WO1998054683A1

WO1998054683A1 - Bug box

Info

Publication number: WO1998054683A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/011193
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank L. Hodgson; Nicholas Marinos
Original assignee: Hodgson Frank L
Priority date: 1997-05-30
Filing date: 1998-05-29
Publication date: 1998-12-03
Also published as: AU7607898A

Abstract

Special data formats, sequences of information in various languages and an audio playback device (13) which comprise a presentation system (1) for enhancing linguistic ability in infants and toddlers. A processing means to insure that the presentation is random if required. The device having control means for presenting audio and visual information in formats structured to produce multilingual capabilities in children by utilizing blocks of vocabulary repeated over and over in different languages. The device for presenting the language-strings being capable of being set to operate daily at a set time so as to play a different set of language blocks each day. The system permitting the selection of fewer than the full set of languages, the optimum number being 25 languages. The various language-strings each presenting the languages in a different random order.

Description

BUG BOX

Field of Invention

This invention relates generally to the field of audiovisual playback devices and more particularly to specific formats for words and phrases, randomizing processes if required and to devices to be used to enhance multilingual capabilities in children. The present invention provides a new method for establishing broad linguistic skills for infants and toddlers, under the age of 4. The device is comprised of a playback means to be used with fomiatted strings of words repeated over and over in different languages.

The languages to be heard or seen on the display are presented in random sequences and can be fewer than the total of 25 languages used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The control means for the device permits the information to be presented at a given time on a daily basis.

The repetition of blocks of words in different languages allows the infant or toddler to acquire basic language skills in a natural manner at a very receptive age. The strings of language heard by the infant or toddler also become a convenient linguistic reference when the child is older. The present invention which utilizes these language strings fills a long felt need and is a relaxed method for establishing an affinity for languages early in life.

Real mastery of a given language is normally still a difficult process and dedicated study is usually required. The present invention however provides a new and economical approach to acquiring these skills. It is a method which has been long sought after by educators, parents and linguists. Prior Art

No prior art can be found which discloses the present invention. The concern with the mastery of foreign languages however is a continuing concern and therefore the basic devices and techniques which have preceded the present invention require comment

Existing audio and visual playback systems now include the new digital video disk players which are used mainly for entertainment purposes. These units are produced by Sony, Panasonic and others. They permit the viewer of a video program to control the language heard as dialog and/or to be used as subtitles. The digital video disk players however are not formatted to conveniently provide groups of words and phrases which are randomly repeated over and over in different languages. They are poorly suited to the task of systematically providing a basic o vocabulary in several languages in an effective format for infants and toddlers. Although such sequences could be generated either by the digital video disk players or by creating special digital video disks, this has never been done. In a similar fashion, existing video or audio editing equipment could be used to structure such formats or sequences but again this has never been done. Such an approach would be a major departure from the consentual industry standards 5 which were adopted with considerable effort. The digital video disk development process has taken more than a decade during which time the storage capacity of cheap compact disks has greatly increased and now surpasses that of the digital video disks. This new compact disk technology should reach the marketplace in about a year.

Thus the new digital video disk technology, as is being now commercialized, suffers from a number of serious limitations for applications such as those addressed by the present invention. The formats for these digital video disk players currently can only present a limited number of dialog languages and most systems do so while concurrently presenting translations. None currently present transliterations. The proper and best technical approach and the best commercial approach is the approach used by the present invention which accepts the proven CD formats for existing CD players. As a single CD currently costs less than $1.00, several ordinary compact disks can be used for data storage thereby keeping the material costs low. This approach also allows for the utilization of the new high density, low cost CD formats such as those under development by Sage Technologies which should become commercially available in about a year. These high density low cost CDs require new formsts but generally are compatible with existing CD players.

The language-string format was created by the co-inventor Frank Hodgson. An audio cassette tape containing 3 separate lullabies, each of which is repeated over and over in a total of 12 languages, was produced and was distributed commercially on September 2, 1996 as a test item. This test marketing resulted in the development of the present invention and the extended vocabularies which it utilizes. Also It is known that for several years another company has produced a tape of lullabies and music using 6 languages in French, German, Spanish, Hebrew, Russian and Japanese. This tape however did not utilize language-strings, randomized presentations, paired speakers, female male presentation formats, children as speakers or the use of laughter to separate sequences. Even worst, it failed to include a most basic language, English, on the tape. It fares poorly in the marketplace.

Summary of the Invention

An audiovisual playback device with special audiovisual information which is comprised of a data source and a playback means which permits the presentation of audiovisual information over and over in several languages for infants and toddlers, generally under the age of 4. The invention is used to create a familiarity with the nuances, pronunciation and many of the unique aspects of several languages at one time. An added benefit is the associative character created by the strings of languages which provide a natural linguistic reference for use in later life.

The playback device is a toy-shaped CD playback device built in the shape of a beetle. It has an elegant and beautiful appearance for decoration in addition to being a new and valuable educational tool for an infant. The present invention is termed the Bug Box and it is easy for a parent, guardian or babysitter to use. It is simply turned on and set to operate at a convenient time each day. The complete basic vocabulary is comprised of some 2,200 words in 25 commonly used languages. These should be played at least once or twice a month which requires one or two hours of playing time a day. The material is presented in short sequences and is repeated over and over in the different languages. Each sequence is presented with the languages in a different, random order. The present invention also permits playing fewer than the full number of languages available. The script and transliterations are also presented visually. The preferred format uses pairs of speakers, a female voice and then a male voice, using a girl and then a boy, both aged about 5 or 6. The different language sequences or language-strings are separated by children's laughter.

Description of the Drawings

Figure 1. A pictorial representation of the top of the Bug Box

Figure 2. A pictorial representation of the bottom of the Bug Box

Figure 3. A pictorial representation of the side of the Bug Box

Figure 4. A schematic view of the control panel

Figure 5. A logic flow diagram of the operation of the Bug Box

Figure 6. Typical format for the data to be used.

Figure 7. Descriptive layout of the data tracks.

Figure 8. Descriptive layout of control information

Figure 9. Functional sechmatic layout of the device

Table 1 Languages, abbrevations, language sequence numbers and associated case lighting

Specification

The present invention is an audiovisual system comprised of a speaker means, a display means, a data access means, a control means and audiovisual information on a data source. It permits the parent of an infant or toddler to routinely play sequences of words and phrases over and over in different languages. It thus allows an infant or toddler to become familiar with the unique characteristics of various languages and to establish a basic correlation among them. To understand the range of the present invention, termed the Bug Box, reference is made to the drawings.

Referring particularly to the figures wherein like-referenced numbers have been applied to like-parts throughout the description, Figure 1 shows the Bug Box designated by the general reference number 1 having an outer case 2 in the form of a beetle, having support points 19 from which the case 2 can be suspended. Electrical plugs 40 for power are located near the support points 19. The control panel is designated by the general reference number 5. The speaker 3 and the playback device 13 are mounted in the case 2. The data source 4 is shown inserted into playback device 13 on the side of the Bug Box 1. The Bug Box 1 can be rested on its sides 20 or bottom 22. A visual display 18 is situated in the panel 5. An identical visual display 57 can be situated on the top of the case 2. Simulated legs 29, abdomen 30, thorax 31 , head 32 and/or eyes 21 56 can be made to light up with internal lighting as a function of that portion, language sequence numbers 39, of the control information 51 which identifies specific languages 48 as shown in Figures 8 9 and Table 1. Said control information 51 comprised in part of said language sequence numbers 39 which are associated with the languages 48 used and which are in total indicated by the general reference number 44 with their individual abbreviations indicated by the general reference number 47 as presented in Table 1. Table 1 also presents the manner in which the lighting of portions of the case designated by the general refence number 60 is to be done as an apparent function of the language 48 being heard 38. Actually the result is created by the mirooprocessor 55 with referencing to and utilization of said language sequence numbres 39 ass the incoming information is being processed. The lights button 50 on the panel 5 enables and disables the light up response of portions 21 29 30 31 32 56 of the case 2 of the Bug Box 1 as playful visual clues which are an apparent function of the audio output 38. Figure 2 presents a bottom view of the Bug Box 1 and Figure 3 presents a side view.

Figure 4 presents said control panel 5, containing a key pad 6 having ten keys numbered 1 through 9 and zero, the power button 7 shown with the letter P, the volume down button 8 shown with the letter V, the volume up button 26 shown with the letter U, the play button 27 shown with the word PLAY, the tape forward button 28 shown with the letter F, the rewind button 9 shown with the letter K, the pause button 17 shown with the letter W, the load/unload button 10 shown with the letter M, the auto memo button 12 shown with the letter T which is used to select the time of day when the tapes will be played, the all language button 14 shown with the letter C; the resume button 25 shown with the word ALL; the remove language button 15 shown with the symbol D; the add language button 16 shown with the word A, a visual display 18 and a delay button 59 with the symbol B. Pressing the remove language button 15 twice removes all languages 44 from the list of those currently being presented. Pressing the delay button 59 causes a pause in playing. By entering a number into the key pad 6 first and then pressing the delay button 59, the length of the pause can be reset. The current tape number 45 selected can be displayed on the visual displays 18 57 as shown in Figure 4 as Tape #3C. The visual displays 18 57 also can optionally display the language 48 being heard 38 and the language 48 being displayed, both displays respectively shown in Figure 4 separated by a slash as En/En for English as the language heard and as the language displayed, both being designated by the language abbreviations individually designated by the general reference number 47. The visual display 18 on the panel 5 is the same as the visual display 57 on the top of the case 2, the purpose of having 2 displays, being that they afford easy viewing with the case 2 in two different positions. A display of the subtitles 33, shown with the words FUZZY CAT, on the visual displays 18 57 complements the audio presentation 38 as can a visual display of the transliteration 34, shown with the words FUZ-ZE KAT. The subtitles 33 36 and the transliterations 3437 are stored on the data storage unit 4 with the audio information 1 38 as shown in Figures 2 8 9. The control panel 5 also houses a sleep button 24 shown with the letter Q in Figure 4 which can be set to reduce the volume after a given amount of playing time has elapsed. The repeat button 49 shown with the letter R in Figure 4 allows the user to replay the last tape. The key pad 6, the delete language button 15 and the add language button 16 shown with the letter A permit the use of less than the full set of available languages 44. It should be noted that many of these functions can be combined through the use of mode control buttons but the foregoing approach is taken for reasons of simplicity, clarity and as the end user frequently, if not commonly, will have little or no skill with regard to devices of this type.

Figure 6 presents a typical written script version for the audio output 38 and the subtitles 33 for the languages 44 being utilized. Individual lines of copy are designated by the general reference number 41 and are grouped into blocks of copy having the general reference number 42, said blocks of copy 42 being comprised of 4 or 5 lines of copy 41. The order of presentation of these blocks, by language, is in language-strings designated by the general reference number 43 whose sequence is described by individual series of language abbreviations 47. The order of languages 44 in each language-string 43 is random and different from other language-strings 43. Eight blocks of copy 42 are grouped into a unit quantity of information designated by the general reference number 52 as an individual tape as shown in Figure 6. For convenience and for continuity in marketing compact disks and audio cassette tapes, it utilizes a specific label designated as a tape number 45 regardless of the storage media used together with a title which can be the day of the week 46 as shown in

Figures 46. Figure 5 iβ a logio flow diagram of the operation of the device. Commencing at the Start A1 , a determination is made as to the need to select a new tape A2 for use. If yes, then the new tape number is entered A3 and if not a determination is made as to whether the basic

80 automatic time set for playing tapes on a daily basis is to be changed A4. If yes, then a new time is set A5. A determination is then made as to whether to play the current tape now A6. If not, then the system waits and asks again periodically A7. If yes, then a determination is made A8 if this tape is finished. If so, then a new tape is selected A9. The tape is then played A10 until interrupted A11.

85 When spoken in pairs by a girt and then by a boy, the preferred method of presentation, eight blocks of copy 42 constitute an amount of information which results in a presentation of a little over two hours in length. This or half a tape are convenient lengths for use on a daily basis. Ultimately, the information can be made available more conveniently by using a media which stores substantially more information than is currently stored on a single

90 CD. Use of standard compact disks or audio cassette tapes are the currently preferred medias. Different language-strings 43 can be used for each line of copy 41 in a block of copy 42 or for an entire block of copy 42 as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 7 is a schematic layout of typical audio data tracks 11 and with the control information indicated by the general reference number 51. The associated subtitle tracks 36

95 and associated transliteration tracks 37 are also shown. The layout shown represents standard formats in commercial use.

Figure 8 is a schematic layout of the control information for typical data tracks. The language sequence number 39, shown by an S, indicates the language used in a given data field. The general reference number 35, shown by a T, is used to describe the data type 00 number, shown by Xs, for the audio data track 11 , the associated subtitle tracks 36 and the associated transliteration tracks 37. The audio data tracks 11 contain the same information as the audio output 38 but in a suitable storage format The associated subtitle tracks 36 contain the same information as the displayed subtitles 33 but in a suitable storage format. The associated transliteration tracks 37 contain the same information as the displayed

105 transliterations 34 but in a suitable storage format.

Figure 9 is a functional schematic of the Bug Box 1 , showing the microprocessor 55, the data access device 13, a data storage unit 4, the speaker 3, the panel 5 with visual display 18, the top visual display 57 and the case 2 with the simulated portions of the beetle's anatomy; the head 32, the thorax 31 , the abdomen 30, the legs 29, the right eye 21 and the

110 left eye 56. The data access device 13 typically can be a compact disk player, a digital video disk player or an audio cassette player with the respective data source 4 being a compact disk, a digital video disk or an audio cassette.

Examining the operation of the Bug Box 1 , the rewind button 9 is effectively a back space feature. The forward button 28 advances the point at which play is to begin. The play 15 button 27 commences the playing of a tape or stops it. The pause button 17 suspends play. The all language button selects for play all languages 44 and for display all subtitles 33 and transliterations 34. The remove button 25 selects all tapes on the data source 4 for play. Using the remove language button 15 for a given language 48 for the current language schedule can be removed by first entering the appropriate language sequence number 39 on 20 ^tne keypad 6. In similar fashion the add language button 16 can add a language 48 to those to be heard. The lights button 50 enables or disables the light up feature for the various parts of the case 2 in an apparent response to the playing of a given language 48. The repeat button 49 also can select more than one tape to be played daily. The auto memo button 12 sets the time for tapes to be played each day by first entering the time, zero to 2400, on the

125 ^keypad 6. The sleep button 24 automatically reduces the volume of the audio output 38 after a preset period of time which is first entered on the keypad 6, using two digits to represent minutes. Pressing the sleep button 24 twice after entering a preset period of time on the keypad 6 will terminate play after that period of time. Baβed upon the reoeption and utilization of the first tapes produced uβing lullabies in

130 the format of language-strings, it was determined that a convenient method of delivery of the materials for the parents such as the Bug Bvox 1 was required and that a substantially larger vocabulary of about 2200 words or concepts was needed. The use of this much material avoids inadvertently omitting any of the special sounds which are unique to a given language. The present invention uses pairs of announcers who repeat the same material. The 35 first speaker is a female announcer and the second is a male announcer. This approach gives an infant a clear indication that a new language has started a female voice is heard. In the preferred embodiment a 5 or 6 year old girl is used for the first announcer and a 5 or 6 year old boy is used for the second. It has been noted that infants tend to give more attention to utterances by young children than by adults. The individual language-strings are separated by 40 children's laughter which is shown in Figure 6 by the general reference number 58 to indicate to the infant that new material is being presented. The uniqueness of the voices of the individual speakers also tends to provide a clear indication as to which language is being spoken. The order of the languages within language-strings 43 is random which avoids creating an inference that a given language always follows some other language.

145 In addition to providing guidance as to nuances and pronunciation, the vocabulary in the language-strings builds a basic future linguistic reference for the child. The use of a minimum amount of grammar is an advantage as this tends to avoid most of the natural differences in word order which occur from language to language. Therefore a simple mixed vocabulary is used, some of which has an associative and/or contrasting character.

150 When mixed in language-strings 43, the distinctive character of each pair of voices tends to establish a measure of continuity from language-string to language-string 43. The use of pairs of speakers, female and male, is also an indication to an infant or toddler of a permissible range of pronunciation for given words. As many of the words used are unique to a single language, the propagation of such words through a language-string 43 acts as an 155 audible and visual linguistic marker. Examples of such words are the words OK and TV. The vocabulary, as translated from language to language, is not a one-to-one process as some languages use more than one word for a given concept and both can be presented routinely. For older children and adults, the toy like appearance is less important and the visual displays 1857 become more critical. The subtitles 3336 and associated transliterations 3437 can be

160 in any language regardless of the language used in the audio portion 11 38.

Although a few useful phrases are included, these are the exception and are included only as they happen to serve a more general need, namely to present a basic vocabulary. The language-string 43 approach to building linguistic cross references is new and is most effective if used from birth to about the age of two. At about the age of two, the infant commences to

165 associate meaning with the words and the ability to acquire new language skills begins to diminish. The repetitive exposure of infants and toddlers to this material as background information tends to create a natural mastery of the nuances and pronunciation of the various languages. To this end, repetition at least once a month seems to be a good approach. It should not be inferred that the child will speak any of the languages presented 170 because of this early exposure. Rather, it permits an easier acquisition of such language skills. As the list of languages is rather long, some 25 at present in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will frequently be the case that many of the infants who hear the audio portion will be living in an environment in which at least one of the languages presented is spoken on a daily basis. This is likely as the 25 languages listed are widely spoken with at

175 least one being spoken by over 85 per cent of the world's population. The fact that one language element out of each language-string is composed of a child's native language provides strong linguistic guidance for the infant. It provides a solid reference for the other languages in the language-strings. The use of language-strings themselves and the use of paired announcers of different genders is seen as an optimum approach to the utilization of the

180 present invention. The audio cassette tapes sold in commerce within the past by the co- inventor Frank Hodgson constitute a test application which is a simple utilization of language- strings using ordinary audio cassettes. Such an approach is much less effective than the present invention in that these test tapes do not provide control information as part of the data stream and therefore no flexiblity in presentation is achieved. The tapes alone allow no visual display of the related audio information and afford no ability to select a subset of languages for presentation from the total number of languages available.

The use of random sequences of languages as are indicated by the language-strings 43 in Figure 6 can also be achieved by introducing the needed randomness with suitable functions within said microprocessor 55 when the information source is nonrandom. The design of the case 2 can include a wide range of toy shapes to include dolls, animals, insects and for the present invention, a beetle. It is obvious that other languages and different vocabularies could have been selected. Also the visual presentation could have been done in other ways. The options made available could have been done in a different manner. The present invention uses formatted materials 52 with control information 51 , with implementation as set out in Figure 5 with the resulting device 1 which presents visual 33 34 and audio 38 information, all of which could be achieved in a variety of different ways.

The manner of presenting vocabulary in language-strings 43, aside from the lullabye tapes mentioned above, is new. The use of paired young speakers, a girl and then a boy is new. The use of a compact unit to provide this information affords an easy and systematic delivery of the audible-visual information and is both new and commercially viable.

All of the above are only some of the examples of available embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous other modifications and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure is not intended as limiting and the appended claims are to be interpreted as encompassing the entire scope of the invention. Reference Numerals - Description

Numeral Description

1. General reference number for the Bug Box

2. Case

3. Speaker

4. Data source

5. General reference number for control panel

6. Key pad buttons

7. Power button

8. Volume down button

9. Rewind button

10. Load/unload button

11. Audio data track

12. Auto Memo button

13. Data access device

14. All languages button

15. Remove language button

16. Add language button

17. Pause button

18. Visual display, panel

19. Support point

20. Flat side

21. Simulated right eye, lightable

22. Flat bottom

23. Surface

24. Sleep button

25. Resume button

26. Volume up button

27. Play button

28. Forward button

29. Simulated legs, lightable

30. Simulated abdomen, lightable

31. Simulated thorax, lightable

32. Simulated head, lightable

33. Subtitles

34. Transliterations

35. General reference number for data type

36. Associated subtitle tracks

37. Associated transliteration tracks

38. Audio output

39. Language sequence number

40. Plug, bug box

41 General reference number for a line of copy

42 General reference number for a block of copy

43 General reference number for a language string

44 General reference number for all languages

45 Tape number

46 Day of the week designation 47 General reference number for an individual language abbreviation

48 Language name

49 Repeat button

50 Lights button

51 General reference number for control information

52 General refence number for the information on an individual tape

53 Data address

54 Data length

55 Microprocessor

56 Simulated left eye, lightable

57 Visual display, top

58 General reference number for children's laughter

59 Delay button

60 General reference number for all lightable portions of the case

A1 Start

A2 Set or change tape number?

A3 Enter tape number

A4 Set time to play each day?

A5 Enter time

A6 Play it now?

A7 Wait

A8 Is tape done?

A9 Select next tape

A10 Play tape

Claims

In the Claims What is claimed is:

1. A system comprised of an audiovisual presentation means, a control means and a data access means for accessing a data source, said data source comprised of control information and blocks of data, each block of which has a substantially different meaning and each of which is comprised of a series of elements, each element of which has substantially the same meaning but in a different human language whereby said control means and data access means can allow presentation of said elements by said audiovisual presentation means.

2. Data access means and a data source as in Claim 1 which afford substantially random access to said data source.

3. Data access means and a data source as in Claim 1 which afford substantially sequential access to said data source.

4. Blocks of data and control information as as in Claim 1 comprised of control information contained in or preceeding said blocks of data.

5. Blocks of data and control informationas in Claim 1 comprised of control information substantially separate from each of said blocks of data.

6. Blocks of data and elements thereof as in Claim 1 comprised of elements arranged by language in a different order in each of said blocks.

7. A system and said control information as in Claim 1 with said control information containing the identification of the language contained in each of said elements.

8. Idenfificatbn as in Ctaim 7 permitting the election of one or more of said elements based on the langauge contained in said elements.

9. A data access means and an audiovisual presentation means as in Claim 1 comprised of a data access means, a housing, a speaker means and a visual presentation means.

10. A housing as in Claim 9 having the shape of a beetle.

11. A housing as in Claim 9 having connection means for suspending said housing.

12. A housing as in Claim 9 portions of which can be illuminated as an apparent function of the language being presented.

13. Data access means as in Claim 1 for accessing data from a portable storage means.

14. Portable storage means as in Claim 13 comprised of an audio cassette tape, a compact disk, an analog video disk or a digital video disk.

15. Data access means as in Claim 1 for accessing data from an external data source.

16. An external data source as in Claim 15 comprised of a television signal.

17. A system and said data source as in Claim 1 which permits the presentation of audio information In one language and the visual display of related Information in another language at the same time.

18. Elements as in Claim 7 comprised of transliteration of a human language.

19. Control means as in Claim 7 comprised of volume control means for said audiovisual presentation.

20. Control means as in Claim 1 permiting a pause or a delayed reduction in volume or a delayed termination of an audiovisual presentation.

21. Control means as in Claim 1 which causes a daily audiovisual presentation to occur at a specific time each day.

22. Presentation means as in Claim 1 comprised of speaker means and/or visual display means.

23. A data format comprised of control information and blocks of data, each block of which has a different meaning and each of which is comprised of a series of elements, each element of which has substantially the same meaning but in a different human language, said control information comprised of basic information descriptive of said elements.

24. Basic information as in Claim 23 comprised of data indicating the location of each element, the length of each element, the human language contained in each element, the data type information of each element and an identification as to the grouping of said blocks of which each element is a part.

25. Control infomiation as in Claim 23 contained in or preceeding each block of data.

26. Control information as in Claim 23 substantially separate from said blocks of data.

27. Blocks of data and elements as in Claim 23 said blocks comprised of elements presented in a different random language order in each block.

28. Data type information as in Claim 24 comprised of information which indicates that an element contains audio information, visual written information or visual transliteration information.

29. Blocks of data as in Claim 23 comprised of data which can be presented as audible information.

30. Blocks of data as in Claim 23 comprised of data which can be presented as written 90 language.

31. Blocks of data as in Claim 23 comprised of data which can be presented as written transliterations of language.

95 32. A date format as in Claim 23 comprised of recorded and/or transmitted human voices.

33. Human voices as in Claim 32 simulated or created by a computer generated source.

34. Elements as in Claim 23 comprised of pairs of presentations in each language.

100

35. Pairs of presentations as in Claim 34 comprised of a female voice and a male voice.

36. Female and male voices as in Claim 35 of announcers who are children.

105 37. An audiovisual means, control means, data access means and blocks of data as in Claim 23 with said audiovisual means comprised of a speaker means presenting real or simulated human laughter between said blocks of data.

38. A control means and an audiovisual presentation means as In Claim 23 allowing a visual 110 display of the written version and/or the transliteration of said written version of the language being heard.

39. A control means and an audiovisual presentation means as in Claim 23 allowing a visual display of notation indicating the language being heard and/or visually displayed.

115 40. Blocks of date as in Claim 23 each comprised of elements having substantially the same word order.

41. A process means comprised of a control means, a date access means and an audiovisual presentation means used to convert information into data comprised of blocks of date, 120 each block having a different a meaning and each block comprised of elements having substantially the same meaning but in different human languages.

42. A process means as in Claim 40 which creates a different random language order for the elements in each block.

125

43. A process means as in Claim 40 which creates control information indicating the location of each element, the length of each element, the human language contained in each element, the data type information of each element and an identification as to the grouping of said blocks of which each element is a part.

130

44. Control means and an audiovisual presentation means as in Claim 40 which creates a data stream, for presentation by said audiovisual presentation means, by selecting all or part of the elements forming said blocks based on the languages contained in each element.

135 45. Data type information as in Claim 43 comprised of information which indicates that an element contains audio information, visual written Information or visual transliteration information.

46. Information as in Claim 41 comprised of analog signals

140

47. information as in Claim 41 comprised of digital signals.