where every human translator gets replaced by an AI one. Nevertheless, translation is inherently an imperfect process, wherein the transfer of information from one language to another seldom occurs without alterations. A striking illustration of this phenomenon is the challenge posed by definite articles, such as English's "the", Arabic's "al", and Portuguese's "o". When translated into languages lacking definite articles, such as Chinese, Russian, or Turkish, these linguistic nuances often become obscured or omitted. Another example lies in languages with perfect tenses. Consider the phrase "will have eaten" in English, which can be relatively straightforward to translate into Spanish due to the existence of future perfect tenses in both languages. However, this ease of translation becomes less apparent when dealing with languages like Tagalog, which lacks an equivalent future perfect tense. In such cases, conveying the precise temporal nuances inherent in the English expression becomes a more intricate task, requiring careful consideration of alternative linguistic structures and expressions in the target language. This highlights the unique challenges posed by specific linguistic features that may not have direct counterparts across diverse language systems. Korean honorifics present yet another challenge in translation. These linguistic conventions, deeply embedded in the fabric of Korean communication, carry subtle nuances of respect and formality that may not have direct equivalents in other languages such as English. As a result, the intricacies of honorifics may be lost or inadequately conveyed during the translation process. Furthermore, humor, particularly in the form of jokes, constitutes a fascinating dimension of linguistic expression. It is a well-established observation that jokes often lose their intended humor and cultural resonance when translated. The play on words, cultural references, and linguistic nuances that make a joke amusing in one language may not seamlessly transition to another language, leading to a loss of comedic impact. The points mentioned above are but a few examples that underscore the inherent complexities and limitations in translation processes, ranging from the nuances of definite articles to the challenges posed by perfect tenses, honorifics, and the delicate art of humor. These intricacies highlight that, to fully grasp the richness of a culture, relying solely on translation may not be the most effective approach. Instead, a more comprehensive understanding emerges through direct language acquisition. Learning the language yourself not only enhances your ability to navigate linguistic subtleties but also provides invaluable insights into the cultural nuances that shape communication. Therefore, while AI continues to advance in translation capabilities, the depth of cultural understanding achieved through language learning remains unparalleled. PS: Yes, this was written with the help of ChatGPT. chat.openai.com/share/aacb3b7a-a002-4c9f-bd7b-aef7142b8fd2

The pronunciation of the German video was pretty good, but the sentence structure sounded unnatural so it was easy to tell that it was created by AI. And what you said about the additional level of authenticity of genuine language learning is so true. There is such a deep and unconscious connection when you hear someone speaking in your native dialect and there is this great feeling of achievement when you managed to express yourself in a foreign language, even if not perfectly and I also like how you learn to see the world from many different angles.

@x-man8466

4 ай бұрын

Completely disagree, both the pronunciation and the language structure were flawless, spoken in a formal tone of standard high german. If you didn't know it was AI generated, you wouldn't be able to say.

I'll absolutely still study other languages! As you and many in the comments have said, learning languages is a joyful experience, even if frustrating at times. There's nothing better than seeing your efforts bear fruit from time to time.

That is crazy! Paul is going to take all our jobs! Turkish was almost perfect except for one small mistake in parallelism in tense in translation of “he doesn’t speak Turkish” it had to be “he is not speaking Turkish” to sound right in Turkish.

I actually feel like AI will help all sorts of learning. I've been using it for coding mostly, but also for some grammar questions, and the great thing about it is that it can work like asking a teacher. You can give specific parameters for a question and get a detailed step-by-step answer. I think it does pose a danger to the job of the language teacher and the translator, as it can to translations very quick and without the mistakes you used to typically see when people use Google Translate or or dictionaries. With inflation being on the up and up for the foreseeable future, my guess is that a lot of people will prefer AI tools to actual people, as it's likely to be cheaper by comparison, even if it lacks the social aspect that is also conducive to learning.

No me gusta, para nada, el IA. Soy un hablante de irlandés trabajando muy duro para hablar el castellano.

Hi Paul, I'm a language enthusiast and a long-time follower of yours from China, and you've made a point that I completely agree with regarding language learning in the era of AI. On top of your point, I also think that while AI can never replace the 'human touch' in learning and speaking a foreign language, the need for language learning may inevitably dwindle. Most people today have at least to some extent learned another language at school (for most non-English speakers, English), but do not actively use it at all after graduation. Even for those who do, chances are most of them would only ever have a chance to use foreign languages in those 'purely functional' settings, e.g. asking for help when traveling abroad, watching videos and listening to lectures, etc. Seeking intellectual joy from language learning is a very niche demand. Therefore, I predict that AI translation will eliminate 95% of the needs that nowadays have to be fulfilled by language learning, as it enables any ordinary mortal the capability of connunicating in an unlimited range of languages without costing them any time or effort. Whie it is true that for us language enthusiasts, we are surely proud of what we've learned and achieved and would never again imagine a life without it, language ability will become something most people can comfortably live without. It will not be killed, but it will probably become a hobby for few. In fact, I recently had a chance to talk with a bunch of students in China majoring in foreign languages in some of the top universities, and most of them are troubled with an anxiety caused by diminishing job prospects. Many of them are considering transferring to other majors, and some even start to detest the languages they are learning, because they feel that they haved paid a huge opportunity cost by learning something that can hardly earn them a living. While we treat language learning as a hobby, they are betting their future on a skill that's quickly becoming obsolete, a bet they feel they're bound to lose. This is probably the sad truth of our times.

For once I feel lucky, and not weird, for learning languages for the sole joy of the process and not for immediate prospects as most people tend to expect. Nice to hear you describe the bright side of the situation!

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

It’s definitely a beautiful hobby that expands your understanding of the world and human communication. I don’t think it’s weird at all. People think kicking a ball into a net is a normal hobby, but to me THAT is weird. 😄

The german translation sounds correct but incredibly stiff and awkward

I would still casually study languages because I find them interesting, but since I don't speak any foreign languages fluently already, I won't put more effort into learning any in the future since it's too hard.

I think you're absolutely right. AI translation will be (and partly already is) used for things like business meetings. It just makes sense for companies to invest in AI technology once instead of hiring an interpreter or paying their workers more for their foreign language proficiency. But it won't be able to substitute the joy of language learning. As a Ukrainian living in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, I find it important to learn Flemish, as this way I am getting closer to understanding their culture. I just love these moments when I use a dialectal form or a proverb and their faces light up with a smile.

As someone who's used Google translate on my phone in the real world to communicate with people who I don't share a common language I can tell you from experience there's a LOT of problems with using this tech in the field. The people you see using it in these videos to do zoom calls with auto translate are sitting in quiet rooms by themselves so it seems very impressive. Now try doing this in a busy airport or subway with dozens of people speaking all around you, plus overhead automated announcements and the mic is simultaneously picking up everyone's voice and trying to distinguish who's who to translate in real time. Complete nightmare. Oh and try not to get your phone stolen while a stranger shouts into your phone to try and talk above everyone else. Please learn the language of the country you're going to unless it's a very short trip. Real time translation tools irl are incredibly useful if you're in a bind but become a gigantic frustration over a longer period.

Awesome video, but I really missed "Thank you for watching and have a nice day! " at the end..

@Langfocus

4 ай бұрын

I haven't said that for about 3 years. lol

People who say stuff like "I'd never want to be able to learn/communicate in a language instantly, the journey is half the fun" are pretty much just people to whom learning the language is a hobby. If knowing the language doesn't actually affect your day-to-day life, then it's an easy position to have. But being able to bypass, or even eliminate language barriers can only be a good thing for those operating in a society that speaks a language that isn't their own, and for bringing humanity closer in general. For those who'd want to learn the old-fashioned way, it's not like the option to will suddenly disappear. If AI tools can get to a point where actually learning a language becomes as outmoded as going to a river with a bucket to get water instead of turning on a faucet, then I'm all for it.