INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Goat cheese or goat dung? Don't ask Google
Put crottin de
Alas, you would be ruling out a delicious cheese made of goat's milk that is often served as a starter in France.Such misunderstandings
are why Google admits that its free tool, used by about 500 million people, is not intended to replace human translators.Tourists might
accept a few misunderstandings because the technology is cheap and convenient
But when the stakes are higher, perhaps in business, law or medicine, these services often fall short
"Using Google Translate can lead to some serious errors, especially when words have multiple meanings, which is often the case in fields
such as law or engineering," says Samantha Langley, a former lawyer who is now a court-approved French-to-English legal translator based in
Meribel, France.That is not to say professional translators do not use computer assisted translation (CAT) tools
More sophisticated applications can help them take the donkey work out of repetitive translations
CATs are even used as part of modern language degree courses these days
So how good are they?More Technology of BusinessOne of the most popular new tools is the so-called translation earpiece
Usually paired with a smartphone app, they pick up spoken foreign languages and translate them for the user."It has taken decades of
research to create a framework of algorithms designed to recognise patterns in the same way as the human brain - a neural network," says
Andrew Ochoa, chief executive of US start-up Waverly Labs, which produces translation earpieces."Combining that with speech recognition
technology has allowed us to make a huge leap forward in terms of accuracy."There's no doubt that CAT tools have taken some of the hard
grind out of text translations like instruction manuals or questionnaires, says Milan-based Paola Grassi, a professional translator for
Wordbank, a global marketing and translation agency."Survey contents are among the most repetitive ones and a good CAT tool can hugely speed
up the process," she says.Image copyrightWaverly LabsImage caption
Earpieces can provide instant translation
For meetings and conferences, wearable translators like Waverly's are undoubtedly popular
But even this new generation tech, which combines speech recognition neural networks and internet-based translation engines, has
limitations.Users must wait at least a few seconds for a phrase to be translated, or more if the internet connection is poor.And computers
still lack the subtlety of human communication."Translation technology is undoubtedly a useful tool for certain content such as manuals,"
says Zoey Cooper, brand and content director at Wordbank."But if you want to create a relationship with the reader, you need a human
translator to make it sound natural and capture the sentiment, which often involves restructuring a sentence completely.""I believe CAT
the tool shows you a partial translation match, I find it's actually harder to discard part of the sentence and rebuild it than to just
create something from scratch."Mr Ochoa thinks this problem could be resolved within the next 10 years."When it comes to expressing emotion
and intonation, we need sentiment analysis, which is not there yet but may well be in ten years time," he says.Foreign language skills are
still in demand in the labour market
In the UK about 15% of the jobs posted on recruitment website Reed ask for a foreign language
New research from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages shows 75% of manufacturing companies need employees with diverse
language skills.Yet languages have fallen out of favour in UK schools
Recent TheIndianSubcontinent analysis revealed drops of up to 50% in foreign language learning in secondary schools since 2013.The UK's
Department for Education is taking measures to halt the decline."We are committed to ensuring more pupils are studying languages, which is
why it is now compulsory in the national curriculum for all children between Years 3 and 9," it said.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage
caption
Learning the language is still the best way to get to know a country
For Ms Cooper at least,
speaking a foreign tongue remains a precious skill."There are still lots of opportunities for language graduates, both in specialist
translation and global marketing," she said.And even if you don't use your language professionally, it has other benefits."How can you get
to know a country and embrace the culture if you don't speak the language?" says Ms Cooper
"Even with the voice-activated apps available, you will still miss out."
