I spent much of this Saturday afternoon translating a little over one typed page of Polish text, ten short paragraphs on various subjects of Polish folklore. After typing up my final draft, I took a break to watch the Masters on CBS. With the international field doing rather well through round three, moving day, yet no Poles were on the leader board. In fact, I’m not sure any made the cut, or even entered. Golf is not yet big in the old country.
But in one of the commercials for some tech sponsor (IBM?), a youngish traveler inspeaks a question into his iPhone (or some comparable gadget) in English, which duly translates it into Italian and voices it to a village local. The spark of human connection. Technologically mediated transnational communication, almost instantaneous, almost miraculous. A student of mine had previously warned me about such developments. I suspected then, and continue to do so now, that translation technology, however advanced, might be slick enough for simple inquiries, but will not, in the near future, be able to handle anything more nuanced, and certainly not Polish. If I’m not already mistaken, I may be sooner than I think; however, assuming that one day it will be as good as now dreamed, what are the implications? Consider the time, energy, money, life I have invested so far to achieve my modest progress. Why not just download? When does old school become positive obsolescence?
But then I reflect that the point of my second-language learning isn’t, first and foremost, to do, to converse, to actually communicate, but to be. And if I downloaded the translation app to a device I have not yet conceived any intention of purchasing, my device would become instantaneously more Polish than its owner.
