🔍 Phase 2 - Encounter
🔀 Compare
⏱ 5 minutes
Task 3 - What Gets Lost in Translation?
Words can travel from one language to another, but meanings do not always travel in the same way. Which translation communicates meaning most effectively - and why?
Step 1 - Idiom 1: which translation works best?
Literal
Animals are physically falling from the sky.
AI translation
It is raining animals, specifically cats and dogs.
Human translation
It is raining very heavily right now.
Culturally adapted
It's coming down in buckets outside!
Why did you choose this? What does the other translation get wrong?
Step 3 - Quick check
A Because some languages have more words than others.
B Because language includes culture, context and shared meaning - not just words.
C Because AI always mistranslates idioms.
D Because only English has idioms and expressions.
Bridge to Phase 3 - Investigation
"What if learning another language is not only learning new words… but learning new ways of seeing the world?"
What happens in Task 3
A 5-minute Phase 2 - Encounter activity. Students compare 4 translation types (literal, AI, human, culturally adapted) of two idioms, choose the most effective one each time and briefly explain why, then answer a formative check question.
🎯 Learning objectives
Discover that translation is more than substituting words. Idioms carry cultural meaning that may not transfer directly - understanding this is central to real intercultural communication.
♿ SEN Adaptations
- Simplified 2-card mode available (literal vs human) with simplified vocabulary
- Each card can be read aloud on tap
- Voice input accepted for the discussion prompt
🖨️ No-Tech Format
- Printed sentence cards (4 versions of each idiom, laminated)
- Students compare paper translations in pairs and display their preferred card
- Teacher records the class vote on the whiteboard