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High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

arxiv.org

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Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#31

Post by nisa »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #29
nisa wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misunderstood my post. It's wonderful technology and a great aid. I just wanted to say there is so much more to learning a foreign language (and culture) than machine translation - even if almost perfect. At least that was my take away from learning Czech as a German. Lot's of subtle details.

No, I was making a larger point: there shouldn't be any such thing as a "foreign language." We're all members of the same species. (Yes, even Americans.) Technology like this is what will realize that ideal. If cultures around the world had all grown up alongside each other, speaking the same language, and someone came along and said, "That's no good, every nation and every ethnic group should speak a different langu…

Ah I see. I disagree because it's impossible. Even the next village or town has a different language even if it's subtle. I'm more for embracing the differences.

On the other hand we are probably almost there - it's English and social media is the global teacher.

Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#33

Post by Escapado »

ViscountPenguin wrote: post #28
iambateman wrote: post #8

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…

I don't know if you're multilingual, but some concepts are just legitimately easier to express in some languages; and the different grammatical structures that languages have can be useful for emphasising certain things, or to express subtle relationships between concepts. I'm not a particularly fluent speaker of Japanese and Russian, but I still find it helpful to drop into them sometimes when speaking with someone…

I have to second this. I study Japanese myself and the entire way the Japanese communicate is reflected so deeply in the language. There is so so much nuance to pretty much every sentence they speak and there are certain grammar points that carry more meaning in three syllables than what can be expressed in English or German in a full sentence. And ok turn this way of communicating shapes their culture too I believe. If I were to translate a German conversation into Japanese, even if I did so idiomatically it would most likely come off as a rude exchange, because of all the unapologetic directness in the source language.

Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#34

Post by CamperBob2 »

boplicity wrote: post #30
CamperBob2 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I was making a larger point: there shouldn't be any such thing as a "foreign language." We're all members of the same species. (Yes, even Americans.) Technology like this is what will realize that ideal. If cultures around the world had all grown up alongside each other, speaking the same language, and someone came along and said, "That's no good, every nation and every ethnic group should speak a different langu…

Change is hard, but diversity is good, and certainly better than monoculture (of language).

What's the point of diversity if people can't communicate with each other, or if only educated elites within each subculture can do so? Diversity should bring different people together, not divide them artificially.

Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#35

Post by GaggiX »

iambateman wrote: post #8

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…

So many nuances are lost in translation. I also can't imagine speaking English with actual people through a machine instead of speaking it directly.

Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#36

Post by caymanjim »

nisa wrote: post #22
iambateman wrote: post #8

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…

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 "v…

I think it'll greatly increase cultural learning, by increasing the opportunity to interact with people. I've traveled to a lot of countries, and never learned more than a handful of words in each, primarily related to basic service interactions. I enjoyed talking to locals when they spoke English. I couldn't interact in any meaningful way with the vast majority of people, though.

Learning languages is great. If you can become fluent in two that's impressive. Even simple conversational ability in a few languages is impressive. But it's a big world.

Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#37

Post by nisa »

caymanjim wrote: post #36
nisa wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 "v…

I think it'll greatly increase cultural learning, by increasing the opportunity to interact with people. I've traveled to a lot of countries, and never learned more than a handful of words in each, primarily related to basic service interactions. I enjoyed talking to locals when they spoke English. I couldn't interact in any meaningful way with the vast majority of people, though. Learning languages is great. If you…

Thanks. Wonderful take and optimistic. You are correct I think.

Re: High-fidelity simultaneous speech-to-speech translation

#38

Post by nine_k »

Grosvenor wrote: post #11

This is so cool. The future is cool! I wonder how it will work on languages that have different grammatical structure than french/english? Like Finno-Ugric languages which have sort of a Yoda speech to them. Edit: In Finno-Ugric languages words later on in a sentence can completely change the meaning. Will be interesting to look at. It's considerate of them to name it after my favourite whisky.

If Finnish is not widely known, German is more familiar, and there you can put the "nicht" at the very end of a sentence, reversing its meaning. Also, the verb may come close to the end, after an extended description of the subject / object; in English, you want the verb early.

Human translators somehow handle that; machines would likely exhibit a similar delay.

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