Abstract: A multi-lingual translation system that provides multiple output sentences for a given word or phrase. Each output sentence for a given word or phrase reflects, for example, a different emotional emphasis, dialect, accents, loudness or rates of speech. A given output sentence could be selected automatically, or manually as desired, to create a desired effect. For example, the same output sentence for a given word or phrase can be recorded three times, to selectively reflect excitement, sadness or fear. The multi-lingual translation system includes a phrase-spotting mechanism, a translation mechanism, a speech output mechanism and optionally, a language understanding mechanism or an event measuring mechanism or both. The phrase-spotting mechanism identifies a spoken phrase from a restricted domain of phrases. The language understanding mechanism, if present, maps the identified phrase onto a small set of formal phrases.