The Meaning of Learning Foreign Languages in an Era Where AI Provides Simultaneous Interpretation

In video conferences, the other party's speech is almost instantly subtitled, overseas videos are automatically dubbed, and if you speak into your smartphone, the words of the person in front of you are instantly translated into another language. AI translation, once spoken of as future technology, is already becoming a tool of everyday life.

Companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta are advancing real-time translation technologies that combine speech recognition, translation, and speech synthesis, significantly lowering the language barrier. Even if you can't speak a foreign language, you can hold meetings with people overseas, order at travel destinations, and read papers and news. Naturally, this raises a question.

"If AI can translate instantly, is there still a need to spend years learning a foreign language?"

This question is not merely about language education. It connects to larger themes of how humans acquire knowledge, understand culture, and interact with others.

AI Translation is Beginning to Break Down the "Language Barrier"

The greatest value of AI translation lies in expanding access.

Even those who are not good at English can access specialized information from abroad. Elderly people who only speak Japanese can communicate more easily with overseas family members or healthcare workers. For immigrants, international students, travelers, and those involved in international business, real-time translation is a powerful aid.

The progress in voice translation is particularly significant. Traditional machine translation involved inputting text and reading the translated text. However, now there are systems that translate while you are speaking and return it as subtitles or audio. You can not only "read" words but also "listen" and "respond" in a manner closer to conversational tempo.

This change shakes the purpose of language learning. Previously, a major reason to learn a foreign language was to "access information" or "have conversations." But if AI can take over those roles, language learning may seem like an inefficient hobby.

However, it is important not to overlook that translation and learning are not the same.

AI translation transfers information expressed in one language to another. However, learning a foreign language is not just about memorizing corresponding words. It involves gradually changing your worldview, including grammar, word order, honorifics, metaphors, silence, jokes, indirect expressions, and the sense of distance with others.

The Meaning Lies in the "Effort" Itself

An important point emphasized in the original article is that "effort is the core of learning."

In psychology, there is the concept of "desirable difficulty," which suggests that the load that feels inefficient during learning deepens memory and understanding in the long term. Foreign language learning is full of this "desirable difficulty."

You can't recall words. You worry if your grammar is correct. You think you understood, but you don't get the context. You're a beat late to understand a joke. You try to express what you want to say with the words you know.

These struggles may seem wasteful if judged solely by efficiency. However, they are important training for the brain. Retrieving memories, directing attention, reading context, and choosing the appropriate expression from multiple options. Each time, words become not just information but an experience that passes through your body.

With AI translation, you can get answers immediately. But receiving only answers is different from constructing meaning yourself. Translation tools are convenient, but convenience sometimes omits the process of thinking.

The value of learning a foreign language is not in producing perfect translations. It lies in the process of making mistakes, hesitating, and still trying to get closer to the other person.

Multilingual Experience is Not a Universal "Brain Training," But It May Support Specific Abilities

Expressions like "learning a foreign language makes you smarter" or "bilinguals have higher cognitive abilities" are common. However, in the research world, the story is not that simple.

Some studies show that multilingual speakers have advantages in attention and working memory, while others show no clear differences. Therefore, it is rash to assert that "learning a foreign language universally improves cognitive abilities."

A study introduced in the original article examined visuospatial working memory, auditory processing, attention, and inhibition in adults aged 18 to 83. The results showed no significant differences between multilingual and monolingual speakers in many tasks. However, people with diverse multilingual experiences, especially older adults, performed well in visuospatial working memory.

This does not mean that language learning is a panacea. Rather, the important point is that the effects are limited and may vary depending on age and the type of ability.

Still, using multiple languages daily is certainly an activity that places continuous cognitive demands on the brain. Choosing which language to speak, adapting to the other person, judging the context, and suppressing the influence of unnecessary languages. This repetition can be an element that supports cognitive flexibility over a long life.

AI translation can take over this task. But being taken over means fewer opportunities for that training.

AI Struggles More with "Relationships" Than "Correctness"

AI translation excels at finding correspondences between words and sentences. Its ability to learn patterns from vast amounts of data and produce natural translations improves year by year. In many practical situations, such as business documents, travel conversations, news articles, and manuals, it is already quite useful.

However, human language has layers that cannot be explained by dictionary meanings alone.

Jokes, sarcasm, tact, affection, anger, embarrassment, hesitation, respect. Whether a way of speaking is polite, cold, intimate, or rude changes depending on culture and relationships. Even the same "I'm fine" can mean different things—whether it's truly okay, a refusal, or enduring—depending on the context.

AI is becoming able to infer context, but it does not actually live within that culture, fail, learn, and acquire it as a bodily sensation. It does not possess the very experience of humans using language.

Learning a foreign language is not merely memorizing another system of symbols. It is about understanding what is natural, what is rude, what is considered beautiful, and what is not directly said in the other person's society. This is not easily acquired by just reading translation results.

AI can deliver information. However, it is difficult to substitute the sense of participating in the other person's world.

On Social Media, the Reaction "Translation is Not Participation" Stands Out

This theme is also gathering reactions on social media. In a publicly visible post, one of the authors, Mark Antoniou, introduced the article on LinkedIn, stating that "AI can process information quickly, but it cannot replicate the cultural literacy, vulnerability, and cognitive engagement gained from learning a language."

This post received empathetic comments from people involved in education and language. One comment suggested that because society is currently in a frenzy over AI, it is necessary to reaffirm what it means for humans to live, move, and connect in the world. Language learning has not only cognitive benefits but also social connections, sharing of culture and ideas, and the cultivation of new expression habits.

Additionally, a user involved in Turkish language education pointed out that in Turkish, "how the speaker knows the information" is grammatically embedded. This is difficult to understand by merely replacing words. Learners acquire a different sense of testimony and evidence. Translation machines may return correct outputs, but they do not allow for the cognitive process.

In another post, there was a comment with the sentiment "Translation gives answers, but learning creates models." This is very symbolic. AI translation presents results. However, in foreign language learning, you build a system in your mind to construct the world in another language.

Olivia Maurice's LinkedIn post also received reactions stating, "Thinking in another language is not just about switching words; it's about reorganizing how you process meaning."

What these reactions have in common is not a denial of AI translation. Rather, they acknowledge its convenience while considering that "there is still another value in learning."

The discussion on social media is not a simple binary choice between AI or humans, translation or learning. Because AI translation has evolved, the meaning of humans learning languages has become clearer, and this perspective is spreading.

The Purpose of Language Learning Shifts from "Speaking Perfectly"

As AI translation becomes widespread, the purpose of language learning will change.

Until now, many reasons for learning a foreign language were "practical." Because it's needed for work, exams, to avoid trouble while traveling, or to read overseas news. Of course, these purposes will remain.

However, if practicality alone can be largely supplemented by AI, the meaning of humans learning languages will shift to a deeper direction.

For example, greeting someone in their native language. Expressing gratitude in your own words, even if not perfect. Understanding local jokes a little. Enjoying the nuances of movies and songs without translation. Feeling like your personality has changed a bit when you write a diary in a foreign language.

These are values that remain even in an era with AI translation.

In fact, AI might lower the hurdles of language learning. You can quickly look up unknown words, check pronunciation, have a conversation partner, and get your writing corrected. Learners can engage with languages with more support than before.

The important thing is whether you use AI as a "tool to avoid learning" or as a "tool to deepen learning."

If you just press the translate button and finish, learning opportunities decrease. But by comparing AI translations, thinking about why they are translated that way, and trying to rephrase them yourself, AI can become an excellent teacher.

Language is Not Information, It Creates Relationships

The essence of language is not just information transmission.

Of course, words carry information. But more than that, words create relationships. Which language you choose, which expressions you use, and how much you approach the other person's words indicate your attitude towards them.

When speaking in a foreign language, people become a bit vulnerable. They might make mistakes, use childish expressions, or only convey half of what they want to say. Yet, the attitude of trying to communicate in the other person's language has a different power than a perfectly translated sentence.

The sentences produced by AI translation may be fluent and accurate. However, that fluency does not come through your own effort. What the other person perceives is not just the informational meaning but also the attitude of "this person is trying to get closer to my words."

This becomes especially important in situations with intense human relationships, such as education, healthcare, caregiving, diplomacy, community, romance, and family relationships.

Sometimes, an imperfect but self-spoken word can move hearts more than a perfect translation. Words change meaning not only by accuracy but also by who says them, how, and with how much effort.

Language Learning in the AI Era is Not "Unnecessary" but "Redefined"

With the evolution of AI translation, foreign language learning will not disappear. Rather, its role will be redefined.

In short-term and practical situations, AI translation can be used. Asking for directions on an overseas business trip, grasping the outline of a meeting, reading foreign language articles, and multilingualizing customer support. In these uses, AI demonstrates great power.

On the other hand, if you want to understand the culture of the other party in the long term, think in another language, build deep relationships with people overseas, or broaden your range of expression, the value of learning remains.

AI translation widens the "entrance," while language learning creates "depth." This might be the natural division of roles in the future.

Learning a foreign language may no longer be a means to obtain information in the shortest distance. However, there are things to be gained precisely because of the detour. The time spent pondering over words, reading the other person's expressions, and thinking in grammar not found within oneself. This inefficiency deepens human learning.

In an era where AI translates instantly, the meaning of learning a foreign language does not disappear.

Rather, the question changes to this.

"Why learn when AI can translate?" is not the question.

"What is the meaning of participating in the world with your own words in an era where AI translates?"

The answer lies not in the translation results but in the learning process.

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Source URL

Phys.org article "If AI can translate instantly, why learn another language?"
Main topics of the article, references on the relationship between AI translation and foreign language learning, cognitive and cultural value, and multilingual research introduction.
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ai-instantly-language.html

OpenAI Realtime translation API Documentation
Reference source on the technological trends of real-time voice translation.
https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/realtime-translation

OpenAI "Advancing voice intelligence with new models in the API"
Reference source on OpenAI's announcement of real-time voice models.
https://openai.com/index/advancing-voice-intelligence-with-new-models-in-the-api/

Google Meet Translation Subtitles Help
Reference source on the translation subtitle feature in Google Meet.
https://support.google.com/meet/answer/10964115

Google Official Blog "How AI made Meet's language translation possible"
Reference source on Google Meet's AI real-time translation feature.
https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/workspace/google-meet-langauge-translation-ai/

Meta AI "Seamless Communication"
Reference source on Meta's multilingual and voice translation research.
https://ai.meta.com/research/seamless-communication/

Scientific Reports published research "Selective cognitive effects of multilingualism emerge in visuospatial working memory in later life"
Reference source on research about multilingual experience and visuospatial working memory.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-32091-x

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