Audite Review

So, recently, the Audite team presented Audite to our 9 a.m. class. Audite is a device that is similar to a bluetooth earpiece that allows you to talk on your telephone hand free, HOWEVER it does not connect to your phone - it is much cooler. So to try and describe it without ruining the point - Audite is an earpiece device that allows you to hear someone speaking in  another language in your native language AND it also allows you to speak into the mouth piece part in your language which in turn Audite translates out of the speaker into the person's language that you are speaking to. Okay, did I totally botch that description or what?

Anyways, I really like this product but I also don't like it. Let me explain. I think that Audite has very very important uses in the medical, law enforcement, and law fields. However, I do believe that actually learning a new language is important to the development of your brain and development of being able to think critically and when you are under stress. This is because learning a new language puts you out of your comfort zone - at the same time you have to find new ways to say the same thing in another language. Kind of like there is more than one way to solve a math problem, there is more than one way to say the same thing in different languages.

So with that critical point out of the way, I think that Audite is amazing for the medical, law enforcement, and law fields.

The medical field is especially important because there really isn't a way that you can have someone that speaks every language working in a hospital or clinic. Do you know how many languages there are?! As an ex-nursing major, trust me it is so stressful, I think that being able to understand a person's needs, no matter what the circumstance, is crucial! It could be the point between life and death - and saving a patient money on pointless testing because the doctor can't narrow down a diagnosis because he/she is not even sure what is wrong.

Moving on to law enforcement - believe it or not, law enforcement is not trained to speak foreign languages that are predominant in the city that they work in. For example, in Memphis, we have a plethora of Spanish speaking people. If our law enforcement officers were able to use this device, they could better understand situations that may not be what they seem - or just help people that need help but don't speak english.

For lawyers also, I think it would be very crucial. Obviously, yes you can have a translator. However, it sometimes can become like the game telephone. Does the lawyer really know what the translator is saying is the correct translation? Does the person that needs translating really know what the lawyer is saying? There really isn't a clear way to tell this because they cannot, in fact, communicate directly. If they had this device, they would basically be communicating directly.

In conclusion, I think that Audite has appropriate and needed places to be! I think it is a good tool. However, my fear is that it would hinder the learning process.