Very soon a computer will be able to teach you English. It will also be able to translate any language for you too. It's just one more incredible result of the development of microprocessors--those tiny parts of a computer commonly known as 'silicon chips'. So give up going to classes, stop buying more textbooks and relax. In a couple of years you won't need the international language of English. Already Texas instruments in the United States is developing an electronic translation machine. Imagine a Spanish secretary, for example, who wants to type a letter from the boss to a business man in Sweden. All he or she will have to do is this first type the letter in Spanish. The letter will appear on a television screen. After a few seconds the translated letter will appear on another television screen in Stockholm in perfect Swedish. And that's not all. Soon a computer will be able to teach you English, if you really want to learn the language. You'll sit in front of a television screen and practise endless structures. The computer will tell you when you are correct and when you are wrong. It will even talk to you because the silicon chips can change electrical impulses into sounds. And clever programmers can predict the responses you, the learner, are likely to make. So think of it. You will be able to teach yourself at your own pace. You will waste very little time, and you can work at home. And if after all that, you still can't speak English you can always use the translating machine. In a few years, therefore, perhaps there will be no need for BBC Modern English, or BBC English by Radio programs--no more textbooks or teachers of English. Instead of buying an exciting new textbook, the computer will ask you to replace it with microprocessor one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four. Fast, reliable and efficient language learning and translating facilities will be available to you. Think of that no more tears or embarrassing moments. One little problem is that a computer can't laugh yet-- but the scientists are working on it. Happy learning! Silicon chips are ______.