For soldiers in the field, learning a language can be a matter of life and death

　　对战地的士兵来说，学习语言可能是生死攸关的事

　　Soldiers already use video games and virtual reality to train in battlef

ield tactics, but a new generation of games may help keep soldiers alive in another way: by helping them learn languages.

　　士兵们已经使用电脑游戏和虚拟现实技术来进行战术训练，但是新一代游戏也许可以用另一种方式帮助士兵们保命，通过帮助他们学习语言。

　　With nearly 350,000 soldiers living and working in over 130 countries around the world, the United States military has a language problem. In tense situations, the wrong word or incorrect pronunciation can turn a simple misunderstanding into a dangerous situation.

　　在全球超过130个国家中，美国有近35万名士兵在那里居住或工作，美国军队存在着语言方面的问题。时局紧张的时候，不正确的单词或发音可能将一个简单的误会变成危险的处境。

　　“Most adults find it extremely difficult to acquire even a basic knowledge of a language, particularly in a short time,” says Lewis Johnson, a researcher at the Center for Research in Technology for Education. Rather than put soldiers in a traditional classroom, Johnson wants to put them in video games where the goal is to win with words, not bullets.

　　“多数成人发现，即使是学会一种语言的基本知识也非常困难，尤其是在很短的时间内。”教育科技研究中心的研究员刘易斯·约翰逊这样说。与把士兵们放在传统教室中的做法不同，约翰逊想让士兵们玩电子游戏，目标是靠文字而非子弹获胜。

　　In these computer simulations, learners are put in situations where they have to think and talk fast. Special software analyses the learner’s speech and body language, and the soldier has to successfully ask and answer questions in the foreign language in order to pass.

　　在这些计算机仿真游戏中，学习者所处的情境要求他们必须快速思考和说话。特殊的软件分析学习者的说话内容与肢体语言，而士兵为了过关必须利用外文成功地询问和回答问题。

　　The system teaches more than basic language skills. Culture training covers social skills, politeness for different social situations, how to disagree without offending, and how to respond to hospitality.

　　这个系统不只教授基本语言技巧。文化训练包括社交技巧、不同社交处境中的礼貌行为、如何提出异议而不冒犯别人，以及如何应对殷勤的款待。

　　And for soldiers who don’t have time for language training, there’s the Phraselator – a handheld device that translates English phrases into other languages. To use the Phraselator, a soldier says an English phrase into the machine and, a few seconds later, the machine repeats it in the chosen language. You can choose from up to 50 languages (from Albanian to Vietnamese) and over 30,000 phrases covering situations from disaster relief to immigration. “There are one million uses we can think of,” says VoxTec, the company that makes it, “and millions more that we haven’t yet.”

　　对于没时间接受语言训练的士兵，有“词句翻译机”，一种可将英文句子翻译成其他语言的手持装置。“词句翻译机”的使用方法是，士兵对着机器说英语，几秒钟之后，机器会用选定的语言重复这个句子。你可以从高达50种语言中选择﹙从阿尔巴尼亚语到越南语﹚，还有三万多个单词，涵盖从救灾到移民等情境。“我们可以想出一百万种用法。”生产这种机器的“语音科技公司”这样说，“而我们还有几百万个用法没想出来。”