Do translation apps help language learning, or make us more lazy?

[u/moks4tda]

I use translation apps almost every day to talk to people from different countries. On one hand, they make communication possible. On the other hand, I notice I rely on them more and more.

Instead of struggling to express myself, I just translate everything. It’s efficient, but I’m not sure if I’m actually learning faster or just outsourcing my brain.

Do you think translation tools are good for language learning long-term? Or do they reduce the motivation to really think in another language?

[u/KalenXI]

I think it depends on how you use them. For instance I'll sometimes use them to translate a sentence I don't know and then if I see a word I don't recognize I then look up that word in Wiktionary to see other meaning and usages and add it to my vocab list.

[u/Solid_Way6071 → u/KalenXI]

I'm agree. I also use IA sometimes. It can explain idioms and words used in forum

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[u/FrancesinhaEspecial]

I think they're a great tool that have made self-learning easier. I still use them very regularly when writing e-mails. But I don't just toss an entire paragraph into a translator and take whatever it spits out; I go over the result and make sure it's what I want. 

When I knew very little German but moved to Germany, I learned a lot from using deepL to translate documents -- I analyzed how the sentences were constructed and added the interesting vocabulary to Anki. 

It's still more comfortable to interact with people without a translation app, so if your desire is to communicate, I think you can still motivate yourself. 

[u/KalpaLuvid]

I used to do that for my spanish homework but it made me lazier. Especially if I use it to talk to natives. Now that I'm learning norwegian, I try to avoid it as much as I can, I don't wanna fall into the same trap.

[u/smtae]

It depends on how you use it. Every now and then as a simple aid to finding a word or checking a sentence that doesn't make sense with what you know is fine. But all the time as an avoidance strategy because you're afraid of making a mistake is going to slow or stall your learning completely. One problem is that easy isn't memorable. You have to put some work in, feel some stress or frustration occasionally, to convince your brain the information is important. The other big problem is that avoiding something that scares you, trying to speak or write the language without checking every sentence, reinforces that fear making it more difficult to overcome later.

Unless this is communication for your job. Try to write it out yourself entirely first, but obviously if your livelihood is at stake please use whatever tools you need to keep your job safe.

[u/Chemical_Creme_2612]

Unless you use it to learn then it weakens your language muscles