Google Translate: The End of the Road for Interpreters?

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This morning Paul Maglione, Co-Founder of English Attack! asked an interesting question on Twitter.

The end of the road for interpreters? Google now translates conversations.

It’s based on the alpha release of the Google Translate application on Android which now features an option to translate spoken conversations, dubbed “conversation mode”, for now exclusively in English and Spanish.

So, is this the end of the road for interpreters? Looking at the demo back in September you see that the quality was still pretty flaky and especially in the interpreter business you want or better need to have excellent and instantaneous translations.

That being said I feel we have definitely passed the blind alley sign and it’s only a matter of time until the road runs out.

Far more interesting and disruptive is the effect that technology like this will have on the need to learn other languages. As you can hear from the off at the end of the presentation

This really is history because for fifty years people have talked about being able to do what you just demoed. It’s here today.

I don’t know exact numbers for now but if you take the market segment of people who learn a language on a basic level to travel abroad and take a look at publishers and schools that offer specialized material and courses for those customers, I believe, it is save to say that they will see a significant market break in the next two to five years.

Another interesting example comes from the Google Demo Slam where people use or “hack” Google products to show the possibilities.

Again, pretty early stage but the girls got what they ordered. Of course, the conversation needs to stay on the scripted track but with the new Google Translate conversation mode you could even have a real non scripted talk with the delivery service guy.

With smartphones getting more and more powerful we will have the multi-purpose device we need for all of those tasks and challenges in our pockets all the time. If you compare the specs of today’s leading smartphones they are already more powerful than laptops just a couple of years ago plus they have features laptops or netbooks don’t have such as GPS, applications or the possibility to add a device like Square to turn a smartphone into a mobile payment device.

Picture: Kim Cybulski

 

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  • Pingback: Kirsten Winkler

  • http://twitter.com/tjcollazo Trevor J. Collazo

    As a person who spent three years living and working in another country, I can see the desire and temptation for something like this.

    While the technology is amazing and has great uses, it would be scary if we took the human element out of communication. I think we would all agree that communication goes far beyond the words a person says. Until we get a service that can replicate/translate intonation, inflection, facial expression, and hand gestures, there will always be interpretors.

    • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

      Using this technology you would still have all the human elements as you are using it between two people on the street, in a cafe, where ever. It's just a more sophisticated form of a travel dictionary. Along the way the technology will evolve naturally and in a couple of years the device will “speak” with your own voice I suppose.

      If you don't want to learn a language, this is the perfect device and most people don't see the benefit in learning a language just for a vacation. For them tech like this could make the trip much more vivid and maybe it will even spark the interest in learning that language later on, who knows?

      • youngprincipal

        I suppose you might be right, but it is so much more fun to get lost in a city, try to catch a taxi, and end up in some slum where the police have to escort you back to where you belong…trust me, I know!
        I guess I am more interested in the process of language and acquisition rather than the results of speaking the language.

  • http://www.snapanda.com Michel Nizon

    Using translation tools to understand a conversation is like believing you can read people mind with this technology.

    • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

      But you know what? The majority of people won't care. It's fast, it's convenient, it's effortless and it fits in my pocket. Those people won't be customers of services or products in the language learning sector anyway. And it's 100% better than not understanding a language at all.

      If you could help a tourist in your city who speaks a language you don't speak with this device, where is the problem or vice versa.

      What do you think what people should do, do you have a better solution than learning every spoken language on the globe? Is Wikipedia in the same category, should we go back to libraries because it's the harder = better way? I really don't see your point here.

      Snapanda looks really nice btw.

      • http://www.snapanda.com Michel Nizon

        Words in context are essential to understand the meaning and this is where translation tools stop to be helpful and even can become harmful.
        English language has become the esperanto of our globalized word so you don't need to learn every spoken language on earth.

        • http://www.snapanda.com Michel Nizon

          of our globalized world…

        • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

          But the context is there. We are not talking about VoIP chats without camera we are talking about real life interactions. For example: I am standing in a street market in the streets of Shanghai and can order some food, ask what this is etc and the cook can answer me. Or buy shoes in Berlin. Or at the moment buy olive oil in Spain, …

          Did someone watch the video at all?

          • http://www.snapanda.com Michel Nizon

            Ordering food is quite a very simple interaction using single meaning words…social life is more complex.

          • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

            Not if you want to order food in a language you don't speak or not even understand. Anyway, time will tell ;) .

            Are you planning to release the Snapanda app on iOS, too?

          • http://www.snapanda.com Michel Nizon

            Snapanda is still in its infancy (prototype mode). We are focusing first to improve the user experience to select a word or group of words and yes in a second stage an iphone version will be available too.

          • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

            Nice, please keep me updated on the progress!

      • http://twitter.com/darienbrown Darien Brown

        Kirsten, I think you're right, but I'm not sure how this supports the main article. “The majority of people” aren't going to be consumers of interpretation services. Anyone who has use for a professional interpreter isn't going to find this technology to be a suitable replacement. Not now, and not on any predictable future timeline.

        I'm just jumping into this thread for the first time, so I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to jump in with this thought, or if it's been touched on before, but… Electronic translation tools (and predictions about their usefulness and inevitable improvements) have consistently over-promised and under-achieved. Let's forget that people were saying the same things about Altavista Babelfish a decade ago and think about what exists right now.

        Have you ever used Google Voice? Have you ever read the transcriptions that come from people's Google Voicemail messages? They are virtually unintelligible. This is not translation — this is merely Google's speech-to-text transcription. And it is worthless.

        I think people fundamentally want to believe that this type of technology has arrived… but that means we're a longer way off than most are willing to admit.

        • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

          Hey Mr Brown, long time :) . Yes, for the moment it's best for tourists. I agree that the technology is still not perfect but I think that we will see faster improvements than the decades before due to the rapid globalization.

          Romance and germanic languages will work pretty well in one or two years I am pretty sure. Interpreters can chill in the meanwhile :) .

          • http://twitter.com/darienbrown Darien Brown

            Given that those who utilize professional interpreters (news gatherers, business people, politicians, PR people, etc…) are people who rely on the nuance that human speech conveys, do you really think that they will view machine interpretation as a suitable replacement?

            I think the title of this article might more aptly be “The end of the road for travel dictionaries?” I think you're right that these things will improve in the coming years. What it means, though, is that we'll have better and better replacements for travel dictionaries.

          • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

            The title is a quote from a tweet and you as old link baiter know how we play here :) .

            I could imagine a similar service like Premium Fan Page would work in this space, too. http://www.kirstenwinkler.com/…/

            Just add a remote human interpreter in the loop, could even boost jobs in this space.

          • http://twitter.com/darienbrown Darien Brown

            Haha, fair. :)

          • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

            I told you the certificate from the Michael Arrington School of Journalism will pay off!

            What do you think of PFP? Will have an interview with Jani this Friday on EDUKWEST.

          • http://twitter.com/brad5patterson Brad Patterson

            :) the discussion has been fun and if we got “baited in”, it was worth it…

            I guess I can chill in Europe for the moment, but I have a feeling I'm pretty secure w/ chinese. The language has little to no grammar, and is tonal, and is heavily accented all over the country. Sometimes, if you arrive in a conversation out of context, you don't know if it's past, present or future until the end of the sentence. Words can be both verbs and nouns, adjectives and adverbs… and you don't know it until a last little word is tucked in at the end.

            Time is perceived differently in chinese, and this brings me to one of my favorite quotes about language altogether, so I feel I must now share it here:

            “As I considered the importance of language and how human beings interact with the world, it struck me that in many ways the development of language was like the discovery of fire–it was such an incredible primordial force. I had always thought that we used language to describe the world–now I was seeing that this is not the case. To the contrary, it is through language that we create the world, because it's nothing until we describe it. And when we describe it, we create distinctions that govern our actions. To put it another way, we do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe.” Joseph Jaworski

            cheers

  • Brad

    Wow. Thanks for this article, Kirsten. I'm glad people are so engaged about this kind of topic… and at the same time time, the situation gets me a bit worried because… as an interpreter, I might then be out of a job! :)

    And yet, I'll tell you why I believe that will never happen.

    Just like youngprincipal, I've had the opportunity to live abroad for a number of years. I'm currently IN shanghai, and yesterday I helped a few foreigners order food (not on the street, but in a restaurant). The girl that was taking their order had a very typical southern accent which drops the H sound from all words… hence the words 是(sHi) and 四(si) (“is” and “four”) sound exactly the same, though their pronunciation in standard mandarin would be quite different.

    This is a very simple example of something that would drive the smartest of smartphones bananas, even with the most accurate of accurate finalized versions of this kind of program.

    My college sociology professors would be proud of me for providing this next idea: anytime you put something “mechanical” between people it certainly has an impact on interaction.

    Let's imagine a business meeting where you need to “get down to business” or, if yer not a business person, imagine “a first date”. Think of these interactions where no one has a computer (of has turned it off) and they're connecting on a very human level .

    Now imagine it with a computer in front of each individual and much of the interaction interrupted as the folks glance back and forth at the computers (or on the date, how bad would it be if your date kept texting back and forth!). Attention to details, to other individuals is lost. For this, in any important meeting or interaction, the first thing I do is cut off any other input/machine, and pay 100% attention to the human in front of me.

    Now, I'm putting a point out there for which I have a strong position because it's my work. And yet, I know it to be true. Social interaction is very complex, just as Michel Nizon stated. And losing those details, or losing the connection with an individual because of a cold computer medium means taking the millions of colors of communication, and turning them into a 1970s home tv. Who wants to watch “Avatar” on an old box?

    But, you certainly do have a point, Kirsten, when you say:

    “Far more interesting and disruptive is the effect that technology like this will have on the need to learn other languages”

    As a language learner and language teacher this makes me sad. Active interaction, and presence to language is the only true path to learning. These types of applications have great potential to once again make us passive and hence less present, less learning, less able. And the less present, less intelligent, and less competent we are, the more we will need these kinds of devices. Vicious cycle.

    That's why I'm not worried about my job, but why I am concerned about the future of education, if learners begin to use this translation tools as educational tools.

    For tourists, it might be a nice addition in the long run, but if a learner gets their hands on this, and relies on it, it's a pair of crutches that will paralyze their growth for as long as they use it. And, as youngprincipal talked about getting lost in a city while travelling, I also think that the more we use these devices, the less we get off the beaten path, the less we are forced to find our way, or simply to “put down the camera and enjoy the sunset.”

    Thanks again for the article. :)

    • Rickinalbi

      The debate about Google's application on language education reminds me of the debate about calculators in the math classroom. The upshot of that debate seemed to be that teachers adapted to the new tool, that curriculum changed in certain ways, but that kids still needed to memorize the multiplication tables and other basic facts. Similarly, word processors haven't changed the fundamental need for students to learn how to spell correctly, though the way we approach that subject has undoubtedly changed.

      I agree with Brad that the idea of a machine interface for face-to-face communication has profound implications, and that it is impossible right now to draw any general conclusions. My initial reaction is that Google's application will be fine for certain situations, but definitely not all. Most of my students are pretty techno-savvy and would love an application like this, but they readily concede that machine translations are approximate and must be used cautiously. Of course, approximate translations are fine in certain circumstances, such as where the cost of an error is low, where a mistake can easily be corrected through sign language or other means, or where a personal element to the communication is not particularly important (say, ordering a burger in a fast-food restaurant). A change in any of these circumstances, however, strikes me as significantly increasing the need for a human being to intervene in the translation.

      I am also reminded of the classic Monty Python sketch, where a Hungarian tries to buy a pack of cigarettes using a poorly-prepared Hungarian-English phrasebook. A bug in the translating software could definitely cause an international incident.

      • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

        Good point. When is it ever correct to draw general conclusions! :) I'm glad you're keeping us honest.

        It's funny since I posted this comment, I've been floating through thoughts of humans vs machines, and just how smart machines will could actually become. Think of all those hollywood movies beginning with Space Odyssey 2001, terminator, matrix just to name a few.

        There's something of a cultural fear there, and even other movies like the Robin Williams “Bicentennial Man” where we are supposed to identify with a robot that has a very human demeanor, while this very robot faces prejudice for not being human and not being able to become a real “citizen” of sorts.

        I like your 80s math example too, but I'd say the same point remains if you don't use it, you lose it (and you said that the children STILL have to do their multiplication tables).

        Interestingly enough, a very famous japanese brain researcher, Dr Kawasaki has developed a method for increasing brain plasticity and memory. All it involves is adding, subtracting and multiplying numbers as fast as you can (paralleling the Callan language learning method mentioned in the most recent Arkady Zilberman article on this website).

        If all you ever use is a calculator… what's going to happen to your brain?

        Now I'm going to try and go look up a Hungiran cigartte monty python sketch on youtube. :)

        • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

          The fear will go away if the benefits, real or not, are stronger. Who really fears Google or Facebook although they probably know more about you than your spouse or mother? :)

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            I agree with you whole-heartedly. Funny, though… I actually never really feared a machine until I really started seeing how intelligent they've become… and I guess the fact that I can buy my train tickets or concert tickets, or learn about anything without moving… yeah, I suppose it's worth it. :)

        • Rickinalbi

          I'd be interested in reading more about Dr. Kawasaki's research. Do you have a link, by chance?

          There's a little bit of research to suggest that learning and speaking two languages helps prevent the onset of dementia, though it is far from conclusive. None I've seen suggests that methodology is particularly important.

          I'm also not sure I buy the Callan analogy. People aren't learning arithmetic in Kawasaki's experiment — they're just trying to do it faster. It's more like the idea that your lungs will work better if you run a couple of miles a day, rather than just sit around and watch TV. Of course, your lungs will also work better if you teach all day using the Callan method….

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            oops! I think I wanted to write “kawashima”, but that motorcyle brand kawasaki came out instead!

            http://www.suite101.com/conten…

            I've played around with his book and exercises. I think it helps, but is it the exercises that help, or the thinking that it helps that really helps. :)

            I'm actually not too familiar with the callan method outside of the ideas posted in another article on this website, but I was struck by the similarity in “speeding up” the pace.

            where do you teach rick?

          • Rickinalbi

            Brad,

            Thanks for the link. Google Scholar has stuff on Dr. Kawashima's research, as well as some follow-up stuff. I've no idea what helps and what doesn't, but I find it fascinating and encouraging. I also have an 80+ year old acquaintance who is constantly learning languages. She's a little irascible, but her mind is all there. Granted, a test study of one isn't great, but it's consistent with what Kawashima seems to be saying.

            I watched some Youtube videos of Callan — that's my only exposure to it. The videos gave me a headache, and I really, really hate scripted teaching. On the other hand, I have no idea how effective the method is.

            I teach in Toulouse, in southern France. And you? And did you find the Monty Python video?

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            I did find the vid “Hovercraft full of eels..” Hilarious. John Cleese is up there among the best.

            I'm in France too. Paris area, and just finished 3 years of teaching in China, though I now work in e-learning as the community manager for Edulang. If you have a chance, take a look at our little panda. As this article has addressed electronic translation/interpretation, I'm happy to be working with a group that's moving in an innovative digital direction, but keeping its roots in a solid educational approach.

            http://www.snapanda.com

            cheers, b

          • Rickinalbi

            One of these days, I'm going to try teaching with MPFC. I've no idea how the French will react to their sense of humor — I'm definitely going to need just the right group of students to make it work.

            Congrats on the change in jobs. My feet are definitely in the “solid education camp,” as I suspect my posts on Arkady Zilberman's articles suggest. I like technology, but am not one to keep up on every single gadget or app. My cell phone should probably be in a museum somewhere. It has a camera, but that's about it.

            In any event, I will pass along the snapanda link to a couple of my techno-geek students. They will give me a full report, I'm sure.

            Best, Rick

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            I wondered what you meant by MPFC and google answered:

            MPFC Medial Prefrontal Cortex
            MPFC Monty Python's Flying Circus
            MPFC Medical Park Family Care (Anchorage, AK)
            MPFC Missing Parameter in Function Call (software fault)
            MPFC Manitou Park Fire Company

            At first I was like… wow… teaching with the medial pre-front cortex! I mean, we had mentioned something about brain research! Haha

            What! They have cameras now on cell phones! :) Do pass along the word. We'd love to hear what they think.

            Cheers, b

          • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

            What are you planning for Tuesday, Feb 8th 6pm Paris time?

            Will host my startup meetup, would be nice to meet you there.

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            Hey, thanks for the offer! I would've love to come and am always looking to expand the horizon, but unfortunately I'm in china until the 12th. Would you be staying in Paris past the 8th?

            There's an American, Roxanne Varga, who works at Techrunch France and is big in the startup scene both in Palo Alto and in Paris. You should see if she'd be interested in your meetup, could spread the word, or just have a few good ideas to share. Also a great startup in Paris, Kwaga. Their marketing director, Joshua Eckblad is a friend and would be a good contact as well. Feel free to contact me by email to bounce around any other thoughts. cheers

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            oops I meant “Varza” :)

      • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

        It's not so much about the application in education, it's about the exchange of education with software and devices. You don't need to learn if there is an app for that. And that is not my or your way of seeing it but the way of maybe 95% of the population, to throw an unverified number in here ;) .

        Joking aside, human being will always choose the easy way. Look around you, the world as we know it today is built on convenience. If there is an app that works 75% OK it will gain market share and replace more inconvenient ways to do the same thing, in this case learning a language or carrying around a paper based dictionary.

        • Rickinalbi

          You're right, the question of how the app plays in the real world is different from how it plays in the world of education. As educators, we need to address head-on why learning languages is still relevant, despite the arrival of the “universal translator” so popular in science fiction. That, however, is a variation of a fight we've seen for years. Technology has impacted education ever since the printing press, and maybe even before that.

          I would agree, there's a huge part of the world that's based on convenience, and apps that make life more convenient will gain market share. I also would never bet against Google — they're just too smart and successful. In particular, I can see their app working at the tourism level, which of course is a big market. I can also see a military application, where UN peacekeepers use the device to communicate with locals when a human translator is not available. I don't see it working nearly as well at the business level. Unless I'm 100 percent sure that every single major point I want to make will be correctly translated, I will want the ability to talk to my translator and make sure my message is getting across. I just can't get that assurance with a machine, because communication isn't completely reducible to a mathematical algorithm.

          Time will let us know whether I'm prescient on this one. In any event, the app is a fascinating marriage of voice recognition and translation technology, and merits close watching.

    • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

      Hi Brad, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, especially from the interpreter's side :) . Social shift takes decades and we are just at the beginning of the shift that is driven by technology and artificial intelligence or machine learning. The thing is as incapable software and hardware are still today it does not say anything about what will be possible in a couple of years.

      Sure, today and even in two or three years from now we won't use devices whatever they be in critical situations. In ten years this has probably changed already. Think back what was possible in 2000, you could not even search the web properly :) . A decade is nothing these days.

      About learning I am pretty sure that we will enter a society with digital dementia, you just need to know where to find the information, not the information itself. Yes, this is kind of sad but I don't think that there is a way around it. You need to remember that you are part of a very small minority caring, thinking and discussing about this. The vast majority is not interested in the implications but just in the fact that life once again will get easier.

      • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

        I agree with you that one day, electronic translators might be able to do amazing things… but how could they ever distinguish between a word that sounds exactly the same but means two different things simply depending on the speaker's accent (my previous chinese example). And even if they could, that might be great for a tourist, but I stand firm that this is a tool that could have a crutch effect on education.

        And as you commented below on “real or perceived” benefits, I feel it's our place as a small minority to speak loudly about what are real and ureal benefits. Surely having a tractor has made agriculture a much easier task for greater production, but it's also facilitated a huge leap in population growth… so is it a real benefit?

        In the end, even if the vast majority is not interested, if you feel something to be true, play yer song right along.

        Thanks again for the fun article, and following through with the dicscussion. :)

        • Rickinalbi

          An example on your first point. I often use one of President Obama's speeches in a class. Transcripts are readily available. One of the lines goes something like this. “People all over the world are staying in school, learning new things, and changing their lives. People like John Smith. John is a student ….”

          As part of the exercise, we ran the speech through Google Translate into several languages. Now, the phrase “People like John Smith” really means “John Smith is an example of this type of person.” In every language we tried (I think 5, all European), the translation came out “People like (as opposed to dislike) John Smith.” Maybe computers one day will catch things like this, but I'm with you — I don't see how.

          • http://www.edulang.com Brad Patterson

            Of course there are tons of language subtleties we haven't touched upon, such as homonyms, but now that I think about it… how could a mechanic interpreter ever deliver emotion? That's the ODD part of the youtube video of the girls ordering indian food. Nice indian woman's voice, but shE sOUndS vERy awkWarD.

            MAYBE, just maybe one day there could be some “real-time” translation that even mimics your pitch, as Kirsten was projecting, “Along the way the technology will evolve naturally and in a couple of years the device will “speak” with your own voice I suppose”, however, there'd still be that robot between the warm living humans. And yet, there'd be that convenience too as duly noted here.

            In any case, watching these techs develop will be interesting, and us teachers will just have to keep trying to focus their power back onto the students who will wield them.

            BTW googletranslate to/from chinese is just a plain massacre… all those eastern languages still prove quite the challenge these days, whereas french/spanish gets much closer to something digestible even for a picky languge nerd like myself.

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  • http://www.shapedpens.com/ Promotional Pens

    As someone stated… it's a glorified travel dictionary. As the video demonstrates, it's a long way from perfection… and because of variables… it may never be perfect. However, it definitely has it's usefulness… it could even be used to assist in learning a language.

    • http://twitter.com/brad5patterson Brad Patterson

      It is definitely an impressive translation tool. It is definitely futuristic, and “star-trek” like as this post shows:

      http://bit.ly/gIwHhF

      I kind of feel bad for driving this point home in such a stubborn and inflexible way, but I disagree. I disagree as a language teacher, a learner and an interpreter, and for the reasons I've written below, that this kind of application should not be used as a language tool.

      When you start learning a language, each moment you are creating new space, connections and plasticity in the brain. If you have to “change” these connections/habits later, as always, it's more difficult to change a bad habit/connection, then to create a new one. Electronic translation, though wonderful for certain situations, can be, instead, negative on student's learning process, their “habits”, and hence on their success.

      There are so many great methods and tools out there to learn languages, why settle for anything less? Unless, as Kirsten has mentioned… it's more convenient… but that doesn't mean it has better results.

      Fun pen site, by the way. :)

      • Rickinalbi

        I guess I'm splitting the difference here. As a teacher of adults, I use all sorts of computer tools. Part of my job is to supervise how my students learn to use the various tools available. This new app is just one more tool to learn to use in proper situations. The errors it makes, in time, may be no worse than the errors I see on student flashcards, errors they have learned from people who should never have been teaching in the first place, and the like. I've also seen errors in textbooks, and on rare occasions, in dictionaries.

        The problem, of course, is that younger students may think these machines are infallible or “close enough.” I'm not exactly sure how to deal with that. It's no worse, however, than students running their translations through Google Translator and handing them in — OK, that's bad, but what I'm saying is that this is pretty much the same problem in a different form. If this thing catches on, I suspect it will be better to teach how to use it responsibly rather than not use it at all.

        • http://twitter.com/brad5patterson Brad Patterson

          Your last point reminded me of the “who's dangerous” question…” the gun or the man/woman behind it”.

          It's funny because the original and core issue of the article was “what impact will this have on interpretation”, and we've gone all over the place since, but centered more than anything on education.

          I do agree that any tool can be used to a good end, to achieve a final goal. I mean, you can move a mountain with a shovel… you're just going to end up with some hefty calluses and probably be frustrated after a few weeks. :) Am I exaggerating? Yea, maybe a bit.

          I think we've come back to the math & calculator point. There needs to be an active process involved, independent of even the coolest tools, if these tools start to make the learner passive. So, could googletranslate be used in an active way to learn? Probably… but to learn mistakes along the way, whereas this is not the case with superior tools that are pedagogically-based.

          Will we have to deal with students who take the “easy” route, or even cheat w/ googletranslate as you said? Yep.

          Interesting personal anecdote: My wife and I both speak chinese and we laugh at the two chinese words that we've migrated into both of our respective mother tongues; whether we're speaking french, or english, we'll fall back into chinese just for two ideas that you hear all the time in china: 方便fangbian 舒服shufu = convenience and comfort.

          It's the name of the game these days, so we'll just have to figure out, as you've said, to “teach how to [deal with] it responsibly”

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