Nowadays computer-aided speech recognition and translation are now so good that they are sufficient for many everyday uses. We often have such applications on our mobile phones. However, experts draw a line between translating a language and learning a foreign language.

A science fiction scenario a few years ago: in a restaurant the menu could be automatically translated, just with an app on the mobile phone. Today things have come a long way and a mobile software can act in real time as an interpreter in a conversation. You can say some sentences and they will be translated automatically. In this way one can overcome the language barrier.

Apps don’t always understand what they hear

The Samsung company takes another step with its new Galaxy S24 smartphone that was made in collaboration with Google. The idea is that one can book a table in a restaurant in another country without even having to speak the language. The software not only translates, but also speaks with a computer-generated voice. However, programs sometimes have problems understanding speech, especially when it comes to particular expressions and idioms.

Anatole Stefanovic from the Free University of Berlin believes that although translation capabilities have improved, mobile apps still have major problems. However, translation and language learning are areas where great progress will be made in the coming years.

Not everything is possible through one application

The field of foreign languages ​​will experience major changes, argues the Goethe Institute. This is because AI models like ChatGPT are developing at a very fast pace. According to experts, the learning process as well as the way we communicate will change a lot.

But the way things are going, does it really make sense to learn a foreign language? Anatole Stefanovic answers yes. “Sure, I think it’s very important. After all, communication is not only the exchange of information, but also contact on a human level.” We definitely don’t want to experience friendship or a romantic relationship in the future through an app. Also, we cannot understand the culture and habits of other peoples through apps.

As far as children are concerned, language learning apps can complement school lessons, but not replace them, explains the expert from Berlin. Finally, as far as text translations are concerned, the existing applications correspond to a language average, for a readership without special requirements, and the expert is convinced that good translations are done by people and not by machines.

Edited by: Maria Rigoutsou