Abstract: It has been proposed in the past to provide a series of different cordless appliances, any one of which will fit onto a docking station or base unit from which power is supplied. The invention provides a data connection (4, 12) between the base unit (1) and the cordless appliance (9) so that the base unit (1) knows what appliance is currently in use. This allows a control system (12) to be fitted in the base unit (1) that is sufficiently sophisticated to be able to control any of the cordless units, the identity of the unit (9) currently in use, and therefore the way in which it is to be controlled, being derived via the data connection (4, 12).

Abstract: The invention addresses the problem of communicating effectively in a foreign language. A phrase to be communicated is selected from an address in a table (4A) and is displayed, in the user's mother tongue, on one side (3A) of a display so that it can be seen by the user. Displayed alongside it is the content of a similar address from table (C), this being a phonetic version of a translation of the phrase into a foreign language. The foreign language phrase is extracted from a similar address in table (4B) and is displayed on an opposite side (3B) of the screen. In use, the user can attempt to speak in the foreign language by using the phonetic version of the phrase; whilst the person to whom the user is speaking can understand what is being said by referring, if necessary, to the side (3B) of the screen. In an alternative version, information equivalent to that in database (4) is printed on cards in such a way that it can be presented on two sides in a way equivalent to the FIG. 1 arrangement.