South Korean robot teaches English
By melloncollie
@melloncollie (661)
Philippines
February 26, 2010 4:16pm CST
There was a news I read few minutes ago about a robot being developed to teach South Korean kids English. There has been a lot of issues raised. If you listen to the interview, even the the robot cannot respond to what a kid was asking it. The kid was only asking about buying 4 apples and the robot responded -- "sorry you can only say something yada yada yada..." There was one comment there saying something about the diction and intonation. Of course we wouldn't want kids sounding like a robot. =p My issue though is plain, what if we use slang? Then the robot will not be able to identify on it. There are a lot of English slang circulating and most of them are acceptable. What are your views about teaching language to kids using robots?
1 response
@kaylachan (71590)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
26 Feb 10
Pure lazyness. While the technology sounds like something out of a comic book, the fact is this. English just like any other langue needs to be done through human voice. Only a real human voice. Robots would only have computerized voices, and that can mimic human speach, but its not the same thing as the actual human contact and dialect. And, before one can be taught English slang, its important to get the basics down.
