The aim of many language learners is to hear themselves speaking in another language. New technology could provide this – without having to actually learn the language!
New software from Microsoft can ‘learn’ the sound of your voice, then use it to speak your target language. Apparently the software needs around an hour of training to be able to use your voice. Currently it can convert between 26 languages, including Spanish, Italian and Mandarin Chinese.
Research scientist Frank Soong says the software could help language learners too. It may be easier to imitate and learn words and phrases when they’re said in your own voice, as well as providing extra encouragement.
What do you think? Will this replace your language learning, or enhance it?
An interesting article on Slate.com looks at whether the new iPhone’s speech recognition software can handle different accents.
The question is particularly important since the phone has the capability to be used in any country in the world. And the answer is yes, due to programmers ‘training’ the system. This is done by feeding in lots of audio and then typing in what is said – the software then ‘learns’ to recognise different forms of pronunciation.
From the article:
Take, for example, the plosive consonant T, which sounds one way in the word tree and another way in the word plate—and that’s just in one dialect. When software engineers are working on a product that will be used by people around the world, they include recordings in different dialects and from non-native speakers of English in the training. To stick with the T example: British people tend to pronounce the T sound in butter much more clearly than Americans, who swallow it. Eventually, the program establishes a kind of bell curve for the phoneme, and it will interpret any sound whose frequencies and other physical characteristics fall within the parameters of that curve as a possible attempt to produce that phoneme. (Source: Slate.com)
The software then uses the curve to guess what a word is when it is not pronounced clearly. Pretty cool huh?
According to Lifehacker, a new Facebook feature allows you to translate posts and comments on Facebook pages.
The “translate” link is shown when a comment is made in a different language. It’s placed right next to the “share” and “like” links. Whilst the service is currently only available on Facebook pages, there are plans to roll it out to profiles also.
Facebook uses Bing to translate the comments, so as with any machine translation there will be errors. It will certainly save some time copying and pasting into a different browser window though! This may also be a handy tool for language learners looking for interesting content in their target language. Facebook has a lot of fan pages, events and interest groups, so it should be easy to find content, read it and then check your understanding using the translate feature.
Twitter is a useful language-learning tool, and now it’s available in more languages!
It’s just launched in simplified and traditional Chinese, Tagalog, Malay and Hindi, bringing the total number of language available to 17. Other languages that will soon be added to Twitter’s translation center are Danish, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Norwegian and Finnish.
Twitter relies on volunteers for translation of these languages, so if you’re a speaker, why not head over to their translation center and help out?
If you’re learning one of Twitter’s supported languages, why not try tweeting to improve your written language skills? You could also connect with fellow language learners. It may take some time to click, but Twitter is about conversations, not just expressing your thoughts to the world. So make sure you follow tweeters who talk about things you’re interested in – and then engage with them!
An interesting article from Wired looks at a company who are crowdsourcing translation to provide a better online translation service.
Ackuna uses a Facebook app and a pool of multilingual people along with a crowdsourcing model to provide accurate translation that will get more effective the more it’s used.
“The process works by breaking text down into segments,” explains Andrew Sylvester, Ackuna’s web developer, “determining what text is repeated, what’s already been translated, and what text still requires translation.
“If someone enters a phrase that’s already been translated properly — translated, reviewed, edited, or proofread by a real human translator, in other words — the machine translation step is skipped for that segment and the correct, human-translated segment is pulled from our ‘translation memory’ and re-inserted into the block of text.” (Source: Wired.co.uk)
Their service is currently focussed on individuals and small businesses who normally don’t have the need or bulk of work for translation companies.
It’s a sad day for one of my favourite language columns, “On Language” in the New York Times. After a 32 year run, this is the final week for the column.
“On Language” explored language issues and explained them in an easily accessible way. Ben Zimmer’s final column looks at the future of languages, particularly exploring the impact of technology on the way we communicate and the language we use:
Every aspect of our linguistic life is open to technologization of one form or another, from the way that kids of Blake’s generation will learn to acquire literacy with the help of app-laden multitouch devices to our growing expectations that computer interfaces should be able to recognize our speech and text, understand it and talk back to us.
Do you agree with Zimmer? Is “technologization” going to affect our linguistic lives to such a large extent?
“Hearts and minds” has been used as a military technique since the Malayan Emergency – the idea being that if soldiers win the support of the local people, it will be easier for them to effect change.
But what if the people on the front line don’t speak the local language? They then become reliant on interpreters, which slows down the connection between people. This problem has been recognised by the US military, who have developed a simultaneous translation programme that runs on a smartphone.
Known as Transtac (short for “translation system for tactical use”), the app is currently being tested in Afghanistan, and can translate from English into Dari and Pashtu and vice versa. From the Guardian:
David McKim, an intelligence officer with the US army, said the system was in a six-month test phase, with just a handful of devices likely to see action in Paktika.
“The idea is to give soldiers the ability to communicate, even if it is just on a basic level, with the Afghan people when an interpreter isn’t available,” he said.
Hopefully this technology will help the armed forces in Afghanistan, and become widely available for other users also.
There’s been a lot of hype in the last couple of weeks about Word Lens, a new iPhone app that offers instant translation.
The app works by using the built-in camera on the phone. You point the camera at some foreign text and the translation will appear instantly on your screen. It sounds like magic, but the app uses augmented reality and translation algorithms rather than spells!
Here’s a video of the app in action:
It looks amazing, but apparently there are issues with the translations – some testers have stated they are somewhat less than accurate. As most users point out though – this is a technology that will improve over time. Currently the app is offered in English – Spanish and vice versa, with new languages pairs to follow.
OK, so Word Lens doesn’t help you if someone is speaking to you in a foreign language you don’t understand, but hopefully this is one step on the way to a device that instantly translates speech for you!
I occasionally read the Oxford University Press blog, and a recent post has uncovered a gem of a website for language learners.
Storybird.com allows you to create short illustrated stories, using some fantastic artwork provided by the site. Your story can then be saved on the website for others to view, as well as being emailed like greeting cards.
This is a great way to improve writing skills, especially if you have a particular topic in mind. The artwork on the site is grouped by theme (animals and noodles are two) so you can create a story around the pictures. It’s a great way to build up your vocabulary – try thinking up ideas and words related to animals, for example.
Another use is to help improve reading – ask your teacher to provide a short story and then match pictures to create your story. This will test your understanding of the text provided. As more people use the site hopefully contributions will be made in different languages, increasing the amount of reading material available.
I took the quick video tour which shows you the basics of using the site (it looks very intuitive), and one of the most interesting things mentioned was the collaborative aspect of the stories. This means you can invite someone to help you create the story – perhaps a language partner from your class, or someone fluent in your target language could provide the text whilst you add the images.
There are plenty of opportunities for being creative with this site – enjoy!
The first device to transmit American Sign Language (ASL) by phone is being developed by researchers in America.
Engineers at the University of Washington are currently testing the tool, which uses video technology to transmit the signs. The field test is aimed at seeing how people use the technology in their everyday lives, with the aim of putting it into general use. Called MobileASL, the technology compresses video signals and increases image quality around the face and hands to make calls easier and quicker.
So far the results have been positive:
Most study participants say texting or e-mail is currently their preferred method for distance communication. Their experiences with the MobileASL phone are, in general, positive.
“It is good for fast communication,” said Tong Song, a Chinese national who is studying at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. “Texting sometimes is very slow, because you send the message and you’re not sure that the person is going to get it right away. If you’re using this kind of phone then you’re either able to get in touch with the person or not right away, and you can save a lot of time.” (Source: Science Daily)
A larger field study will be conducted this winter, so it’s definitely a development worth keeping in mind.
