A Kitchen That Talks Teaches French

Zhao Ting

A “talking kitchen” teaches students how to cook French and speak French. Researchers at New Castle University in the United Kingdom have developed the French Digital Kitchen. Professors Paul Seedhouse and Patrick Olivier led the project.

Professor Seedhouse told us on Skype that it works like a satellite navigation system in a car. PAUL SEEDHOUSE： “The set may speak to you and it tells you， for example， to turn left. And if you turn left then it continues with the program. If， for example， you turn right， then its a mistake， so it loops back and it gives you further instructions.” The kitchen equipment and tools use motion sensor technology similar to the Nintendo Wii game system. The sensors help a computer guide the students through instructions in French. PAUL SEEDHOUSE： “The system can tell whether you have done what you were asked to do or not. So lets say， for example， the system tells you to take some butter so it can tell where the butters being moved. The sensor in the knife not only knows that the knife is moving， but it also knows what motion the knife is making. So it can detect whether the knife is slicing， whether its scraping or what. And so it doesnt go on to the next stage of the program unless youve done what it senses youve done.” Students can ask the computer to repeat the instructions or translate them into English. There are vocabulary lessons before and after the cooking.

Professor Seedhouse became interested in the idea after he visited a talking kitchen designed for a different purpose. PAUL SEEDHOUSE： “It was actually for communicating with people who suffer from dementia. And so， for example， it can speak to those people and it can tell them， for example， that theyve left the oven on and they should switch the oven off.” He says the French Digital Kitchen turns the process of learning language into a real-life experience. PAUL SEEDHOUSE： “Here youre taking it out of the classroom and you are actually using the language to produce something which you can eat at the end of it. Its very enjoyable.”

But the idea-known as task-based language learning required a few changes as the researchers were designing the system. PAUL SEEDHOUSE： “For example， weve found that we put a sink full of water， right， and as soon as people have finished cooking with an instrument， they throw it in the water. And for us thats deadly because the digital sensors were immediately ruined by being in the water. Okay， so-so you have to take actions so that you dont have water in the sink and you tell people not to throw them in the sink.”

The system could be available for sale by the end of twenty twelve. Adding the technology to a new kitchen could add an estimated ten to twenty percent to the building costs. The system could also be added to an existing kitchen. The researchers are also developing portable versions. And the European Union has given them money to begin programs in six other languages， including English， Italian and Spanish.

一個會談話，會教法語的廚房（譯文）

廚房教學生們如何烹制法國菜和法語。在英國紐卡斯爾大學的研究人員已經開發出了法國式數字廚房。保羅·斯德瓦和帕特里克·奧利維爾教授創立了這個項目。

斯德瓦教授在Skype網絡電話上告訴我們，它的工作原理就像汽車上的衛星導航系統。保羅·斯德瓦說：“該系統可能對你說話，它會告訴你，例如，左轉。如果你向左轉，它就會繼續程序。如果，例如，你向右轉，那就錯了，所以它會轉回并給你進一步的指示。”廚房設備和工具使用運動傳感器技術類似于任天堂游戲系統。傳感器幫助計算機用法語指導學生。保羅·斯德瓦說：“這個系統可以辨別出你是否做了讓你做的或者沒做。比如說，系統告訴你要帶黃油，這樣系統就知道黃油被移動到哪兒。刀中的傳感器不僅知道刀在移動，而且知道刀在做什么運動。所以它能檢測出刀是切，是刮還是什么的。因此，如果你做地不對，它就不會進入程序的下一階段。”學生可以要求計算機重復指令或將它們翻譯成英語。烹飪前后有詞匯課幫助學生們完成這個任務。

斯德瓦教授參觀了一個能說話的廚房后，開始對這個想法感興趣。他說：“這實際上是方便同那些患有癡呆癥的人溝通。例如，它可以告訴那些人，離開烤箱的時候，烤箱還在工作，就告訴他們，關掉烤箱。”他說，法國式數字廚房把學習語言的過程變成了一種真實的體驗。斯德瓦教授說：“在這里，你把所學的知識搬出教室，你實際上運用語言生產最后自己可以享用的物品。它令人非常愉快。”

但這個想法-稱為任務型語言學習法要求研究人員設計系統時做些改變。保羅·斯德瓦說：“例如，我們發現，把一個洗滌槽裝滿水，只要有人完成了烹飪，就把設備扔在水里。對我們來說，這是不好的，因為數字傳感器在水中立即不能用了。好吧，所以你要采取行動不必在水槽中放水，你告訴人們不要把設備扔到水槽中。”

該系統可以在2012年底前出售。將該技術用到一個新的廚房就增加百分之十至二十的成本。該系統還可以添加到現有的廚房中。研究人員還在開發便攜式版本。歐盟已經給他們資金，開始使用其他六種語言，包括英語、意大利語和西班牙語來研發它。

【作者簡介】Zhao Ting， Zhangjiakou University.