The Daily Nebraskan – Brian Beach
“Many languages contain regional dialects that can change the meanings of entire words depending on the area that a person is in. Spanish has so many regional dialects that two guys even created a viral eight minute song about it. A literal word-to-word translation of their creation would be impossible without cultural understanding. Foreign language classes should be taught with an emphasis on cultural context instead of simple vocabulary memorization. While many assignments in language classes prohibit the use of machine translators, they are part of the real world and here to stay. Instead, foreign language classes need to teach students the skills that machines cannot perform.” (more)