The Earbuds That Mistranslate
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Tessa's new translation earbuds greet an exchange student like visiting royalty until she finds the wrong setting.
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Tessa gets new translation earbuds for her birthday. They translate speech into any language right away.
Her family is going to host an exchange student next week. His name is Rasmus. Tessa wants to practice with the earbuds first.
She puts one earbud in and turns it on. "Let's test this," she says to her cat.
The app has a setting for "formal" and "casual" speech. Tessa picks a setting without checking it closely.
Rasmus arrives on Monday. He speaks a little English. Tessa turns on her earbud to help.
"Welcome to our home," Tessa says. The earbud translates her words into Rasmus's language.
Rasmus looks confused and laughs nervously. He checks his phone. He shows her a translation app of his own.
"It says something strange," Rasmus explains slowly in English. "It says, 'Welcome to our castle, noble guest.'"
Tessa checks her earbud settings and finds the problem. The setting is on "very formal," not "casual."
She switches it to casual and tries again. "Sorry about that," Tessa says. "Welcome to our home."
This time, the translation sounds normal. Rasmus laughs and relaxes. "That sounds right now," he says.
They both laugh about the mix-up. Tessa turns off the "castle" setting and never turns it back on.
