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112 points Bluestein | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.227s | source
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iambateman ◴[] No.44459541[source]
This is why I wonder about the value of language learning for reasons other than “I’m really passionate about it.”

We are so close to interfaces that reduce the language barrier by a lot…

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nisa ◴[] No.44460286[source]
It's not personal but I can't help myself to think that's such a sad post here. Reducing learning a different culture through language by plugging in an earbud. Is the battery is gone or your phone is stolen you realize you can't automate anything and that you've learned nothing. It's not about the tech if it works it's amazing it's like babelfish but it's so shallow to assume everything has some direct and simple "value" that can be replaced by some machine or even better some paid service. It's so common here. Is this an US thing?
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1. iambateman ◴[] No.44463970[source]
I think you’re reading a sense of cultural reductionism in my comment that I didn’t intend.

There’s more to learning a culture than the language. And having a real-time translator makes it possible to enjoy a huge range of cultures much more directly than before. The fact is, I’m not going to learn Chinese and Swahili and Japanese. So my choices are to go through a human translator or nothing if I want to talk to those people.

How is it sad that a technology is going to allow me to directly talk to a huge number of people that I never could have before?