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Cet article est en trois versions de niveaux linguistiques différents. Quel est votre niveau?
English level C2 (Advanced)
It’s hardly surprising to find out that fewer and fewer people are willing to learn a foreign language. The reasons are plethora; it’s simply too big an investment in terms of time, money and energy. On top of that, we can ask what the tangible rewards are of being able to exchange or operate in a foreign tongue. Most of all, why put ourselves through the humiliation of sounding and feeling like infants whenever we open our mouths?
After all, who needs to bother with the hassle of learning when technology can do the graft for you? Why struggle with hesitant, approximatively or incorrect Spanish when you can just paste your message into an automatic translator? These digital solutions are now pretty effective – gone are the days when they churned out word-for-word gobbledygook. You will soon be able to get your hands on free direct voice-voice translation solutions, and use Skype and WeChat in whatever language you choose. Scrap language teachers and language learners; let machines talk instead.
I am playing the devil’s advocate here. The odds seem stacked against learning, but then, getting objections out of the way is essential to learning anything. Watch this blog, and share a few reflections on the joys of language acquisition.
English level B2 (intermediate)
It is not a surprise to discover that more and more people don’t want to learn a language. There are many reasons; it uses too much time, money and energy. Also, we do not know what the advantages are of using a foreign language. Most importantly, we feel stupid when we try.
Why make an effort when machines can do the work? Why use bad Spanish when a machine will translate for you? These translators are better today than in the past. Soon there will be automatic voice translation when we speak on-line with Skype, WeChat etc. So, it’s not necessary to learn because machines can do the work.
I am giving the negative arguments first. There are many arguments not to learn, but if we want to learn something, we must face these arguments first. Watch this blog and share some ideas about why language learning is enjoyable.
English level A2 (Simple)
More and more people don’t learn languages today. This is because it takes time, money and energy. Also, we feel stupid.
Why learn languages because machines can translate? Machine translations are better today. Soon, we will have voice translation when we communicate. So, is not necessary to learn.
If we want to learn, we cannot ignore these negative arguments. In this blog I will give reasons why learning a language is very pleasant.
Martin Long, Responsable pédagogique