Last night, while chatting with my American Jewish friend via Skype, he introduced me to a translation app for smartphones. He explained that the app could translate what we say on our phones and respond to others in their languages. It can even translate text in photos we take. This means it's possible for me to eat restaurants alone in any countries. I can order whatever I want when I take the menu photos. When I heard the story, I was shocked. I immediately thought about what it means for me to learn another language. Technology has been advancing at an incredible speed, and in the near future I might not need to study English or Italian at all. Instead, I might just rely on the app.
As I shared the app to my other American friend, he shared even more information about it. He said we could install ChatGPT on our phones, and it would do the exact same things. Since I'm not good with advanced technology, I hadn’t realized just how much our society depends on these tools now.
Then, he and I started having a conversation about learning languages. He said it’s fine to use an app when visiting unfamiliar places since it allows us to communicate with waiters or waitresses. However, he pointed out that it's different from talking to friends. We prefer having deeper conversations with them, but we still don't know how much we can rely on apps for that kind of conversation. That's why he believes it's still better for us to learn another languages.
That really makes sense to me, and I agree with him. I love having deep conversations with my friends in English. It's always so much fun. I don't think I need an app to my English anymore, but my Italian is still terrible. I wonder which is faster: me reaching my goal to study Italian or technology helps my Italian. I know how much effort, energy and time I've been spending to try to master English. That’s why I’m not sure I can put the same amount of effort into Italian.
I think we language learners are going against the tide of time. What do you think? Why do you still learning another languages?
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I do it for the fun of it. It's not just about how much I can communicate at the end, but the journey and the challenges comes my way. I might never travel abroad and need the app or my own skills, but I can always enjoy learning a new language.
Good morning, @Zobayda ! I understand your feeling. Trying to new things is always fun! You are awesome because you've been learning lots of other languages. I want to follow you, but my mind says I can't. Thank you for reading and commenting on my post.
I believe that learning a language is the best way to discover the shape, meaning and sound of human-to-human communication. It is true that technology aims to replace the language of human-to-human communication with digital tools, but it will never reach the nuances of a deep and intimate conversation, Yumi @yumiyumayume .
私は好きでやってるだけだから、言語学習に意味を見出したことがないです😅 スマートフォンを持ってないから、そういうアプリを使うこともないなぁ。先日、道で迷子になっている台湾人に道案内したんですけど、英語ゼロだったので、漢字のみの筆談とジェスチャーで通じました😆 テクノロジーに頼らない旅行のほうが楽しいよ 🙂
@druida Your opinion reminds me of my American friend's perspective. I understand what you mean. For example, when we communicate face-to-face, eye contact and facial expressions play a crucial role. Communication isn’t just about exchanging text messages; it’s much more complex because we all have emotions.
@Aki_ さん。台湾人とか香港からの人だと日本語の漢字が通じるから理解しやすいですよね。これが、中国本土からの人だと全く漢字が違うのでわからないんですけど。私は逆で、旅行だけならテクノロジーに頼るだけでいいように思うのですが、もっと仲良くなりたいなら、テクノロジーではカバーできないのではないかなぁと思います。