Why studying languages still matters

Why studying languages still matters

This article is republished with permission from The UNESCO Courier and written by AUT Senior Lecturer Elba Ramirez. Read the original article.

Translation applications now produce a sentence in the time it takes to blink. It is breathtaking - and sometimes a bit eerie - but it helps us reach one another when nothing else is available.

While progress over the last four years has been particularly mind-blowing, the attempts to automate translation are not new. Experiments were conducted as early as the 1950s and 1960s. The development of computer-assisted translation in the 1980s-1990s was a major milestone. The horizons of what is possible have widened over the past twenty years with the emergence of Google Translate, which evolved from a statistical system trained on a large text corpus to neural machine translation that improved sentence-level fluency.

But the revolution brought about by AI is a real game-changer. Phones today resemble real "pocket interpreters". Many AI-systems can now caption a call, provide live translations into your headphones, or replicate your voice in another language.

Every day, we experience the importance these tools have taken on in our lives. I recently observed two older couples - one from China, one from Spain - meeting through an AI translation device. When it worked, conversation flew; when it failed, jokes and tone were lost, but through perseverance they repaired meaning together. AI carried them far enough to interact, but being present carried them further.

I myself had a similar experience with a colleague who is deaf, Rachel Coppage. English is our second language, so we switched between my limited New Zealand Sign Language and a notes application. Typed English felt flat; signing felt mutual, alive. The technology sped access, but the understanding and connection were carried by us.

First contact

Translation tools are excellent for logistics, travel, and first contact. When travelling, finding a clinic, or following a tour, these tools are bridges that did not exist five years ago. However, human-led interpreting is needed when the stakes are higher.

In a 2024 study, professional translators outperformed both Google Translate and GPT-4 for Haitian Creole medical discharge instructions (fewer potentially clinically significant errors), while Spanish often performed closer to machine outputs.

A 2024 systematic review of AI translation in clinical care showed promising results for short, simple exchanges, but quality varied by language and task and often dropped when translating into English.

Critical spirit instead of "copy-paste"

As a language teacher, I began noticing in 2018 that some students were clearly using Google Translate: their writing did not align with their language level or simply didn't make any sense. Rather than deterring them from this technology, I seek ways to foster an intelligent use of AI - positioning it as a support, not a substitute.

I started to ask students to always draft first and then consult AI to annotate differences, and with the arrival of ChatGPT, to include prompts for feedback ("Is this sentence grammatically correct?") instead of simply asking "write this for me". What changed? The "copy-paste and hope" mindset gave way to curiosity and critique.

For the past year, AI has supported spoken practice and provided feedback for written and spoken productions. However, the human part of communication remains outside AI's capabilities. AI translation is not a substitute for learning a language; it's only a 24/7 extension of the teacher/lecturer, never a replacement.

Create connections

Sometimes learning a language or accessing professional interpreting is not feasible, making translation technology the best bridge on offer. But communication has intercultural requirements that AI alone cannot meet: curiosity about others' values, humility about one's own, and the slow, relational skill of building shared understanding. Learning even a few words of a local language - place names, greetings, expressions of gratitude, inquiries, or apologies, and culturally attuned jokes - constitutes a mark of respect.

Human communication is not just about sentences, but rather what we do together with them. We check understanding, repeat, clarify and rephrase, and above all, we connect. That co-construction is slower than a transcription but safer when stakes are high. It is the heart of intercultural communication.

Languages are treasures, not just utilities. They are a ground to stand on, as they carry histories, values, and ways of understanding the world. UNESCO's Global Roadmap for Multilingualism in the Digital Era aims for underrepresented and Indigenous languages to be present and participating online - a reminder that technology policy and language learning can reinforce each other. A recent Council of Europe recommendation echoes this, placing plurilingual and intercultural education at the heart of democratic life and linking language learning with educational success, social inclusion, and meaningful public participation.

Learning languages increases empathy and participation because it changes how we show up for one another. When details really matter (such as consent, sensitive topics, cultural protocols), we cannot rely on apps alone.

In a world that equates speed and immediacy with success, learning languages is a gentle refusal, keeping the people at the centre of our conversations and helping us build relationships that last.

Useful links

• Read the original article
• About Elba Ramirez
• Study language and culture at AUT

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