Some of my previous students used to ask me: why, in a digital age, is learning to speak another language even helpful?

I could empathize with them. They were stressed out high school students from Japan; they were working towards university admission exams. English was an increasingly difficult subject to learn on top of high-level math & sciences. Plus, Japan was 99% Japanese, right? Most of the students I taught wanted to be office workers uninvolved in tourism or foreign relations. Why put so much time and effort into a difficult subject that got them little in return?

Explaining how their university entrance exams changed to account for English essays sometimes helped. Others were more convinced on an angle focused at culture. Some wanted to travel, and because English was often the second language on signs or brochures, so I used that angle.

In reality, I could almost sniff out when uninterested students wrote their answers into an online translator and wrote whatever came out. Though it frustrated me, as it was my job to get the students to do this kind of work without technology, I could relate. I, too, found myself looking up translations for words and using whatever was first on the list. Instead of doing a little bit more work & checking the specifics, I valued speed as well.

But what did that lead to? Communication errors from machine translations, often technically accurate, use language in a very 1-to-1 way. But although one can say that "cat" translates into  ねこ / 猫 in Japanese, idioms and sentences become harder. 

Often, automatic translators will give a word for word translation instead of analyzing the meaning behind the phrase. How would you translate 朝飯前 (あさめしまえ)? A machine would translate it directly and say "before breakfast." But the meaning of it is: something that's easy or simple. A better translation would be "a piece of cake," as it has the same meaning & is also an idiom. 

Have you ever watched a TV show or movie with subtitles and found that something was missing? Have you ever translated something online and when you showed it to someone their expression grew confused? This is usually due to machines lacking context, accurate sentence to sentence translation, or nuance. These are all things that people have an instinct for translating.

Though this technology is easy to use and all around us, in reality there is still use for developing your own language skills. Over time, you will become more accurate than a machine. Your understanding of nuance will be deeper than a database. You'll be able to fix communication issues with understanding and empathy. 

In a digital age, it's important to learn when and where to use machine translators. Short phrases are usually OK, as longer sentences become too complex to automatically translate. Machines are also great for looking up vocabulary. However, we have to be careful to check the context or implications of words. 

And although it can be an uncomfortable & long process, learning another language opens up new adventures. It strengthens your mind, too. Plus, nothing can beat the rewarding feeling of success at saying something & getting a look of total understanding!