Voice Translators

Hello colleagues, What has been your or your students' experience with voice translators? These tools are definitely getting better and better. If you have any recommendations or cautions regarding voice translation, please let us know. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition

Comments

I teach the lowest level and my students use the translators all the time. The Chinese students use an app that allows them to just hold the translators over the text and it translates it all into Chinese right on the screen. Sometimes the translations are wrong but is seems to be pretty accurate around 75 percent of the time. My feelings are mixed about how often they are used. Since my class is so low, it often aids in communication. It also is one more way for students to focus on vocabulary. Learning vocabulary really is (in my mind) about how often and in how many different contexts you see and use a word. At the lowest levels, word choice is very basic. I think translators do a good job of giving students input. At higher levels, when translators prove wrong, I use it as a point of discussion. So I guess I am for using them in the classroom in targeted ways. I do think students over rely on them in higher levels.

I had a student who when I tried to show her google translate said, "Oh, that's my teacher."  Folks who have a high level of their education in their first language can make better use of these tools.  This gal had a Math Phd. in her home country.  For words and lone phrases, google translate is incredibly accurate.  I can't speak for other apps.

Hi all, Thanks Josh and Susan for sharing your experiences with students' use of online translators. There is no doubt that these tools have improved significantly in recent years and can be extremely helpful.

My question was specifically about "voice" translators. I have one student who speaks into his phone in Spanish, and his spoken words immediately appear as a written script in English. From my experience so far, the translation seems to be accurate. I'm curious if teachers are seeing much of this type of translation program or are using such a tool themselves. I've seen it in Spanish, and I'm wondering about other languages, too.

Thanks for telling us about your experience.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP