Languages in fight to not get lost in AI translation

Despite the amazing advances in technology, which allow foreigners to get directions in another country without speaking the language or understand an alien restaurant menu through an app on their phone, there are still powerful reasons why learning another language is vital to avoid the true meaning of words being ‘lost in translation’, say campaigners fighting to reverse the decline in numbers studying foreign languages in schools and universities in the United Kingdom.

The ‘wake-up’ call to policymakers and university leaders comes after another cull of modern language programmes, which is now hitting the so-called ‘elite’ Russell Group of research-intensive universities, with the University of Nottingham being the latest to axe full degree programmes in foreign languages, as University World News reported this month.

The pace of closures and restructurings for modern languages across UK higher education is quickening, with the University of Exeter consulting on reducing its academic workforce by around 150 full-time roles, with modern languages among the disciplines reported as facing a reduction of up to 25% in teaching-related staffing, according to a soon-to-be-published 2026 update to a survey for the University Council For Languages (UCFL).

The report by Wendy Ayres-Bennett, emerita professor at Cambridge University and associate fellow at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, will highlight how the previous relatively stable Russell Group picture (for languages), described in 2024 UCFL survey, has changed for the worse.

Fightbacks save some provision

Despite this, fight-backs by university staff and students have saved some provision.

At Cardiff University, for example, plans were announced in January 2025 to close Modern Languages and Translation. Following consultation, modern languages were absorbed within a new School of Global Humanities but with a smaller staff base, smaller cohorts and provision primarily in French, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese. However, German, Italian and Portuguese are not offered anymore.

The picture in other pre-1992 universities continues to worsen, says the UCFL, although often not with complete closures, including at the University of Leicester, where modern languages degree programmes closed to new entrants from September 2026, but “wider language learning will continue through Languages at Leicester” offering short courses in 16 languages at different levels.

Other pre-1992 universities announcing partial closures of their language provision include Bangor, Essex and Heriot-Watt.

The biggest decline in modern language degrees has already happened in the post-1992 (modern) universities, according to the report from Ayres-Bennett, “with Modern Languages degrees surviving in only a small number of institutions”.

Language learning in the age of AI

So what can be done to save foreign language learning, particularly in the age of AI where many people believe that everyone speaks some English and that Google Translate or some other app can save the day if one gets lost in some foreign parts?

Megan Bowler, a postgraduate student in Classics at the University of Oxford and lecturer in Ancient Greek Language and Literature at Oriel College, is among the language policy advocates leading the fight-back.

She has given evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages and written reports, including one for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), titled ‘The Language Crisis: Arresting Decline’, sponsored by Duolingo, one of the world’s most popular language-learning platforms and mobile-first educational apps.

She told University World News: “‘There is a common misconception that Google Translate and now AI tools are making language capabilities redundant. On the contrary, the skills and intellectual values that a ‘linguistic mindset’ can instil are even more important in this age of rapid technological change.”

“It is the precisely close and critical analysis, cultural adaptability and precision and clarity that ChatGPT struggles to replace.

Human translator role shifting

“The role of the human translator continues to shift to that of a human linguistic consultant: making use of digital technology but providing crucial oversight in the form of imaginative flair, cultural nuance and geopolitical awareness.

“Human linguists also contribute trustworthiness in contexts where precise details are consequential, such as legal contracts or international policy and diplomacy.”

Bowler’s report for HEPI offers 13 reasons why the ‘linguistic mindset’ cultivated by learning languages is even more important in the age of AI.

These include cultivating lateral and creative modes of thinking in other languages; intercultural awareness by engaging thoughtfully with traditions, history and current affairs and international relations; and gaining different perspectives.”

Languages face vicious circle

However, Bowler warns that language disciplines are facing a vicious circle.

“For the majority of schools, problems with teacher recruitment are leading to even lower rates of participation in language learning.

“Low uptake in higher education is leading to cuts in university language provision and degree programmes.

“The shortage of language skills is holding employers back, and the teacher recruitment crisis continues to worsen. Intervention and investment are needed to prevent a critical skills deficit,” said Bowler.

Strengthening the pipeline

But all is not lost, as the examples from Leeds University and its new approaches to language learning demonstrate.

The University at Leeds runs one of the largest university language schools in the UK, with 165 staff teaching on degrees in ten foreign languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic) and offering language modules in ten other languages through an institution-wide language programme called ‘Languages for All’ with 80 additional staff.

In an interview with University World News, Professor Emma Cayley, head of the University’s School of Languages, Cultures and Societies and chair of the University Council For Languages (UCFL), said: “We have a total of around 2,400 students studying one or more languages to degree level, with a further 1,600 taking modules as part of their degrees.

“But we’re not complacent and we are certainly not getting as many students coming through from schools, with the patchy provision of languages at A-level and negative public rhetoric about languages and the wider Arts and Humanities driving student choice.”

Among the tactics being employed at Leeds is to accept students starting language degrees from scratch, including those who have not been able to take an A-level in a language that they want to learn because their school didn’t offer it.

‘Languages for All’ hub

“Another initiative, which I think is fantastic, is the ‘Languages for All’ hubs, set up by the Reach Foundation and its director Michael Slavinsky.

This has so far seen two local universities work together with schools to help open access to language learning at A-level and beyond for pupils who otherwise wouldn’t be able to learn a foreign language.

“This helps to provide A-level language across a pool of schools in a region and inspire future linguists,” said Cayley.

The first hub was launched by Royal Holloway University working with a group of schools in Hounslow in London.

The second was in the Southwest in Devon with the University of Exeter, where a network of state schools in Cornwall and Devon have been working together to make advanced modern language study possible and normalised in one of the more remote regions of England.

Out-of-hours or online courses are on offer through schools working together to deliver A-level classes, and the universities involved offering access to events on campus and visits to major employers to explore the role of languages in various careers, trips to cultural and political institutions and an affordable residential experience in Europe.

“We're about to launch the third hub in Leeds this November,” said Cayley, who strongly believes novel thinking is required to turn round the fortunes of languages in UK schools and universities

“At Leeds, we’re not just teaching modern languages – but also Classics and Ancient History, Film Studies, Linguistics and Translation Studies.

Learning from the revival of classics

“I believe one of the answers to turning around the fortunes is to offer languages with social sciences, such as a language combination with international relations, politics, or business studies.

“These degrees are usually four years with a compulsory year abroad, but increasingly the year abroad is becoming optional for many degree programmes. That’s one way of meeting the challenge, particularly for those who haven't already got a language but are keen to become more employable through taking a joint honours degree.”

The UK rejoining the EU’s Erasmus programme from January 2027 should boost the attraction of learning a foreign language at university, with Cayley saying: “Erasmus could help access accessibility and include inclusivity and will mean more money will be coming into languages. Erasmus was one of the big selling points in a degree in a modern language before Brexit.”

Cayley’s department calls itself the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies and includes film studies, Linguistics and Classics to widen its appeal.

Cayley said: “The revival of Classics can show us how to re-invent and re-invigorate a discipline like Modern Languages with intense interest in Christopher Nolan’s new action film, The Odyssey, the big-screen adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem and the story of Troy and classical mythology and literature.”

As to why we still need languages in the modern age of AI, Cayley told University World News: “The economic cost to the UK of not speaking other languages is huge, as highlighted in a report called, ‘The economic value to the UK of speaking other languages’, which highlighted the importance of languages for diplomacy, security and trade.”

This point was emphasised in Megan Bowler’s report for HEPI and in her more recent contribution to a collection of ‘Linguists’ Voices’, published recently by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (COIL).

Bowler also said that for English-speaking people: “The study of languages invites the learner to step outside Anglophone perspectives and assumptions, something that is necessary if efforts at inclusion and decolonisation are to have meaningful depth.

“Gaining new perspectives and cultivating a global mindset encourages empathy and emotional intelligence towards people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.”

“In sum, a shift in how we ‘reframe’ languages subjects – in terms of irreplaceable and cognitive value, rather than merely an ability to convert words in one language to another – is needed to improve public perceptions of what languages offer.

“The value of a ‘mathematical mindset’, for example, is widely accepted. Even though we all have calculators on our phones and can now use AI to handle complex mathematical problems with accuracy, numeracy and the ability to ‘think mathematically’ remain relevant,” said Bowler.

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com