The Babel fish

“The Babel Fish is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe.” So begins the description of this strange creature in the classic 1979 book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’

Douglas Adams, the author of the book, described a fantastic creature that you place in your ear and which allows you to fluently communicate in any other language. Just over a decade later, in the mid-1990s, the first free translation tool appeared online and it was named Babelfish, in honour of its inspiration.

At the time of writing, we are still before brain implants, similar to the Babel Fish, where we are able to upload language modules and become fluent in a foreign language without learning a thing. But here’s a funny thing: I believe that once such technology exists, whether it’ll be in 2 years, 20 years or 200 years there will still be a place for people who have learnt a langauge without the brain implants. How? Let me try and explain…

In the early 21st century, how do we feel when a foreign dignitary visits our country, our company, our town and speaks to us in our language without an interpreter? I’d suggest that, even if their language may not be perfect, the impression that they make is much greater than if another person is translating their words.

Before we all had smartphones, communicating in a foreign country in that country’s language involved a phrasebook or a knowledge of that language. Now we have such devices, we can use apps to ease communication and understanding and hope that the translation is correct or we can use our knowledge of that language. Maybe you have translated this text into your language and you’re reading the translation provided by the website or another tool. Hopefully it is a true interpretation of the words written here.

Once the Babel Fish becomes a reality in the form of a downloadable brain upgrade, there will still be people who can communicate in foreign languages without this short cut and I strongly believe that their foreign language skills will be more appreciated.

Barriers to perfect language translation include the nuance of spoken language, the facial and other expressions that accompany interaction, the context of the language used and cultural references. It’s at this point, I should point out the final part of the description of the Babel fish in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “The Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.” It’s probably for the best if we focus on our own foreign language skills for now…