Being Understood, In Any Language:
Finally, the language barrier appears to be broken thanks to a smartphone App.
The new technology raises the prospect of being able to travel almost anywhere and be understood by almost anyone. There's also the ability to talk with any foreign visitor who might be having trouble communicating with you on your home turf.
I tested it out this weekend with a number of different people speaking no fewer than five different languages: German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese and Korean.
The App allows for instant translation, both spoken and written. For example here in this example, I wish one of my Korean students a nice weekend. What I say appears on the screen immediately followed by the translation. It's then voiced through the phone's speaker:
I jumped at the opportunity to test it out since I work with people from all around the world. In addition to my work as a journalist, I'm also a teacher and I used my students to test out the new App:
Working internationally over the last few years, I've struggled with software that promises instant translation or even transcription. The results have always either seemed marginal or too difficult to process while on the go on an everyday basis. For example, Google Translate, while a big help, often leaves me with tons of editing in order to clean up mistakes in grammar or misspelled or misunderstood words.
Don't get me wrong. This new technology is not without its faults. One of the Korean linguists I work with, fluent in both languages, pointed out that the word and phrase order is mixed up in this translation. A native speaker simply wouldn't say it this way. Nevertheless, the translation is understood. But then there's the problem of the App just shutting down, refusing to do anything more:
A shut down and a reboot later, I'm back up and running.
So it's not flawless, but I think it's a huge step in the right direction.
My interest was particularly piqued because I've struggled all my life as I've learned other languages, only one of them enough to be considered fluent. Imagine, finally being able to speak and be understood, even if the other person doesn't speak my language.
Here's how a dialog looked on my smartphone screen:
Notice the two buttons on the bottom of the screen. They allow each speaker to speak in their respective language and then have it immediately translated and then spoken in the other party's language.
I'll let you imagine the various applications for this new technology, but I can tell you that it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I immediately think of First Responders in an emergency, being able to quickly ascertain what problems they may be up against by effortlessly being able to overcome a language barrier.
And this new development will undoubtedly cause upheaval in what has become an industry. Take a look at this article by Deutsche Welle, the German-funded website that offers news from the European perspective. It notes how changes in technology threaten translators livelihoods as well as possible violations of law:
I hope you can try this out and comment on this posting. I look forward to your feedback in what I think will become an increasingly interesting development in the world of communication.
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