A recent article on Techcrunch looks at the future of interpreting courtesy of Google Translate. The latest version of Google Translate for Android comes with a new feature: Conversation Mode.  This allows you to speak in one language into your phone and the app will read it out loud translated into the language of the person you’re speaking with. That person can then respond and it will translate it back into your language. Google are to be commended for what is a truly amazing feature and something that will help enormously to break down language barriers. However, it is debatable whether these types of interpreting applications and devices will ever be able to convey the spirit of the language that lies behind the words. One of the true pleasures of being able to speak another language reasonably well is the access and freedom it gives to think and feel in a different way from your own native tongue.

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