How a Bad Translation Sparked a Neighborhood Mystery and Invitation

Hello. Nice to meet you. I am your new neighbor. Oh, hello. Welcome to the street. My

name is Anna. Anna. What a nice name.

My English is not very good. But I have my phone. Please read this message for me.

Okay. Let me see. I will read it. I will take you tonight.

You cannot run. No. Help. Mom, help me. Someone help. Anna?

What happened? Why are you screaming like that? Mom.

The new neighbor sent me a threat. A real threat. It was a translation on his phone.

A very bad translation. A translation? What did the translation say to you?

>> [gasps] >> It said he will take me tonight and I cannot run, Mom.

>> [gasps] >> Anna, slow down. Which translation app did he use?

I do not know. But he was smiling at me, Mom. Smiling.

A smiling man with flowers is usually not very dangerous. The translation said I cannot run.

That is very dangerous. Let me look out the window for one moment, Anna.

Anna, look. He is picking up your groceries right now. He is putting everything back in your

bag very carefully. It is a trick, Mom. Please call Dad. Please call the police.

Anna? I heard you scream. What is going on in here?

The new neighbor is dangerous, Peter. Very, very dangerous. He might be a criminal.

He is a suspect. My prime suspect. He might be a criminal.

He is a suspect. My prime suspect. A suspect is a person who may be a

criminal, Peter. A suspect? On our street?

This is amazing. Tell me everything. He sent a translation.

It said he will take me tonight. Did he have any tools? Any weapons?

What was in the box? He had a long black box, Peter. It looked very dangerous.

Or it is a gift. People bring gifts when they move in.

It was not a gift, Mom. The translation was very clear. Anna, maybe it was an invitation.

Just a bad translation. Peter. An invitation does not say you cannot

run. Yeah? An invitation means he wants you to go

somewhere nice, Anna. The translation did not say somewhere nice.

It said take me. Wait.

He is at the door again. He has the black box, Anna. It is very long and very black and very

shiny. I see it. It is probably just a gift box, Peter.

A nice gift box. No. I am calling the police.

Right now. End of discussion. Hello.

Hello. I want to explain. Please open the door. Okay.

I heard sharp tools. And dark house, Mom. Did you hear dark house, too?

Anna. Dark house might just mean his lights are not ready.

The translation said sharp tools, Mom. In a dark house.

I have his suspect profile on my tablet. It is ready. Name, Julian. Last name, unknown.

Country, France. He has sharp tools in a long black box.

Threat level, maximum. Peter. Threat level maximum is just a little

too much. Mom. I watch a lot of detective shows. Trust me on this.

I made a mistake. A very big mistake today. A mistake is something you do that is

not right or correct. My mistake was being friendly to him this morning.

I also made a mistake. >> [laughter and clears throat] >> I burned all my pasta today.

And now we have a very big international problem next door. I am coming with you, Anna.

I am the official witness here. Hello. I need help.

My neighbor sent me a scary threat. He has a bad translation on his phone. A very scary one.

What is the English translation of the French word bonheur? Ah, yes.

Happiness. I want to share happiness with her. If she comes tonight, we will have a

wonderful dinner together. If she is friendly, we will become very good neighbors.

I hope I did not make a mistake with that translation app. My neighbor is dangerous.

I think he is a suspect. A suspect is a person the police think may be a criminal.

I see. What did your suspect do, exactly? Please explain.

He sent me a bad translation on his phone this morning. The translation said he will take me

and and I cannot run. Which language was the original? Before the translation?

It was French to English. But the translation was very wrong. I have his full suspect profile here on

my tablet, officer. Threat level, maximum? Maximum.

Maximum. Where is she? The candles are ready.

The The is ready. If Anna does not come, I will eat this dinner all alone again.

I think I made a mistake with that translation app today. Next time I will use a real dictionary.

I promise myself that. If she opens her door, I will explain everything to her calmly.

If the police do not arrive soon, he will come back tonight. And if he comes back,

I will absolutely not open that door. If the police come again here, Dad will definitely find out.

If Anna comes to dinner, I will be very, very happy tonight. If she does not come,

I will try again tomorrow morning. English is very hard, but I will not give up learning it.

Please describe the suspect for me. What does he look like? He is tall with dark hair.

He speaks French, not much English. [clears throat] He carries a very long black box with

sharp tools inside it. And he sends very threatening translations to his neighbors.

Did he speak to you directly, or only through his phone app? He said hello, and then showed me the

translation on his phone. That translation was very, very scary and confusing to read.

We will send an officer to check the address right away. Quick question for everyone watching.

What does invitation mean? Option A, a warning message from someone you do

not know. Option B, when you ask someone to come somewhere

with you. Option C, a mistake in a language translation app.

The answer is B. An invitation is asking someone to join you.

Julian had a dinner invitation. It just got very, very lost. Miss,

are you ready to sign the police report now? Almost.

Can I please have just one more minute here? Of course.

Take your time. There is no rush at all. Anna, the officer is waiting for you. We

should sign now. I know, Peter. One minute. Please give me just one

minute. >> [laughter and gasps] >> Ma'am, I do not understand what you

mean. >> [laughter] >> What do you mean by that?

Can you explain it to me, please? Wait. She lost her wallet.

That is what she means right now. Oh. That is what she meant. Thank you so

much, Anna. She just needed someone to listen carefully.

And to watch. She could not say the words, but the meaning was very clear.

Mhm. You understood her without any translation at all, Anna.

Yes. I watched her face, not just her words.

That is the key. Yes. I watched her face,

not just her words. That is the key. That was actually very smart of you,

Anna. Peter, what did Julian actually mean this

morning? What do you mean? What do you mean by that question, Anna?

He had flowers. He was smiling. He had a very nice box.

What did he mean when he showed me that translation today? I think he meant to invite you to have

dinner with him. And the translation made his kind words sound very scary.

One mistake in the app. One very big and terrible mistake. I made a mistake, too, Peter.

A real and important mistake. I did not ask what he meant. I just screamed and ran away.

That is also a mistake. Yes. That is also true. Very true.

I need to go back. I need to check his translation again. I need to understand what Julian really

meant this morning. So, you are not going to sign the police report today?

Wait for me, Anna. Not yet. Come on, Peter. We are going back to the street.

What about the suspect profile? I worked very hard on it. Delete it, Peter. Delete the whole

thing. Every single word. Delete threat level maximum?

That part took me a long time. Delete everything. Every word of it.

Let's go right now. This is a very strange and confusing day.

Anna? Is that you here? What are you doing at this station?

Dad. What are you doing here right now? Why are you here?

I work here, Anna. I am a police officer. Do you remember?

Oh. Right. Sorry, Dad. We were just leaving right now, okay?

Wait. Were you the one who called about the neighbor today?

Yes. But it was a mistake, Dad. We are fixing the mistake now.

A mistake? What kind of mistake are we talking about here?

A translation mistake. And a suspect profile mistake, also. And a small, tiny, little bit of an

overreaction. Just a bit. I am coming outside with you to check on

this neighbor now. Dad, you really do not need to come with us.

We are fine now. I am coming with you, Anna. That is the end of this conversation.

Police. Stop right there. Drop the weapon.

Drop it right now. What? Pardon? This is not a weapon.

This is just bread. I said drop it. Put it down on the ground right now.

Now. It is a baguette. A French baguette, monsieur.

Look. Bread. Dad, wait. That is not a weapon. That is

a baguette. Bread. Anna, please stay back.

This is a police matter right now. Dad, it is bread. Look at it carefully. It is just bread.

Ah. It is bread. Yes.

Thank you very much. It is bread, just bread. Merci. This is still the best day of my life.

I am completely sure. Sir, may I please see your phone for just one

moment? Yes, of course. Here is my phone. Please, take a look.

Your translation app is set to Elizabethan mode. Elizabethan?

Dad, what does Elizabethan mean exactly? It means English from 400 years ago. Like Shakespeare.

So, that is why the translation sounded so old and so scary. I will host you tonight became

I will take you tonight. Fine dining tools became sharp weapons for you.

Amazing. >> [laughter] >> I am so very sorry.

It was a terrible mistake. My mistake. No.

It was also my mistake. I should have asked you first. I should have asked what you meant

before I screamed and ran. What I really meant was simple. Please, come to dinner tonight.

It was an invitation. A very beautiful dinner invitation. An invitation

with flowers and candles and good wine. And one very, very bad translation app setting.

A very, very, very bad translation app. Yes. I fully agree.

Wait one moment. Julian, what is your family name, please?

Moreau. Julian Moreau. Why?

David, do you know my name? Paris.

2004. You found my lost wallet there. Yes. You lost your wallet. I found it.

We had coffee together. 3 hours of coffee. >> [laughter]

>> I talked about my family the whole time. You could not stop talking about Emily and little baby Anna.

>> [laughter] >> And now you live right next door to us. I cannot believe this.

Wait. Dad knows Julian? Dad actually knows this man already?

This is better than any detective show I have ever watched. So, one bad translation brought this whole

family together. And one very dramatic Elizabethan mode on a translation app.

Ah. Remember when Anna called Julian her prime suspect today?

He was dad's old friend from Paris. The suspect profile was wrong. His dinner invitation turned into a full

police story tonight. I made a big mistake. I should have checked the translation.

I should have asked what the message really meant first. I also made a mistake.

I must learn real English by myself. A good translation comes from a real person,

not from an app. In French, they say le sens des mots. The meaning of words.

Always ask what someone means before you make a decision. Always check the translation first.

I understand that now. I think we all learned something very important here tonight.

Yes. Never, ever use Elizabethan mode on your translation app. I want to say one thing in English now.

No app. Just my words. Go ahead, Julian. We are all here. We are listening to you.

I love neighbors.

Did you just say hamberg- hamburgers? I said neighbors.

N e i g h b o r s. N e i g b o r s. You said hamburgers very clearly.

Everyone at this table heard. Mon Dieu. >> [laughter]

>> My English is still very bad. I am truly sorry. It is okay, Julian.

We understood exactly what you meant. And that is the most important thing. The meaning is always clear.

David, I have something to show you. Look at this old photo.

Paris, 2004. Yes, I remember that day well. Julian,

who is this girl? The girl standing next to you here? David,

what is wrong? You look very surprised right now. Emily,

come look at this photo. You really need to see this. Oh.

Oh my. David, is that No, it cannot be her. Can it?

What is it? What are you looking at? Can I please see the photo? Anna,

come here. Come and look at this photo right now. Who is she, Dad?

Do you know this girl in the old photo? Come and look, Anna. Just come and look at the photo.

Have you ever made a mistake because of a bad translation? Write your story in the comments and use

the word m e a n. Like this.

I thought she meant but she actually meant The best comment gets a shout out in our

next episode. And maybe Dad will come to your house, too. With the police.

I will not go to anyone's house, Peter. Please stop saying that. He went to Julian's house with a gun

tonight. I was there. That was an official police situation.

It was very different. Please subscribe to this channel. Yes.

Subscriba? Subscribe. Subscribe.

Yes. Subscribe. For more English. >> [laughter]

>> And much, much less police.