An interview with bill gates, president of microsoft

—Считаете ли Вы, что наступит время, когда будет желательно и даже необходимо иметь единый всемирный язык, и произойдет ли это, в частности, благодаря дальнейшему развитию сети Интернет?

—Because the Internet makes the world a smaller place, the value of having a common language is greatly increased. This enhances the importance of English as a second language. I don't, however, expect English to replace or even diminish any of today's primary languages. From a technical standpoint, there is no reason that English works better than other languages on the Internet. A technology called «Unicode», which can represent every character in every written language, is now used in the leading Web browsers.

—Возможен ли адекватный компьютерный перевод и если да, то когда? И как Вы оцениваете качество перевода, сделанного на основе существующих программ? Можно ли полагаться на него для работы с важными документами?

Someday software will translate both written and spoken language so well that the need for any common, second language could decline. That day is decades away, though, because flawless machine translation is a very tough problem. Software that does inelegant but often useful translations already exists. Web pages translated with software of this sort can be understood surprisingly well if all you're trying to do is figure out what product is being offered or get a sense of what is being discussed. But if you're trying to negotiate a contract or discuss a scientific discovery where subtleties matter, today's translation software is all but useless. Count on English to remain valuable for a long time as a common language for international communication.

Многие выражают опасения, что использование в Интернете основном английского отрицательно сказывается на других языках и культурах. Не

отражается ли, по Вашему мнению, это на национальной самобытности? Не вызовет ли это неприятие, даже ненависть?

- I understand the concern some people have that the Internet's heavy reliance on content from English-speaking countries may undermine other cultures. Fortunately, the Internet also allows ethnic communities to be reinforced. It will enable French, Greek, Italian, Chinese and other ethnic communities, dispersed around the globe to celebrate and reinforce their heritage, for example. The Internet will allow even a small ethnic groups to collect and pass on their cultural traditions, as Indents at a Muckleshoot Indian tribal school are beginning to do in my home state of Washington.

национальная самобытность — national spirit Muckleshoot — племя американских индейцев

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