Does the rise of new technology, specifically auto-translate, signal the death of human translation and multilingualism? David Bellos, author of Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything, thinks not. Check out his reasoning in this interview, which touches on the methodology of Google Translate, vehicular languages, and multilingualism in America.
“Obviously it removes the motivation for language learning for all sorts of minor, everyday trivial tasks. But I think that people in positions of responsibility in the educational system and in schools and public life should know full well that the existence of Google Translate in no way reduces the educational need and the utility of acquiring foreign languages.”
