Help translating this sentence: "They're speaking a different language"

Question

I've run this through Google translate, and received this: 他们说的是不同的语言

Pinyin: Tāmen shuō de shì bùtóng de yǔyán

I would have expected it to be something like: 他们说不同的语言

Pinyin: Tāmen shuō bu tóng de yǔyán

So my version, I guess it would equate to "They speak different language"

• Should I include 在 (zài) before the verb to indicate "speaking" vs "speak"?
• Why in the first example does the 的 particle exist twice and what role does shì play?

Answer 1

1. If you want to express a present continuous tense, yes, a "在" is necessary, cause "他们说不同的语言" express a fact. They may be not speaking now.

2. The 他们说的是不同的语言 is not the exact translation. A better version for "They're speaking a different language" should be: 他们在说不同的语言，as yours. On the other hand, a better English translation of "他们说的是不同的语言" should be: They were speaking a different language, or "What they were speaking is a different language". The second one is a bit strange, but can help you to understand the twice "的" and "是"。他们说的 ："What they were speaking"， 是 ：is， 不同的语言： different language.