Language as a Window into Human Nature

Here is an interesting clip about different uses of language.

Why I Think Universal Translators Are Impossible

A universal translator is a device, featured in science fiction, which instantly translates languages.  Some commentators think that, given improving translation technology, that people won't have to learn foreign languages in the future; when meeting a foreign language speaker, one will be able to use their mobile device to communicate with them.  I am much more skeptical.


Links

• Here is the Wikipedia article on universal translators.
• Here is an article about translation software.
• Here is Google's mobile translation app.  There is a "conversation mode"--as of now, it's only available in English-Spanish--which is designed to allow two people speaking different languages to have a verbal conversation; the app uses its voice recognition technology to pick up what each person is saying and then translates it to the other person's language.

Statistics

The naive approach to programing translation software would be to program in all of the different grammar rules and then have the program fill in the blanks with words.  That is what people have tried in the past, and it didn't work.  Language is too complex and quirky to boil down to simple formulas.  As mentioned in my second link, computers would end up spitting out a lot of mangled phrases.

What has been more successful is using statistical analysis to figure out how things most likely should be translated.  What has been done is that documents which have been translated by hand from one language to another have been analyzed to see how different phrases most commonly are translated from one language to another.

Current Translation Software Is Useful, but not Perfect

There are uses for translation software.  It gives a rough estimate of what a document in a foreign language is saying.  It is the only option for translating something virtually instantly.  When it is translating something like a menu from a restaurant, it does well because there is usually a one to one relationship between those kinds of specific nouns.

On the other hand, if one wants a perfect translation, it has to be done by a person.  I remember while on my mission in Boston seeing a notice on an apartment building which had obviously been translated via an instant computer translation.  The apartment was presumably managed by an English-speaking American, but the apartment had a lot of Portuguese-speaking Brazilian immigrants living there.  There was a notice which tried to explain why the residents should not park in front of the dumpster.  It was obviously typed out in English, inputed into a translation program, and then printed out.  I remember it being funny how many blatant errors were in the document.  One I remember was that the document said, "não parque em frente do dumpster." For those who don't speak Portuguese, here's why that phrase is wrong: first, the word "parque" means a park as in the noun for a place; it never means the verb to park, which is estacionar; second dumpster is not even a word in Portuguese; the program obviously didn't recognize the word dumpster and so it just treated it as a proper noun.  Having a sentence like that would be like saying in English, "no park in front of the hoobaloo."

Artificial Intelligence

On a deeper level, to truly understand what a phrase means requires human intelligence.  There are many factors which influence the meaning of a phrase.  

The context of a conversation can change the meaning of a sentence.  For example, if I am reading a math paper, terms like "open", "ring", "annihilate", etc. have technical meanings referring to specific mathematic principles.  One then says, "OK, perhaps you tell the program that this is a mathematical paper."  Well, there may be times in that paper where I want to use the word "open" or "ring" in a conventional sense.

In a verbal conversation, intonation can affect what a phrase means.  Think of how many ways one can change the meaning of a simple phrase like "I love you": "I love you; I love you; I love you; I love you?"

The human has little difficulty sorting out subtlety.  A computer has a ton of trouble sorting out any kind of subtlety to the point that it is currently impossible to do with any degree of success approaching that of a human.  In my view, the issue is one of the possibility or impossibility of creating artificial intelligence or not.  Can a computer be created which can handle the same subtleties that a human can?

Why I Say No and Other References

I think it is impossible.  (Disclaimer: my knowledge on this subject is very limited.)  A big reason I do is because of the book Godel, Escher, Bach.  To give a (poor and woefully incomplete) summary of what I am trying to say, mathematically it is impossible to design a complete system of instructions for a computer to decipher subtlety.  This is, at least to my incomplete understanding, why a statistical method for translating something works better than trying to program a computer to translate via rules.

That Being Said, Even Human Translators Aren't Perfect


Languages are not simply copies of each other with different words in place of other words.  There are actually concepts which some languages have which cannot be adequately expressed in other languages.  To really understand what someone is saying in another language, especially in an informal setting, one needs to know the language.

Take for example sarcasm.  The concept of sarcasm is at least in part to say something where the true meaning is intentionally obscured.  Even for a human to try to translate sarcasm is difficult.  Plus, in some cultures sarcasm doesn't really exist like it does in the United States, for example.

There are just certain things which are lost in translation.  If not even an expert human can translate them, how can I expect a computer, no matter how expertly designed, could automatically do it.

Learning Another Language with the Amazon Kindle

I previously posted my review of the Amazon Kindle 3.   I would like to expand on how I have been using it for learning languages.  This feature is not necessarily exclusive to the Kindle, but I'm also not familiar with how it would be done on another device.


Language Dictionaries

I like what the Kindle can do for other languages.  The main thing I think is really cool is the ability to use a translation dictionary to get instant definitions of words.

The Kindle has a dictionary look-up feature.  If you come across an unknown word, you can arrow over to it and a quick definition pops up.  To look into it further, you can click ENTER, read the full entry in the dictionary, and then click BACK to return to your reading.  The default for this is a standard English dictionary.  With the Kindle, I found out that if I wanted to read something in another language, I could change the primary dictionary to a translation dictionary.  Whenever I come across an unknown word (which is usually much more common in another language than in English), I can click over to it and see a definition.  This is a really nice feature.

I'm not sure what program is similar to this on other devices.  Clearly it's possible to implement on other devices, I've just never seen it.  One of the things that makes it work on the Kindle is buying a good dictionary.  A good dictionary is not free because it takes time to put together.  Further, on the Kindle, a good e-dictionary is one that can handle the grammatical complexities of a language and return the correct word more often than not.  For example, it would be hard to read the news in another language without a better-than-free dictionary.  I am therefore skeptical that there exists a good replacement for this on another device without costing a lot.

One gripe I have with Amazon on this is that there are no good dictionaries for sale on the Kindle store.  All of the dictionaries I have browsed through are low rated.  They are e-versions of basic printed versions, and they tend to fail to handle all of the grammatical complexities that a good e-dictionary can.  These dictionaries sell for cheap.  I had to go to another site and buy some good e-dictionaries (which were not cheap, by the way).  I am not sure why Amazon doesn't have good dictionaries for sale currently.

Availability of Materials


My other point is that it is easier to get things to read in other languages via e-books.  It is harder to get printed books in a lot of other languages because local bookstores and libraries have no or few books that I would want to read in other languages (except for maybe Spanish).  Further, ordering a printed book on the Internet is not much easier.  Amazon.com, for example, does not have a large selection of foreign language books.  On top of that, such books would be imported, so they come at a higher price.

With e-books, I have had a much easier time finding books.  There is a lot of stuff for free on various websites.  Further, I don't have to pay an extra import fee to download something that isn't free.  Finally, there is a lot more than books that one can read.  I mentioned before how I am reading a lot of websites on my Kindle.  For languages, my favorite thing is to read the news using the program Calibre.  As I mentioned in my previous post on the Kindle, I can read newspapers for free by using Calibre to download content off of its website.

Is Rosetta Stone Worth It?

At Costco recently I passed by the Rosetta Stone software.  I stopped to look at the price: it is expensive.  I realized that that price is a reflection of the value people place on knowing a language.  Rosetta Stone is, from my perspective, the most well-known language learning software.  I tried it at my school's language learning lab for free, and I didn't really like it.  In contrast to my experience learning Portuguese as a missionary in Brazil, I felt like Rosetta Stone was not very efficient for me.  On this note, I have recently been looking at some language learning websites which I think are better than Rosetta Stone.  Surprisingly, these websites can be used for free for the basic version of the site, which is what I have been using, or for a small fee for the premium version.

• LiveMocha is a website that offers lessons which, for the most part, are similar to that of Rosetta Stone.  One feature I have enjoyed is that you can get your practice exercises corrected by native speakers.  You either write something out or record your pronunciation of a few sentences, submit it, and native speakers, who are using the site to learn English or another language, will correct it.  The cost is that you have to correct someone else's English assignments.  I have found it easy to correct a basic level English assignment.
  
  One feature with LiveMocha which I have not used is the chat feature.  One can find "language partners" to chat with to practice the language.  For example, if I am learning Portuguese, I can find someone who speaks Portuguese who is learning English and chat with them.  Friends can help one to learn a language a lot faster.
  
• Lang-8 is a website which does not do what Rosetta Stone does.  It may be better for the more advanced learner.  What you do is you write a small post in the language you are learning.  It can be about anything.  You can write about your day, about a movie you saw, or anything else that you might normally blog about.  Then, like with LiveMocha, someone corrects your writing.  In return, you correct someone else's English writing.  This is a simple website but it has a powerful idea.  I have been pleased with the things I am able to learn with it.  And again, it is free to use the basic version.

In conclusion, I would not invest in Rosetta Stone.  In addition to these websites, I am aware of other websites which also do a good job; none of them costs nearly as much as Rosetta Stone, and most of them are probably at least as good if not better than it.  In addition to this, there are things like language learning podcasts, blogs in other languages, and other foriegn-language material available for free online.

Anki

I recently installed the Anki app to my phone.  It is a flash cards app.  I have used flash cards off an on in the past to help learn languages and memorize scripture passages.  They have helped me learn things but they were a hassle because

• If I was making flash cards for vocabulary, I didn't want to waste a whole 3 by 5 card on one word.  I therefore cut 3 by 5 cards into fourths.  I then marked each side with a distinctive color so that I knew which side was the front and which side was the back.
• If I was making flash cards for long passages to memorize, it took a long time to write out each passage.  Some of this time was useful because it helped me learn; however, I feel that I learned faster once I had the card and was free to give my full attention to the memorizing task.  Also, handwriting long passages led to the occasional error, which means I ended up memorizing some things slightly incorrectly.
• I did try printing out these passages, cutting them out, and pasting them onto a 3 by 5 card, but this was still a bit of a hassle.
• The advantage of flash cards is that they can be reviewed while one has a spare moment--e.g. while walking to class, while waiting for some kind of appointment to start, etc.--but the problem is figuring out where to stash them.
• The biggest issue was that I had a hard time trying to organize a regular review of my cards.  I didn't have a good way of figuring out how to balance studying new cards and reviewing old cards on a regular basis.

Anki is better in all of these issues.

• I can create cards by copying and pasting things into the computer and then loading it all onto my phone.  It's quick and easy.
• I just have to carry around my phone, which I do anyway.
• The program is set up to keep track of how much I have reviewed each card.  Each time I see a card, I can input whether I thought the card was "hard", "good", or "easy" and the program will set that card for review based on my self-assessment.

I have been using it for a couple weeks now, and I really feel like it is helping me a lot.  It has been a great study tool.

Constructed Languages

Esperanto is the most widely-spoken constructed international auxiliary language.  Basically, it is an artificial language designed with the intent that other people from can communicate with each other in this international language.  It is apparently really easy to learn.  Here is a quote from the linked Wikipedia article:

The Institute of Cybernetic Pedagogy at Paderborn (Germany) has compared the length of study time it takes Francophone high school students to obtain comparable 'standard' levels in Esperanto, English, German, and Italian. The results were:

• 2000 hours studying German =
• 1500 hours studying English =
• 1000 hours studying Italian =
• 150 hours studying Esperanto.

It should be noted, however, that these figures can only reflect the respective learning difficulty of these languages for native French speakers. They should be compared to figures from other countries to allow for a more general perspective on the learning difficulty of Esperanto. It should be noted in the chart above, Italian would naturally be easier for French speakers to learn since they are both Romance languages, where German is a Germanic language, for example.

Another intriguing artificial language is Interlingua.  It is designed to be easy like Esperanto, but it is based more on Romance Languages.  Here is a video of someone speaking Interlingua.  If you speak a Romance Language you may be able to understand quite a bit of this.

Besides these, there are several other such constructed languages.

Most-Spoken Languages

Here is a list of the most-spoken languages by number of native speakers (link) (In parentheses are the estimated number of speakers):

1. Mandarin Chinese (1.1 billion)
2. English (330 million)
3. Spanish (300 million)
4. Hindi/Urdu (250 million)
5. Arabic (200 million)
6. Bengali (185 million)
7. Portuguese (160 million)
8. Russian (160 million)
9. Japanese (125 million)
10. German (100 million)
11. Punjabi (90 million)
12. Javanese (80 million)
13. French (75 million)

Here are the languages by number of secondary speakers:

1. French (190 million)
2. English (150 million)
3. Russian (125 million)
4. Portuguese (28 million)
5. Arabic (21 million)
6. Spanish (20 million)
7. Chinese (20 million)
8. German (9 million)
9. Japanese (8 million)

Therefore combined we get:

1. Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion)
2. English (480 million)
3. Spanish (320 million)
4. Russian (285 million)
5. French (265 million)
6. Hindi/Urdu (250 million)
7. Arabic (221 million)
8. Portuguese (188 million)
9. Bengali (185 million)
10. Japanese (133 million)
11. German (109 million)

Here is a list based on the number of countries where each language is spoken:

1. English (115)
2. French (35)
3. Arabic (24)
4. Spanish (20)
5. Russian (16)
6. German (9)
7. Mandarin (5)
8. Portuguese (5)
9. Hindi/Urdu (2)
10. Bengali (1)
11. Japanese (1)

Finally, here is a list of "most influential languages":

1. English
2. French
3. Spanish
4. Russian
5. Arabic
6. Chinese
7. German
8. Japanese
9. Portuguese
10. Hindi/Urdu

Polyglots

A polyglot is a person who speaks several languages.  Here are some examples from Youtube:















This is cool to me that these people can speak so many different languages.  I have taken a few language classes, but due to many factors--not limited to but including lack of natural ability, a busy schedule, and overall laziness--I have only really been able to learn Portuguese, which I learned as a missionary in Brazil, and Spanish, which is widely spoken in the United States and which is close to Portuguese.

I think language learning is fun and has many benefits. One recent example of this happened when I started using the site Twitter.  On Twitter, one may search for current topics and read what people from around the world are saying about them.  I noticed that many Spanish and Portuguese speakers comment on some of the same topics and I am interested.  It feels cool to be able to understand what they are saying.  It also reminds me that the United States is just one piece of the world and that the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking populations of the world are significant.  Further, on the list of topics which are trending around the world, from time to time a topic appears in either Portuguese or Spanish.