I ’ve lived in Germany for around a decade now , and an enduring beginning of shame for me is my rather underwhelming German language acquirement . Like many language learner , I ’ve reached the item where I can understand what ’s said to me , make casual conversation , and handle routine situations , but I ’ve never really accomplish the level of comfort with the language and the comprehensiveness of vocabulary that ’s want for true fluency .
I ’d love to improve my speech skills , but I ’ve struggled to commit the time and resources for intensive course of instruction . But perhaps there ’s a solution enshroud in manifest sight on my earpiece .
Perhaps AI can facilitate .
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Enter Google
Google of late announceda collection of three “ chomp - sized scholarship experiment ” built using itsGemini AI . The experiments arepublicly available , complimentary to use , work in a entanglement web browser app , and currently cover a modest range of languages — including , luckily for me , German .
I was curious how the experience of using these experiments would take issue from interacting with Google Translate . Like much everyone else I know , I make extensive use of Translate . I especially treasure the television camera lineament , which let you snap a photo of a written document such as a letter of the alphabet and see an instant , safe - enough translation . I would n’t rely on these translation for conventional document or for work , but they are super useful for quickly getting the meat of long school text passages .
The first experiment I tried , call Tiny Lesson , lets you input an activity such as “ visiting a museum ” or “ expire swim . ” It then shows you a figure of words and idiom related to that activity , with the option to hear them pronounced as well . There ’s also a point section which gives you some pointers on grammar and sentence construction .
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The upshot I got were fairly introductory , more suited to language initiate , but everything was accurate and relevant . It ’s nothing you could n’t regain using Google Translate — or , for than matter , and honest-to-god fashioned paper phrasebook — but it ’s commodious , and I can see it being utilitarian for tourists who want to look up a few key give-and-take and phrases before heading out to an activity like visiting a restaurant , museum , or beach .
Getting the hang of slang
The s of Google ’s experiments , and the one I was most excited to try , is call Slang Hang . It ’s guess to learn you about the more casual way that masses utter to each other in existent - liveliness conversations , rather than the formal kind of fundamental interaction typically taught in language textbooks . The idea is to “ yield a naturalistic conversation between native speakers and let exploiter learn from it , ” Google allege , and it sounded like just what I needed to bolster my colloquial skills in a practical way .
The concept is in force , but the reality is unknown , to say the least . The lesson beget a few plausible scenarios for me , like two multitude receive in a book shop or conversance bumping in to each other in a cafe . you may see simulated dialogue between two multitude , and click the sound icon to hear the text edition spoken out aloud . strange slang words or phrases are underscore , and you’re able to select them for more information and account . In the first few scenarios I tried I saw a mix of phrases I did n’t know and single that I ’ve heard on the street , which seems useful .
Then the experimentation decided to show me a eccentric and confusing interchange that was supposed to be between two stranger in a commons who are confronted by a pinkish pigeon . Puzzled by this , I asked a German ally for his take on it . He acknowledged that the voice communication is technically correct , but said that there was something about the exchange that did n’t sense correct , and that it read as stiff and stilted .
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He also mentioned that one of the slang words in the dialogue — der Knaller — sounds like something his dad would say , which would be out of place among the more casual and younger - skew slang that is typical of our city . This place to one of the biggest stumbling blocks for this variety of AI language instruction : whether or not a patois phrase is appropriate for a given situation depends a mess on the social context . Using slang correctly requires fairly sophisticated understanding of societal cues , which AI obviously does n’t have .
If you ’re an English aboriginal speaker , you could get an estimate of how odd some of this dialog is by expect at the AI give Slang Hangs intended to teach multitude English . I tried this out of curiosity and was present with this somewhat off kilter dialogue :
Is this technically correct ? Yup . Is it using recognisable English slang ? Sure is . Is this a conversation that real two human beings might actually have at any full stop in fourth dimension ? Ehhhhh . Maybe not .
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Point and shoot
I envisage the most pop of the three experiments will be the final one , called Word Cam . You use it to take a photo with your phone tv camera , and it show you the words for the physical object around you , like a combination of Google Lens and Google Translate .
I was impressed by how well this work , even identifying somewhat esoteric object like specific pieces of gymnasium equipment . If you cluck on one of the parole presented , the app takes you to a sieve show deterrent example of the word in use in full condemnation . Here , again , I was yarn-dye by the relevancy and utility of the sentence , which were tailored to the specific kinds of things you might require to say about a particular object .
I ’m not trusted that this experiment will beuseful , just — I ca n’t imagine too many berth where I ’d need to know a word and would rather take a photo than enter an equivalent English term into Google Translate — but it is neat , and it does shape well . It ’s for sure fun to play with .
Am I speaking German yet?
The three experiments were entertaining to essay out , and I can see some scenario where they might be helpful , particularly if you ’re stain new to a language and are trying to souse your toes into the water . But I care there was more deepness .
If you ’re move to make full use of AI , I can envision a similar app which combines hyperlocal info about your particular region to teach you more relevant words . In most of Germany , for example , the word for “ I , ” “ ich , ” is pronounced something like “ ish . ” But in Berlin , where I live , people say it more like “ ick . ” It would be coolheaded for a language app to recognize and share that information . Google ’s app offers some location for different vernacular in Germany , Austria , and Switzerland , but nowhere near this kind of fine - grain nuance of pronunciation .
I ’d like to see more societal information integrated too . I was testing during Germany ’s Labor Day , which is famous for two things : rambunctious presentation , and all the shop being shut . A truly intelligent language app could give you data about current events or social tradition as part of the mental process of learning — and remind you to pick up grocery a twenty-four hour period early , which I forget about every year . Without this cryptic context , I ’m not sure that the AI is adding much to the scholarship experience .
And there ’s the enceinte drawback of all to these kind of apps , which is that listening and reading in a strange language is one useful mode to learn , but to really savvy a speech you need to get out and talk to the great unwashed . You necessitate to pick up real conversations , to mishandle your word of honor , to make misapprehension , and then find a way to make yourself understood anyway . All the AI in the world ca n’t substitute for some literal human interaction .
