NEED FOR FLUENCY

Communication in our everyday lives is as vital as the food we eat. Even with the application of AI, there is a need to actually learn, understand, and express ourselves in any language we wish to communicate in. This can save us a lot of stress and even save our lives in the long run. Depending on AI for something you can learn with time is not safe, it is like choosing to use a wheelchair as a walking aid because you are too lazy to learn to use your limbs. What happens if there is suddenly a shootout with no one to help you, you would die not because you are disabled, but because you refused to learn to use your limbs seeing the wheelchair was less work and there were people doing the work for you. Let’s face the fact, tragedies or accidents do not announce their arrivals and so do opportunities. If you got the opportunity to learn something, learn it for real, yes the AI tools can help for immediate translation, but what happens when you need a translator and for some reason it’s not working, what happens when your life depends on it?

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I remember some years ago as a student I was doing an A level course in Lagos, and because I was from the south-south a lot of people assumed I did not hear Yoruba. Unfortunately for them, I was born in Lagos and had spent 5 years of my childhood there before we moved to the South-south. Moreover, my mum is Yoruba, and my Dad lived all his life speaking Yoruba before he decided to move. Although my siblings do not speak Yoruba, it was easy for me to learn from my parents when they spoke and because of that, I could speak. Every time when the Yoruba girls talked about me in Yoruba assuming I was not hearing, I just pretended to not understand. Even when one of them, who was crushing on me but always looking for ways to annoy me in public, spoke to her friends complimenting me in Yoruba, I just smiled in my heart. One day after classes we were at the cafeteria when my mum called and we were speaking Yoruba. That was when their eyes widened in surprise at the realization that I had always understood the language.

Sometimes I think about it and ask myself, what if they were planning evil and thought I was not hearing them, they would have been surprised to know I was always one step ahead of them because I understood their language and this is just life. What you decided to go jogging without your phone or any translation device and suddenly you are arrested with no one around to understand you at that current time, what if it was a misunderstanding and you had no way to actively defend yourself at that very time and it cost you a lot of time and energy waiting for a translator. What if the opportunity of a lifetime came and the requirement was that you should be able to speak that particular language fluently. Of course we are in a world where one can conveniently make money from home, but the truth is how far you will grow is dependent on how much people know you, and there are opportunities that will bring you out of the comfort of your home where you might need to really talk to people and express yourself, would language be the reason you fail?

THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE LEARNER'S PROMPT FOR WEEK 205 EPISODE 2