From robin@xxxxxxx.xxx.xxx Sat Feb 20 09:07:28 1999
X-Digest-Num: 67
Message-ID: <44114.67.314.959273824@eGroups.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 19:07:28 +0200
From: Robin Turner <robin@xxxxxxx.xxx.xxx
Subject: Re: Off Topic: NLP, le to'e melbi glico bo bangu

xod wrote:

> From: xod <xod@bway.net>
>
> On Fri, 19 Feb 1999, Christopher Palmer wrote:
>
> > > The point approaches soon when computers will be able to deliver really
> > > workable real-time language translation in text.
> >
> > How true that isn't.
>
> Do you doubt the appearance of real-time text language translation, to 95%
> accuracy, in 50 years?
>

{.u'icai} Pretty broad definition of "soon"!

>
> > > Of all languages to learn, English is one of the hardest,
> >
> > What are your sources for this? How are measuring difficulty? What are the
> > language-internal implications of difficulty (on scope of expression,
> > flexibility of syntax, ...) Who is it so difficult for?
>
> So I've been told, repeatedly. I thought it was commonly understood and
> agreed that English and Chinese are the two most difficult languages for
> non-natives to achieve fluency in.

As someone who teaches English and once tried to learn Chinese, this seems
true. They say Arabic is pretty tough as well.

co'o mi'e robin.