"Muttersprachliche Masken", die chinesischen Eltern haben wieder ein neues Mittel zum "Hüten des Nachwuchses" entwickelt.

In the anime "Doraemon", there is a very frequently - appearing prop - Translation Konjac.

After eating it, the words you speak will be transformed into the language of the other country. The main characters in the story use this high - tech product to achieve barrier - free communication across races, species, and planets.

Back then, kids all over the country were biting their pencil ends in English classes. While listening to the teacher talking about phonetic symbols and grammar they couldn't understand at all, they were fantasizing about the appearance of the Translation Konjac: If I had this magical item, wouldn't I have to learn English anymore?

With the rapid development of technology, a product with similar functions (a low - end version) has really appeared: Wear a mask, and when you speak Chinese, the other person will hear English.

So, don't we have to learn English anymore? Think again, because its main usage scenario is — to practice oral English with kids.

01. Wear the mask, and grandma becomes a foreigner

There is a very popular video on Douyin recently: Grandma is wearing a strangely - shaped mask and muttering something. The translator hanging around her neck emits a standard British accent: What do you want for dinner? (What would you like to eat for dinner?)

The kid starts to list the dishes: I want pizza and ice cream and lollipop. (I'd like pizza, ice cream, and lollipops.)

Grandma doesn't understand and quickly changes the topic, muttering in the mask: What are you playing with?

The translator emits a British accent: What is this you're playing with?

This thing that looks like a first - aid device is a foreign - teacher machine product developed by a technology company. It creates an all - English language environment for families where no one understands English.

Its principle is actually very simple. There is a layer of physical sound - absorbing cotton inside the mask, which can suppress the Chinese sound waves spoken by the wearer. A small translator is connected to the bottom of the mask, which captures the voice in real - time and translates it into English.

Considering that the AI voice tone of the system is too artificial and may easily leave a shadow on the kids' childhood, this product also adds the function of cloning voices. So that the kids can hear English with the authentic grandma flavor, which is really genuine.

Even if grandma doesn't speak Mandarin, it supports many local dialects such as Cantonese, Sichuanese, and Hunanese: "Don't do that!" → "Don't do that, please." Grandma becomes a foreigner.

However, this device really lacks a sense of decency. The way parents wear it is very similar to Bane, the big villain in "Batman".

Passers - by may think it's a new type of halitosis treatment device. In fact, it can only isolate halitosis, and it's easy to infect Helicobacter pylori when used by multiple people.

Let's put aside the small matters of face and appearance for now (after all, the kids' English learning is the top priority). The real problem is — It's actually very difficult to immerse in this so - called "immersive environment" of an all - English family.

From the video, grandma talks to the machine, and there is about a three - second delay before the machine starts to translate. Three seconds isn't long, but in daily communication, it's enough to make the conversation lose its coherence.

Forget it about this. More importantly! Grandma doesn't understand!

The translator turns grandma's words into English → The kid answers in English → Grandma doesn't understand → The topic ends.

So in the short 44 - second video, grandma has changed four topics. First, she asks what to eat for dinner, then what the kid is playing with, then whether the kid is happy, and finally what the kid is playing with again. It's just making small talk.

Only an extremely well - behaved kid would accompany grandma to enjoy this kind of one - way communication without feedback, right (･_･;

If you want grandma to understand the kid's words, you might as well equip grandma with a translation earphone. The mask is responsible for Chinese - to - English translation, and the earphone is responsible for English - to - Chinese translation. Cyber grandma is fully armed, and an ordinary daily conversation has to wait for two translations — On how technology reduces communication efficiency.

Let's put this aside too (after all, the kids' English learning is the top priority). But practicing oral English with such a translator, it's easy to learn a mouthful of Chinglish.

In the video, grandma looks at the toy in the kid's hand and asks: "What are you playing with?" The translator is silent for a few seconds and then translates it into: "What is this you're playing with?"

This sentence sounds very strange — It directly stuffs the Chinese word order into English words, which completely doesn't conform to the expression logic of native English speakers. A more natural translation should be "What are you playing with?"

This kind of grammatical error caused by literal translation will affect the formation of the kid's language habits. Even if the kid learns this kind of Chinglish, they will have to spend more time correcting it in the future. Originally wanting to overtake on a curve, but ended up just going around in circles.

Netizens are very confused and can't understand the birth of this product. The comment section is full of joy: The person who invented this should win the Nobel Prize for Humor.

But the market rule is always that there is a demand first, and then a product. The magical scene of "grandma becoming a foreigner" responds to a real soul - searching question: How can parents who don't know English and have ordinary family conditions create a pure English environment for their kids?

This product is the cyber answer given by the times to them. It serves those ordinary people who are at a loss in educational anxiety — Their family income can't afford international kindergartens, their knowledge reserve is not enough for parent - child reading, and they don't have the time and energy to study enlightenment methods.

A translation mask allows many anxious parents to see a very tempting scenario: Without changing themselves, just by wearing the device, they can instantly switch the family's language environment with one click. In this scenario, the knowledge gap can be filled by technology, the educational gap can be bridged by the product, and ordinary families also have the ticket for bilingual education.

By the way, it's hard for kids with critical thinking skills not to have questions when they see this product: If grandma who can't speak Mandarin can speak English by wearing it, then why don't I just wear one too?

Parents have a hard time answering this question and can only answer irrelevantly: Hurry up, or it will be too late if you don't start learning.

02. Start learning English from a young age

On Xiaohongshu, a Beijing parent shared several types of kindergartens, which is an information gap that few kids know about.

Public and affordable kindergartens are subsidized by the state and are cheap. The monthly tuition ranges from a few hundred yuan to over a thousand yuan. They strictly implement national policies, do not do preschool - to - primary - school transition education, and do not teach Chinese, math, or English.

Public kindergartens don't teach any knowledge, but it's really difficult for kids with zero knowledge reserve to keep up with the teaching difficulty in the first grade. In an online poll, over 71% of the voters think that kids in public kindergartens need preschool - to - primary - school transition education.

Ideally: Kindergarten is a critical period for character development. It should focus on happy education and more games, and kids should start learning knowledge in the first grade;

In reality: There are too many kids taking extra - curricular classes. Teachers assume that everyone has a foundation, so the teaching progress is very fast. Kids who can't keep up are likely to feel frustrated.

The basic configuration is a public kindergarten plus extra - curricular classes/preschool - to - primary - school transition education. Or parents can choose to send their kids to private kindergartens, which cost three to five thousand yuan per month. In the senior class, they teach Chinese, math, English, and do preschool - to - primary - school transition education, so that kids won't be completely ignorant when entering primary school.

Parents of kids in public and private kindergartens just want their kids not to fall behind. Real competitive parents are thinking about academic achievements even in kindergarten. They spend thousands to tens of thousands of yuan per month sending their kids to all - English kindergartens, aiming to let their kids learn English at the kindergarten stage.

All - English kindergartens are different from the international kindergartens we often hear about. International kindergartens are the choice of really wealthy families. The kids in these kindergartens usually have a planned route of going to private schools all the way and finally going abroad. So international kindergartens don't rush to let kids achieve academic success at the kindergarten stage. They focus on happy education, and kids finish school at three o'clock every day and have holidays for both Chinese and foreign festivals.

While all - English kindergartens are a refined tool created by middle - class families for educational breakthrough. Here, all the teachers are foreign teachers, and no Chinese is spoken in the kindergarten. The goal is to let the kids think and express in English like native speakers after three years.