Skype Translator is pretty cool live translation of speech. the demo is cool: youtube/watch?v=G87pHe6mP0I In good Microsoft fashion it only works on Windows 8.1... but whatever. It makes me think of the usefulness of language learning. Sure there are some meta-benefits of going through the learning process, but the question in my mind is: Can we achieve the same benefits that language learning brings in some other way? Should kids spend their time on something else instead? Today we have things like Google Glass, a Japanese gizmo that translates Japanese Kanji text and overlays English translation in an augmented reality fashion, and this Microsoft technology. If we put in a 6 year old into French immersion school today how useful will be _knowing French_ by the time she finishes elementary school in 2022? Will it matter? (p.s. this is from someone whose kids go to French immersion) The Skype Translator can be really useful in connecting kids with other kids at a different place in the world; different culture, different language. The main benefit is: empathy. Its much needed.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:47:26 +0000
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