The Earbuds That Mistranslate

Tessa gets new translation earbuds for her birthday. They translate speech into any language right away.

Tessa mendapat earbud penerjemah baru untuk ulang tahunnya. Alat itu langsung menerjemahkan ucapan ke bahasa apa pun.

Her family is going to host an exchange student next week. His name is Rasmus. Tessa wants to practice with the earbuds first.

Keluarganya akan menerima seorang pelajar pertukaran minggu depan. Namanya Rasmus. Tessa ingin berlatih dulu dengan earbud itu.

She puts one earbud in and turns it on. "Let's test this," she says to her cat.

Ia memasang satu earbud dan menyalakannya. "Ayo kita coba," katanya kepada kucingnya.

The app has a setting for "formal" and "casual" speech. Tessa picks a setting without checking it closely.

Aplikasi itu punya pengaturan untuk ucapan "formal" dan "santai". Tessa memilih satu pengaturan tanpa memeriksanya dengan teliti.

Rasmus arrives on Monday. He speaks a little English. Tessa turns on her earbud to help.

Rasmus tiba pada hari Senin. Ia bisa sedikit berbahasa Inggris. Tessa menyalakan earbud-nya untuk membantu.

"Welcome to our home," Tessa says. The earbud translates her words into Rasmus's language.

"Selamat datang di rumah kami," kata Tessa. Earbud itu menerjemahkan kata-katanya ke bahasa Rasmus.

Rasmus looks confused and laughs nervously. He checks his phone. He shows her a translation app of his own.

Rasmus tampak bingung dan tertawa gugup. Ia memeriksa ponselnya. Ia menunjukkan aplikasi penerjemah miliknya sendiri.

"It says something strange," Rasmus explains slowly in English. "It says, 'Welcome to our castle, noble guest.'"

"Tulisannya aneh," jelas Rasmus pelan-pelan dalam bahasa Inggris. "Bunyinya, 'Selamat datang di istana kami, tamu yang mulia.'"

Tessa checks her earbud settings and finds the problem. The setting is on "very formal," not "casual."

Tessa memeriksa pengaturan earbud-nya dan menemukan masalahnya. Pengaturannya "sangat formal", bukan "santai".

She switches it to casual and tries again. "Sorry about that," Tessa says. "Welcome to our home."

Ia mengubahnya ke santai dan mencoba lagi. "Maaf soal tadi," kata Tessa. "Selamat datang di rumah kami."

This time, the translation sounds normal. Rasmus laughs and relaxes. "That sounds right now," he says.

Kali ini, terjemahannya terdengar wajar. Rasmus tertawa dan menjadi rileks. "Sekarang terdengar benar," katanya.

They both laugh about the mix-up. Tessa turns off the "castle" setting and never turns it back on.

Mereka berdua menertawakan kekeliruan itu. Tessa mematikan pengaturan "istana" itu dan tak pernah menyalakannya lagi.