Can the language barrier "fall" in the next 10 years?

It would be wonderful to go to a foreign country without worrying about the language barrier. In a recent article of the Wall Street Journal, the expert on technical policy Alec Ross made a loud statement: in 10 years people will no longer need to learn foreign languages. Scientific and technological progress will give us the opportunity to communicate with a small earpiece with a built-in microphone.

A unique opportunity to remove the language barrier

You really do not need to remember the lessons of the French language to make an order, sitting in a Parisian cafe. The device will automatically translate the desired phrase. Just listen carefully and repeat. It is very convenient when you call at a hotel or have unexpected problems with a credit card. According to the expert, scientific and technological progress is developing with leaps and bounds, therefore the invention of such devices is only a matter of time. In the light of the above, some parents do not see the point in studying their offspring of foreign languages. What for to hammer in a head the unnecessary information if in the near future it is not required?

This can help children who are unable to learn

Of course, not all people are so radical. Many people like to learn, learn something new, train their brains and become more closely acquainted with other cultures. People get a unique opportunity to look at familiar things through the prism of a different mentality. New knowledge allows us to better understand the richness of our native language. However, there are those who find it difficult to teach. And if already now schoolchildren, incapable of languages, use mobile translators in their travels, what will happen after the lapse of 10-20 years?

But, as we found out, most intellectuals learn a few foreign languages for no reason at all for communicative purposes. Therefore, no portable earphone with tips will not be able to displace the usual norms. Those who love to travel, get acquainted with new cultures, discover new talents and opportunities, will still learn foreign languages.

Features of computer translation

The functional of computer programs-translators has improved significantly lately. So, everything goes to what Alec Ross predicts. Electronic translators can become even more perfect in the coming years. The only thing that cars can never master is the ability to understand the meaning "between the lines". For many hundreds of years, human speech, depending on culture, has acquired many stable expressions, phraseological units and idioms.

In the context of the utterance, a person can use certain speech turns that do not coincide with the meaning of words. In each language, in each culture, dozens or hundreds of similar examples are typed. However, the computer can not read the subtext, can not recognize the hidden meaning. Therefore, the translation of idiomatic expressions in a given period of time is doomed to failure.

Machines are amenable to "learning"

Nevertheless, if a computer can be taught something, it will quickly master it. From a hypothetical point of view, there is nothing real here. Probably, someday we will come up with programs that can remember, and then recognize stable speech turns.

Some languages are particularly complex

The languages of the peoples of the world are not at all the same as programming languages. So, the computer code is a formal sign system. But there is no question of any formality when it comes to Russian, Italian or Chinese. Most cultures developed speech, based on strict syntactic, phonetic and semantic rules. But the most complex languages, in fact, developed spontaneously. So, in Russian there is no strict order of words in the sentence. This is where the main difficulties begin. It would seem, put the words anywhere! But no. Depending on the place of the word in the sentence, the semantic load can significantly change.

Our words are not at all what they seem to be

As long as the machine recognizes the phrase, guided by the definition of the exact meaning of each word, electronic translators will fail. Solving this problem will help increase the number and accuracy of recorded computer data. Probably, in due course the machine can learn to recognize the hidden implication. But for now even finding similar words for it looks like something difficult.

With computer translation, the meaning may be lost

This device is given to a person, but is still not subject to machines. When a person translates texts, he is never guided by the exact translation of words, sentences or paragraphs. People give each phrase a meaning, operating a lot of conditions simultaneously. The computer can not do this. He has not yet learned how to interpret words based on context. After all, even the same phrase "be careful" can be perceived in different ways, if it is pronounced by the mother giving instructions to her child, or by a man who loudly warns someone about imminent danger.

Using metaphors

In fact, world languages are more metaphorical than it may seem at first glance. When we study a foreign language, we get acquainted with abstract concepts. However, it is so difficult to "explain" to a computer ... Sometimes what we say has nothing to do with the reality surrounding us. The creators of the promising Internet resource Unbabel seem to have some ideas on this score. To fine-tune the acceptable translations, the site's creators rely on a whole army of translators around the world, which numbers 42,000 people. In other words, people are required to explain to the machine that the expression "to sit on needles" has nothing to do with the sewing tool. However, for a given period of time, people can not rely on an electronic translation, when communication occurs in real time.

When perfection and rationality become a hindrance

Nevertheless, technology is moving in this direction. Voice assistants Siri or Alexa are already beginning to understand human speech better. Therefore, there is no doubt in improving electronic translators. However, in the translation of the meaning of the above, a slightly different task is laid than the search for the nearest Starbucks cafe. Paradoxically, machines strive for excellence and rationality, and people communicate through irrational approaches.

Paradox of improving the electronic mind

Surprisingly, if computers become even more perfect, they can never correctly interpret human speech. The distance between us will become gigantic. When people communicate with ease, a play of words is put on the foreground using different contextual elements. Therefore, you should not blindly rely on a device that is not capable of correctly interpreting the surrounding conditions.

Not knowing the peculiarities of the culture of the country you have come to, you can easily offend a local resident. And now let's imagine the same earpiece-interpreter, predicted by Alex Ross. How can we expect that the computer will cope with the task assigned to it, if even native speakers of different languages struggle to do this? Does this device ever find sarcasm? How will it interpret differences in grammatical and lexical features, how can it perceive local humor, puns and other speech figures?

Conclusion

Even if computer geniuses find a way to breathe a soul into the car, the electronic mind will never push a person from his rightful place. Be sure of it. There is nothing more accurate than a live translation, which correctly interprets the meaning of what has been said.