Google's Stunning Real-Time Voice Translation App

[ProDigit10]

I wonder how it will interpret the german drumbeat machine!

 

[razmanugget]

It is definitely the most useful language to learn. I tell all my students they are lucky to learn English because it is so useful, especially for traveling. Try speaking Japanese to someone in a foreign country.

I am a native English speaker who can speak passable Japanese and what was once conversational French. The coolest language experience I've had was when I passed by a French guy trying to give some Japanese tourists directions and I was able to bridge the language divide for both of them (this was in France). And the stunned looks on their faces was priceless.

 

[Guest]

so if you can't speak english you are a savage, huh?

 

[ik242]

Having single language does not improve how people from different places feel about each other. but showing interest in their way of life, language, culture etc does.

Primary function of intelligence is ability to learn something (and exercise it). we are trying so hard to unlock all lost knowledge as well as secrets we never knew because all knowledge is good (includes linguistic, scientific, cultural, archeological, evolutionary secrets etc.). Choosing to forget some of already acquired knowledge on purpose is incredibly stupid. It eliminates diversity and limits the way we think just to name something.

I am fluent in four languages, conversational in other three, and currently learning another one.
No I am not linguist, just someone who likes this planet and wants to make it better place for everyone.

 

[wiinippongamer]

well its not exactly real time, theres a few secs delay between sentences

 

[nebun]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]How about everybody stops messing around and learns to speak English? I speak three foreign languages fluently but English is the only one I ever needed. It's really easy to learn, it's very versatile, it's already a de facto standard so there's no need for silly devices to communicate with non English speaking savages.[/citation]
agreed...everyone should speak the language of the respective country they live in....

 

[Cyex]

[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]agreed...everyone should speak the language of the respective country they live in....[/citation]
Exactly. If you come to Melbourne you should learn to speak Greek like everyone else.

 

[LORD_ORION]

Humphhh... I was hoping for a Weirding Module from that title description.

 

[cmartin011]

Icelandic is the most difficult language too learn

 

[adipose]

Awesome. Now can you use some of those smarts so my d.amn Droid can understand who I'm trying to dial?

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]San Pedro[/nom]Some things that make English difficult:Abundance of verb tensesMany exceptions to rulesUnclear phonics (IPS is great for ESL students)Many vowel sounds Consonants that some other languages don't haveConnecting words while talkingThese are some things that make English difficult. I think it matters what your native language is as well. Japanese and Korean grammar are almost opposite of English, so switching the mind to think like that can be difficult. Also many Asian people can't hear the difference between l and r, and v and b.It is definitely the most useful language to learn. I tell all my students they are lucky to learn English because it is so useful, especially for traveling. Try speaking Japanese to someone in a foreign country.Anyway, I think this may work for some things and languages, but I can't imagine it doing a reasonable job with Japanese. Maybe it would be better than nothing though.[/citation]

what makes English difficult language to learn, is all the retarded grammar.
If you take the grammar out of English as in all that extra stuff that we have to put in there to have the correct grammar otherwise some people on the Internet will call us on it and call us stupid for not using it correctly because they know how then English is one of the easiest languages to learn.

A Asian languages let's take Chinese and Japanese have the I believe Japan at 1200 characters to be considered literate and Chinese has 20,000 total, I don't know what their literacy is for that. Japanese also have a secondary easier to learn alphabetic deck consists of I believe 72 will characters are. The main difference between the two character sets for the kanji and I forget what the other easier one is called at, is that the harder one you know damn well what that word means, whereas the easier character set it could mean many different things kind of like how an English there is the word they there their and they're. Japanese and specific is probably one of the easier languages to learn of the Asian languages but is really hard if you want to be considered literate in fact I think the only language harder to behave literate than aside from Japanese is Chinese.

And English is the most versatile of the languages, there are character sets for pre-much everything you need to use English itself barely uses them but a number other languages use them a lotand those extra characters have different sounds whereas in English we have polls that change sounds these will be what we would be right if we didn't change the style. It's kind of hard for me to explain

 

[Milleman]

What about Elvish and Mordor as well?

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]agreed...everyone should speak the language of the respective country they live in....[/citation]
do you even know what NEBUN means, and in what language? Because I do, and it's not a pretty name...
hint: try Romanian translation.
With comments like yours, I guess you earned it.

 

[Humans think]

@killerclick, plznote, scione, nevertell

I currently speak fluently 2 languages, conversational in other 2 and I am learning a fifth. English is easy to learn the basics but all the idioms and non conventional phrases make it hard to master, where exceptions become the rule. This happens to all the languages that are spoken by many "tribes" and "nations" for example Spanish, Chinese and many others, on the other hand if you take German as an example they have adopted the Ancient Greek grammar and is one of the most structured languages, difficult to learn but easy to master.

These pieces of software are not intended to make the most spoken languages accessible to third world countries but to improve the penetration of developed language-ignorant sauvignist countries in emerging markets where a handful of educated people hold the economies.

@San Pedro, ik242 and warmon6: constructive comments
@cmartin011 Yes, Icelandic is considered the most difficult language to learn by some experts.

Just my 5 cents on the matter

 

[r0x0r]

"English is easy to learn"

LOL NO. Tell that to anyone studying as their second language. People who say that English is easy to learn usually have no experience learning another language, and thus have no basis for comparison.

English isn't even the world's most widely spoken language. The world is a far smaller place than what it was in Gen-X days, and multilingualism in the information age is a necessity and will be more important (and an expected skill) in the future.

Besides, there's nothing like being able to pick up girls in a foreign country while your monolingual buddies just sit there staring

 

[r0x0r]

[citation][nom]r0x0r[/nom]...Tell that to anyone studying English as their second language.[/citation]

Apologies for the typo. I'm using a HP netbook and the keyboard sensitivity is terrible >_<

 

[jkflipflop98]

Actually, as people come together the need for all these languages goes away. We will eventually have one standard language that we all speak. My money would be on English becoming that language, but who knows.

 

[Guest]

This is really really a step in the WRONG direction!! Technology letting people get by NOT learning to speck english them selves - bad bad bad. Coming from Denmark I have "had to" learn several secondary langages and I am utterly dismayed to see that some one is actually putting their efforts into technology that may prevent everyone in the world from one day speaking English fluently!

 

[killerclick]

[citation][nom]r0x0r[/nom]"English is easy to learn"LOL NO. Tell that to anyone studying as their second language.[/citation]

English is easy to learn, not just because the nature of the language but also because it's so widespread both in terms of number of speakers and learning resources but also in the media.

[citation][nom]r0x0r[/nom]People who say that English is easy to learn usually have no experience learning another language, and thus have no basis for comparison.[/citation]

Well I do and I do. I started learning German and French before I started learning English and they're much harder.


[citation][nom]r0x0r[/nom]English isn't even the world's most widely spoken language.[/citation]

Yes it is, not in terms of the number of native speakers but in terms of people who can understand you. Sure there are 800 million speakers of Mandarin but outside of China and Taiwan very few people speak that language. English speaking countries may have "only" 500 million native speakers but the number of people who can speak English in the World is in the billions.


[citation][nom]r0x0r[/nom]The world is a far smaller place than what it was in Gen-X days, and multilingualism in the information age is a necessity and will be more important (and an expected skill) in the future.[/citation]

No, because enough people speak English. People who don't speak English are usually too young or too uncivilized for most people to even want to communicate with them.


[citation][nom]r0x0r[/nom]Besides, there's nothing like being able to pick up girls in a foreign country while your monolingual buddies just sit there staring[/citation]

Girls who don't speak English probably don't bathe either so... enjoy

 

[killerclick]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]]English is easy to learn, not just because the nature of the language but also because it's so widespread both in terms of number of speakers and learning resources but also in the media.[/citation]

Ok, I sound like Sarah Palin. Stupid Tom's Guide won't let me edit my messages...