Pronunciation Challenge【TED-Ed】How computers translate human language - Ioannis Papachimonas)

In fact, one of the most famous fictional universal translators, the Babel fish from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", is not a machine at all but a small creature that translates the brain waves and nerve signals of sentient species through a form of telepathy.

For now, learning a language the old fashioned way will still give you better results than any currently available computer program.

But this is no easy task, and the sheer number of languages in the world, as well as the increasing interaction between the people who speak them, will only continue to spur greater advances in automatic translation.

Perhaps by the time we encounter intergalactic life forms, we'll be able to communicate with them through a tiny gizmo, or we might have to start compiling that dictionary, after all.

What’s up guys. It’s Hubert Tran for your daily dose of Pronunciation Challenge!

Has anyone one of you ever tried using Google translate or other forms of translation services? Although it's great on the surface level, the translation is never perfect and doesn’t get the actual meaning of what the original sentence was trying to say. Why is that? Well, languages all have a different set of rules and patterns. These patterns come instinctually (like a natural instinct) for the native speakers of that particular language. There are so many irregularities and exceptions that a computer cannot fully grasp. Then there are idioms! Oh, the endless possibilities! Today’s episode dives into how computers actually break languages down and the difficulties it encounters. It’s an interesting watch! Come back to me once you’ve finished the video and we’ll get to today’s featured sentence!


Today’s featured sentence:

“In fact, one of the most famous fictional universal translators, the Babel fish from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", is not a machine at all but a small creature that translates the brain waves and nerve signals of sentient species through a form of telepathy.”

I’ll say that again.

“In fact, one of the most famous fictional universal translators, the Babel fish from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", is not a machine at all but a small creature that translates the brain waves and nerve signals of sentient species through a form of telepathy.”



Ok, now time for the Pronunciation Tips.



First word.

Fictional (fik·shuh·nuhl)

Three syllables. First syllable is fic (sounds like ‘fig), then tion (sounds like ‘s h u n’) and then nal (sounds like ‘n u l l’). Fictional.



Next one is,

Sentient (sen·tee-unt)

There are a couple of ways to pronounce this but let’s go with Sen-tee-unt. Sen has the short ‘e’ sound, ‘tee’ has the long ‘e’ sound, and ‘unt’. Kinda sounds like ‘e n t’. ‘Ent’. Sentient.


And our last one for pronunciation would be:

Telepathy (tuh·leh·puh·thee)

I know the temptation is to say tele-pathy but don’t. Try this instead. Four syllables. Tuh has the short ‘u’ sound. Leh (short ‘e’ sound), puh (short ‘u’ sound) and thee. (th sound with a long ‘e’ sound). Telepathy

Moving onto Vocabulary!

The first word is:

1. Fictional

Definition

Something that is imaginary.

Used in a sentence you could say,

“Do you like reading fictional novels?”

Next word,

2. Sentient

Definition

able to experience feelings

An example would be,

“It is hard for a sentient person to understand how any parent could treat their child so bad。.

And lastly,

3. Telepathy

Definition:

the ability to know what is in someone else's mind, or to communicate with someone mentally, without using words or other physical signals

Used in a sentence you can say:

“Thirty years ago, very few people believed in the possibility of telepathy.”

When you break a language into all those different parts, it’s amazing to think that us humans are capable of such amazing feats! Especially polyglots, which are people who know and are able to use several different languages! I actually have a device that translates three languages almost immediately. It’s not perfect but for simple sentences, it gets the job done and that could make a big difference when traveling to a new country. The technology seems to be a long way from being perfect so I guess we gotta continue hitting those books and learn languages the old way! How many languages can you guys speak? I, personally, speak four languages. My dad, on the other hand, speaks 8 if I remember correctly. I gotta ask him. Alright, if you haven’t done so yet, record your recordings people! Until the next episode, see ya!

In fact, one of the most famous fictional universal translators, the Babel fish from "The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy", is not a machine at all but a small creature that translates the brain waves and nerves signals of sentient species through a form of telepathy.