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<h1>Do We Need To Learn Other Languages When Tech Can Do The Work For Us?</h1>
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<a href="https://tendaily.com.au/authors/antoinette-lattouf">
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<a href="https://tendaily.com.au/authors/antoinette-lattouf" class="gmail-name">Antoinette Lattouf</a>
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<p class="gmail-author__position">Senior Journalist.</p>
<p class="gmail-article__date">Fri 26 Oct 2018 12.36 AM</p>
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<h4>As technologists get closer to a product that can
translate conversations in real-time, ten daily examines just how much
could be lost in translation.</h4>
<p>For a country that prides itself on shortening its own name to <em>Straya</em>, and with abbreviations rife in our vernacular (think <em>footy, biccy</em> and <em>cuppa</em>), is it really surprising that we’re pretty lazy when it comes to learning foreign languages?</p><p>The
percentage of students studying a foreign language in Year 12 has
decreased from 40 percent in 1960 to around 10 percent in 2016 -- and
this includes native speakers.</p><p>In the 2016 Census, 72 percent of residents reported speaking only English at home, down from nearly 77 percent in 2011.</p><p>And
despite Labor renewing its policy pledge to boost Asian languages on
Thursday, one leading linguistic is pessimistic about its impact.</p><blockquote>“It’s
easy to be complacent because so many people around the globe speak
English,” Australian Linguistic Society President Ilana Mushin said.</blockquote><p>She recalled having meetings recently Germany and China, where everyone defaulted to English speaking.</p><p>"It
is gob-smacking to us at our university that only a handful of students
are studying Indonesian and they are our closest neighbour to the north
and a big trading partner," she said, referring to the University of
Queensland where she also works as an Associate Professor.</p><h5>Can Technology Just Do The Work For Us?</h5><p>There
are two leading products in the artificial intelligence translation
space. Both Google’s Pixel Earbuds and Waverly Lab Pilots were released
late last year.</p>
<img src="https://tendaily.com.au/ip/s3/2018/10/26/9ff158d9e2f90aa40b7253a221658c3d-107613.jpg?io=landscape" alt="" width="700" height="467">
Google Earbuds and Waverly Labs Pilots. (Image: Supplied)
<p>Waverly Labs is a 20-person
Brooklyn-based company that specialises in real-time translation through
a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. They have big ambitions, but are still
grappling with the bulky size of the product and a delay in the
translation -- which is currently not real-time.</p><p>The earbuds
aren’t tethered together and are meant be. When you need help
translating, you can hand the other bud to someone and have them sync it
up with the own phone</p><p>The tech start up <a href="https://www.waverlylabs.com/2017/12/pilot-now-shipping/" rel="nofollow">concedes, “</a>We have a lot more work to do, but now is the time to get the Pilot in your ears” in order to get consumer feedback.</p><p>Tech
behemoth Google haven’t hit the linguistic spot with its Pixel Earbud.
The Guardian saw the “flawed” earbuds as “a missed opportunity.” Gizmodo
said “it’s not even close to being good.”</p><h5>Business And Human Touch Get Overlooked</h5><p>Even
if AI engineers make considerable improvements in technology lead
multi-linguistic technology, Mushin says it will always miss certain
marks.</p><p>"There are huge cognitive benefits when you learn another
language. It's similar to learning music. And you don't even need to be
fluent in it to get these benefits," she told ten daily.</p><p><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a href="https://tendaily.com.au/views/a180815gfd/australia-is-better-off-with-immigration-20180816">Australia Is Better Of With Immigration</a></p><p>As
a practical aid for a tourist, she said it would be a huge help but it
is, "Not going capture nuances of languages that can only be done with
human interaction."</p><p>“It adds value if you understand how
politeness works and the language used in jokes. Also metaphorical and
figurative language like 'I'm going to knock your socks off' -- how
would that work in Mandarin?"</p>
<img src="https://tendaily.com.au/ip/s3/2018/10/26/785ed543c6d0cadbbc31d4439f9f8b22-107513.jpg?io=landscape" alt="" width="724" height="483">
"Asia is home to the fastest growing middle class on earth," Plibersek said. (Image: Getty)
<p>Mushin also says that cross-cultural competence in a global society is so important.</p><p>And this is the line the Opposition is towing.</p><p>Shadow
Education Minister Tanya Plibersek has promised to inject $32 million
in to policies aimed towards taking advantage of a burgeoning Asian
middle class.</p><p>If Labor wins the election they will roll out
intensive training for 5000 principals and senior teachers, improving
Asian language curriculum material from pre-school to Year 12, and a
whole-of-government audit of Australian and state government literacy
and language education policies.</p><p>"Asia is home to the fastest growing middle class on earth," Plibersek said.</p><blockquote>"And
Australia is right on its doorstep. The jobs of the future are in our
region. Nine out of ten of the next billion people in the middle class
live in our region.”</blockquote><p>The policy would also see additional
online teaching resources created for Hindi -- one of the most
widely-spoken languages in India.</p>
<br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>