Students first translate the opening paragraph of Camus's L'Étranger on their own, from 'Aujourd'hui, maman est morte' to the telegram, 'Mère décédée. Enterrement demain. Sentiments distingués.' Using the school's approved Gemini accounts, with no personal information entered, each student writes four briefs that vary one thing, such as a literal version, a version for a British teenager or a version that keeps a French flavour, and runs each brief in three fresh chats, giving twelve machine versions. In Google Docs they tabulate how each version handles the key choices (maman, the uncertainty over the day, the flat tone of the telegram) beside their own version and the published translations of Stuart Gilbert ('Mother died today') and Matthew Ward ('Maman died today'). Over three lessons each student writes a 600-word commentary on which choices the machine makes every time, which move with the brief, and what that shows about the difficulty of Meursault's voice; the teacher comments on the drafts in Docs, and in the last lesson each student presents one disputed choice to the group.
Tools: Gemini for Education, Google Docs Nine ideas for your own version in Generate
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