Feed in english, print out in french

Once upon a time, according to a much told story, a computer was set a task of translating “traffic jam” into French and back into English. The machine buzzed, clicked, blinked its lights and eventually came up with “car-flavored marmalade”.

Machine translation has come a long way since then. Computer translation systems are now widely used for various purposes. But although the efficiency of machine translation is rapidly improving, there is no question of human translators being made redundant. On the contrary, people and machines work together in harmony.

Today’s computers are of little value in translating literary works, where subtlety is vital; or the spoken language, which tends to be ungrammatical; or important texts, where absolute accuracy is essential. But for routine technical reports, working papers, and the like, which take up so much of the translation workload of the international organizations, computers are likely to play an increasing role. The method of operation will probably be for the machines to make a rough version, which the translator will then edit, correcting obvious errors, and where necessary referring back to the original.

If machines can translate languages, could they teach languages? Yes, say enthusiasts, although they doubt that the teacher could ever be totally replaced by a machine in the classroom. Good old teachers know best!

Ex.23. Answer the following questions and give the reason why you answer in this way, using words and word combinations given in the box.

What would you prefer (what would you rather do):

1) Communicate with a person or a computer? 2) Learn a foreign language with the help of a computer or a teacher? 3) Have a diagnosis stated by a computer or a doctor? 4) Have your marriage arranged by your friend or by a computer? 5) Play chess (games) with a person or a computer?