For several years, I've dabbled with learning French. I listen to French music and podcasts, watch the daily weather forecasts, read news accounts and try to follow current events. Despite this effort, I still speak the language with the skills of my two-year old grand daughter.
If I need to comprehend a professional document in French, I must rely on heavy use of dictionaries, grammars or the services of a skilled interpreter. If I'm really pressed for time, I've used Google translation.
Google has always been a last resort -- because I've assumed that the nuances of interpretation should not be left to machines. Now, Google is using its data resources and incomprehensible computing power to refine its translation tools.
I was skeptical at first, but check out this test of its new capacity.
I'm still committed to learning language -- but in the meantime, I may be using Google Translation more often.
