Help Me Hank: Help Me Hank! Lost in translation

Oktoberfest. You don't need to know German to figure that out.

And the auto-packed Autobahn is German too, but universal.

And Gesundheit. That's easy to comprehend.

But how about Einzelgesprachen? Or Sprachbefehle? That's what's making Sirry look so perplexed.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"This German I do not understand. I just don't get it."

Sirry, who moved here from Iceland years ago, purchased this really elaborate phone. It was expensive, too.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"It does almost everything."

She knows it has a camera and does all kinds of other stuff.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"[It] transfers data, documents, my calendar, everything."

And, of course, it can call people.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"I mean, it's a beautiful phone."

So was ist los? Well, the instruction book she got is entitled "Zusatzanwendungen." And to Sirry it was nicht gut, the whole book was auf Deutsch.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"I thought that I would be getting the information in English."

But her instructions were lost in translation. So, Sirry complained to the store where she got the phone, and not just once.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"I went to the store five times, and every time, they would tell me different information."

Meanwhile, she tried to figure out her phone by just experimenting, but with only eine kleine German.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"I can say guten Tag, wie geht es, but that's about it."

That only resulted in crashes, lost data and a whole lot of frustration.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"I am not able to use all the things that I want to use, because I have no idea how to work them."

And all these little symbols? No idea.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"Well, that is actually when I called you guys."

So, we got on the phone, one we know how to use, and it turns out the phone Sirry wanted was hard to find in the U.S. It had to be ordered from Germany, and these were the only instructions that came with it.

Meanwhile, our intrepid intern Sam hit the Internet and found the English instructions, which were okay to keep Sirry connected with the basics, until we got the manufacturer on the line.

Soon after, the brand new user manual (see that's what Zusatzanwendungen means) arrived.

And now Sirry is dialing and shooting and even doing Dateien übertragen.

Sirry Baldurs, cell phone owner
"I think it's great."

If you don't buy a phone directly from the manufacturer or provider, this is what can happen. So, check everything carefully before you leave the store.

(Copyright 2007 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)