\u201cLanguage barrier\u201d may be a phrase lost in translation to\u00a0the next generation.<\/p>\n
By 2025, when someone speaks to you in a foreign language, an earpiece will be able instantly\u00a0to\u00a0translate\u00a0their words into your native language, Hillary Clinton\u2019s former innovation advisor Alec Ross has written in\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Monotonous computer voices will be consigned to the past, too. The voice of your interlocutor \u2013 its wavelength, frequency and other unique properties \u2013\u00a0will be recreated by the cloud software supporting your earpiece, as advances in bioacoustic engineering make voice replication possible.<\/p>\n The software of the 2020s will be able to handle more than Google\u2019s Translate\u2019s mere two-way translation.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could host a dinner party with eight people at the table speaking eight different languages, and the voice in your ear will always be whispering the one language you want to hear\u201d.<\/p>\n The earpieces won\u2019t necessarily spell the end of foreign language learning, however.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine a time when we don\u2019t value the ability to communicate in languages other than our own\u201d, Mr. Ross told\u00a0The Independent<\/em>. \u201cBut I can\u2019t help but think that this will have some kind of impact on the future of foreign language learning. Exactly what, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n The next generation may \u201cbe able to understand anything that is spoken to them\u201d.<\/p>\n But \u201creal communication\u201d\u00a0entails \u201cthe nuance that comes with engaging directly without a translator or a piece of hardware\u201d.<\/p>\n