With AI translation tools, what’s the point of learning different languages?

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The belief that instant translation renders language learning redundant rests on the fallacy that meaning travels neatly across languages. But human language is far more complex than that.

Translation can provide surface meaning. It cannot automatically convey judgment, sensitivity or cultural awareness.

For years, doctors in the United States were advised not to say “I’m sorry” after medical complications because the phrase could be interpreted in court as an admission of liability, a concern significant enough that many states passed “apology laws” to distinguish expressions of sympathy from admissions of wrongdoing.

This is why language operates on more than an informational level. As Nelson Mandela observed, speaking to someone in a language they understand reaches their head. Speaking to them in their own language reaches their heart.

This is why tools designed to bridge languages can paradoxically widen the gap between speakers. They match words and sentences, but strip away the emotional and social frames that give language texture.

Students today have grown up with automatic translation at the click of a button. Tools such as DeepL and Google Translate are now routine fixtures. Increasingly, learners question the need to memorise vocabulary or practise grammatical structures when fluent paragraphs can be generated instantly.

confuses language access with language competence

AI can bridge words. It cannot fully bridge worlds. And that is why learning languages still matters.

Qns:

1. Assess the view that accurate translation between languages is always necessary. (Cam. 2023)

2. “Modern technology will mean the end of education.” Is this a fair statement of your society? (CJC Prelim 2025)

3. 'It is hard to say sorry.' Do you always find it easy to apologise?