http://translate.google.com/#en/es/
I think in this day and age, Google translate is a vital tool in the classroom. I am from the southwest, where the Hispanic culture is almost no longer a minority. In education, and in any career field, it is useful to know another language. At least, one should be able to communicate on a basic level with someone who doesn't know English. As a prospective teacher, it would be in my best interest to become fluent in Spanish. If I had the time and resources, I certainly would do so. However, tools like Google translate can give a teacher the head start he or she needs to communicate with students who are still learning English.
I totally agree! Google Translate is such a useful tool. I use it all the time. I even have the app on my phone. It has a cool feature that lets you speak into the mic on your phone and translates it to whatever language you tell it to. It's so handy!
ReplyDeleteGoogle Translate can be an incredibly useful tool, but it is also the bane of a foreign language teacher's existence. I am deeply involved with an organization for students of Latin and therefore deeply involved with a huge number of Latin teachers across the country. Since the onset of Google Translate, there has been an epidemic of cheating among students of foreign languages. Latin teachers are lucky in that Google is really bad at Latin, but it is better at other languages so watch out.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm not saying Google is at fault or that they should stop their project, but it does have its drawbacks.