Handy device helping U.S. troops overseas overcome language barrier in emergencies

[unhappycamper]

The Phraselator cannot translate responses from a foreign language into English. That full translation is about five to 10 years away, Bass said.


Handy device helping U.S. troops overseas overcome language barrier in emergencies
By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, February 20, 2008

~snip~

This hand-held computer can translate preprogrammed phrases from English into more than 40 languages.

It’s similar to many commercial translation audio devices. But the Phraselator was made specifically for the military, according to Col. James Bass, commander of the U.S. Army Intelligence Technology Center in Japan.

It can last 10 days without recharging its battery. It has an internal converter that can take 110- or 220-volt electrical power. It’s made to survive drops, kicks, rain, heat and sand, Bass said.

And one of the languages it is most used for now is Arabic, he said.

About 7,000 Phraselators are in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. First responders and police, including the Los Angeles Police Department, also are using the device, according to the company that makes the $2,500 translator.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52605

[Kutjara]

1. So our guys can tell the locals what to do...

...but can't understand what the locals are saying in return? I guess that speaks volumes about how we're bringing democracy to the dark corners of the world. I can hear the echos of every colonial occupier throughout history saying, "why the hell do I care what they're saying as long as they do what I tell them to do?"

Even more pathetic, these devices are probably unnecessary, since any occupied population knows that the key to survival is to learn enough of the occupier's language to avoid getting shot.