American soldiers head into action around the world. They could never learn all the local languages they encounter1.That's where the hand-held PHRASELATOR2 comes in.
Small enough to carry in an ammunition3 pouch4, the electronic translator can turn spoken English phrases such as “Put up your hands!” or ”Are you hurt?“ into 53 languages, including Macedonian5, French, Korean, Yupik6 and Rwandan7.
That frees up human translators to handle more complicated8 conversations.
The manufacturer, VoxTec, can program Phraselator with phrases suitable for soldiers at checkpoints, doctors in a field hospital or rescue9 workers helping victims. A typical program holds 500 to 1,000 different phrases.
Phraselators cost around $2,300 each. VoxTec hopes to someday sell a cheaper, tourist version.
美军征战世界各地，他们不可能学会所遇到的所有当地语言。因此，掌上翻译器应运而生。
该电子翻译器小到可以放在弹药袋中携带，像“举起手来！”或“你受伤了吗？”之类的英语常用语可被译为53种语言，包括马其顿语、法语、韩语、尤皮克语和卢旺达语。
这样翻译人员就可以得到解放，去翻译较复杂的谈话。
研制翻译器的VoxTec公司可以为其编入相应的用语：检查站士兵用语、战地医生用语以及救护人员帮助伤员的用语等。一个标准程序通常有500到1000条不同的短语。
翻译器每部售价约2300美元。VoxTec公司希望有一天推出售价更低的旅游版翻译器。
1. encounter v. 遭遇，遇到
2. phraselator = phrase + translator
3. ammunition n. 弹药
4. pouch n. 小袋，荷包
5. Macedonian n. 马其顿语
6. Yupik n. 尤皮克语（爱斯基摩人的一种方言）
7. Rwandan n. 卢旺达语
8. complicated adj. 复杂的
9. rescue v. 援救，营救