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Second Language Writing is Dead
I hate to say it. We just can’t accept the truth. Second Language writing is dead.
The language teaching world is all abuzz about ChatGPT. Some want to ban it, some want to contain it, and a few want to embrace it.
It is not a choice. We embrace it and accept that the ROI forlearning to write (and read) in a foreign language just plummeted.
First Deep L got good, now ChatGPT. They are poised to get better.
Teachers complain about students using these tools but if I get a wall of text in Japanese or French, I don’t even try to read it anymore, I automatically translate it. When I write an email, I don’t spend two hours or more writing it in Japanese or French. I write it in English and use Deep L to translate it.
Unless it is a super important email, I don’t even proofread it anymore. The staff sending me emails often do the same; I don’t hold it against them. My edits would probably make it worse more often than not. Soon I think we will just write in our native tongue and just assume the recipient’s computer will automatically translate it to our satisfaction.
The future is here. Why spend years learning to read or write in a foreign language when you can use tools to do it better from day one? The return on investment is near zero. Speaking is not quite there…
