In his column “Why Europe will not catch up with the US” (Opinion, September 19), Janan Ganesh lists a number of reasons why Europe has underperformed the US since 2000 and why it will continue to do so.
Technological advancement may well help in respect of one of these; that of linguistic barriers, which have long hampered the single European market (although multiple languages don’t seem to have created such a problem for Switzerland).
We are approaching the point at which artificial intelligence, coupled with Bluetooth-enabled hearing devices, will enable simultaneous translation of speech, allowing Speaker A to speak in his or her native tongue, while those who are being spoken to will hear what is said in their respective native languages.
Likewise, when they respond in their native tongues, Speaker A will hear their words in her native language. This will render modern language courses obsolete, and people’s time can be freed up to study something far more useful. This will cause Europeans to have to find some other excuse for their continued underperformance — for continue it will.
There is an old joke told in the US. There are two kinds of Europeans; on the one hand you have those who are dynamic, resourceful and hardworking, while on the other hand you have those who stayed behind.
Paul Shotton
Chief Executive, Biosurfactants
Ridgefield, CT, US
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Publish date : 2024-09-26 16:00:00
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The post That old joke about the two kinds of European first appeared on Love Europe.
Author : love-europe
Publish date : 2024-09-27 00:52:38
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.