On Thursday, July 17 we discussed: “Does AI spell the end for language teachers?” noting that “The popular language-learning app, Duolingo, recently announced it was going to become an “AI first” company. It has since backtracked a bit, but the prospect of people losing language teaching jobs to AI remains. In a world where AI can instantly translate text with the click of a mouse and voice by a tap on your phone, is there even a need to learn another language at all?“
First, to set the scene, we enjoyed this Golden Oldie Youtube video: “We are Sinking”
Then we discussed some of the issues raised in this blog: AI and the future for English Language Teaching jobs: https://adaptivelearninginelt.wordpress.com/2025/02/27/ai-and-elt-jobs/ The British Council’s report gave a word of reassurance to Language teachers: “when it comes to AI replacing humans, the majority view is that AI will not replace the need for human teachers any time soon’“. But a closer look at the survey results revealed a less optimistic view. Educators believe that language teachers provide the necessary human touch, but tech entrepreneurs and enthusiasts suggest that ” AI ‘may put one-on-one human tutors out of business. “
As often seems to be the case, we have to follow the money: “costs of education are currently driven primarily by teachers’ wages, which, currently in the EU, account for 64% of education budgets…. At some point, jobs will go, but it’s not machines that will take them away, it’s the entrepreneurs and executives (investing in those machines) who are looking to increase profit”
The human online tutors are being squeezed both by pay and competition: There are huge numbers of online English tutors. Preply alone (and it is far from the biggest provider) claims that learners can ‘choose from 33281 online English tutors’. The average price of a one-hour lesson on Preply is between $15 and $17. Preply’s commission rate varies from 33% to 18% – you can do the maths! Teachers compete directly with each other to get the lessons on offer. It’s part of the platformized teaching gig economy, where market forces drive down wages as low as they will go. The threat to this precariat comes from the rapidly growing number of fully automated, GPT-powered, always available AI tutors.
We then addressed the demand for foreign language teaching , referring to this article “The End of Foreign-Language Education – Thanks to AI, people may no longer feel the need to learn a second language.“ which noted that: the number of students studying foreign languages in the U.S. and other countries is shrinking. Total enrollment in language courses other than English at American colleges decreased 29.3 percent from 2009 to 2021, according to the latest data from the Modern Language Association, better known as the MLA. In Australia, only 8.6 percent of high-school seniors were studying a foreign language in 2021—a historic low. In South Korea and New Zealand, universities are closing their French, German, and Italian departments. One recent study from the education company EF Education First found that English proficiency is decreasing among young people in some places.
Children in European countries can learn other languages at school, although tuition often starts at the secondary level. In the UK, French and Spanish still dominate. However, one major problem is finding and recruiting qualified teachers. https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/language-trends-england-2025
This Reddit discussion highlighted the cultural values of learning another language: https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1br0qqo/the_end_of_foreignlanguage_education_thanks_to_ai/ “The benefits of learning a second language will always remain, because language learning isn’t just about one to one translation, there’s a mountain of cultural body behind it. When you learn a language, you’re not only learning how to speak the language of another people, but you’re also learning about the cultural elements that make the people unique. If you want to make friends with someone from another culture, it would help immensely to know a bit about that culture yourself, and that doesn’t simply come from AI language translation, no matter how perfect it might become in the future.“
AI language learning (and teaching) has its limitations: AI can achieve proficiency, but it’s never had to learn like a human https://corporatelearning.ef.com/en/resources/articles/ai-language-learning/ “a robot has no passport or cultural legacy” – people still own the culture and community aspects of communication. ..Students tell us time and time again that they want to be in a class with people from around the world, so that it’s like being in an international meeting. They want to practice in the real context of work.”
Many people will be happy using the AI translation tools, which are so much better these days (especially for widely used languages). Still, English is the international language of business and commerce. AI teaching will be a cheap and effective way for millions to acquire proficiency since it can fine-tune itself to personal needs, providing customised feedback. Much of Africa has mobile Internet coverage. Smartphone-based e-commerce has taken a foothold there, so there is a large user base for AI language learning.
Nevertheless, Human interaction is necessary to develop confidence and proficiency. Chris described a residential workshop for native Spanish speakers who wished to improve their English language skills in corporate settings such as board meetings and presentations. They interacted and played roles with groups of native English speakers, some of whom had different accents.
Language is a human invention enabling communication within and between tribes and nations. It is dynamic and constantly evolving. Different languages and dialects are deeply ingrained in their culture and environment. Some sentiments cannot be translated easily. One needs to grasp the sense of what is being said or written and rephrase it in the target language. Human beings have bodies, hormones, and senses. Will AI ever “understand” why a particular passage of text can make people wince in disgust or burst into tears? In this context, the last stronghold of human beings in the face of the relentless advance of technology is literary translation: The Last Frontier of Machine Translation – Don’t ask a bot to translate a book. “Most studies find that neural machine-translation models can translate only about 30 percent of novel excerpts—usually simple passages—with acceptable quality, as determined by native speakers. They struggle because, at its core, literary translation is an act of approximation. The best option is sometimes not the correct one, but the least bad one. Translators often have to sacrifice literal meaning for the greater good of the piece.”
An interesting development is called “Post Editing” – In the production of commercial texts—an instruction manual for a printer or a kitchen gadget, say, or even a news article—it’s standard for humans to edit a raw machine translation and then send it to press. …. Studies vary, but most conclude that it’s faster and cheaper than translating from scratch. “
This technique is now being used to translate fiction. “.. some European publishers are actively releasing PE titles. Nuanxed,( a Swedish / Belgian) agency that produces PE translations for publishers, has completed more than 250 books, most of them commercial fiction, since launching two years ago. https://www.nuanxed.com
The future for language teachers is uncertain. What remains true is that the best way to learn another language is to immerse yourself in it. AI can help us in this endeavour by providing personalised tuition and practice. It can correct our pronunciation and mistakes. But nothing beats human interaction. Learning a language is hard, and it seems likely that many people will be content with knowing only their native tongue and using machine translation.
Finally, we watched this amusing video: A Scottish air traffic controller (James McAvoy) with a heavy accent tries to guide a plane to a safe landing.
Chris Betterton-Jones – Knowledge junkie.