Must-Have Translation Apps
Must-Have Translation Apps for 2018!
We’ve all seen it. Many of us have done it. When trying to communicate in a foreign country, people seem to think that speaking loudly (in English) and waving and gesticulating wildly will somehow, magically bridge the vast communication gap. It doesn’t. If anything, it only serves to confuse, bewilder and bemuse poor unsuspecting locals.
Get to the Bathroom on Time!
It wasn’t that long ago when the language barrier was far harder to bridge. Waaaayyy back in the early 90’s when I was traveling through Europe, I had to schlep around many English to (fill in language here) dictionaries with me. Trying to ask locals a simple, yet mildly urgent, question would test their patience, as I frantically leafed through the pages trying to piece together a cogent phrase–more often than not, that phrase was “where is the bathroom,” which I usually managed to mangle. It’s embarrassing to have to resort to Charades to get that point across.
Indeed, getting lost in translation is common. The good news is that it no longer has to be this way! Which brings me to this week’s blog topic.
Travel with Confidence
The following apps will make your travels easier, more fun and, perhaps most importantly, allow you to travel the world with confidence knowing that you will be able to navigate languages with success (and get you to the bathroom on time).
Google Translate
This is one of the best translation apps out there, as Google Translate supports more languages than the competition. Here are the stats:
Type to translate: 103 languages
Offline support: 52 languages
Real Time Video translation: 30 languages
Camera Mode: 37 languages
Speech-to-speech translation: 32 languages
Handwriting translation: 93 languages
It’s a free app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play!
iTranslate Voice
This is a very cool translation app, as it translates what you say right after you say it! At the moment, it supports 44 languages and dialects. This app is as fun as it is useful. Downloadable from the App Store or Google Play.
Waygo
If you are traveling to Asia, this is the app for you! Wago instantly translates Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters with no data connection needed! One of the cool things it can do is Translate Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters using the camera on your smartphone! This app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play!
TripLingo
This is the Swiss Army Knife of translation apps, as it combines a translator with language learning tools, cultural information, free international calls with wi-fi and much more! At the moment, TripLingo supports over 100 countries and offers instant voice translation in 42 languages.
Less Gesturing and Shouting!
We hope that these apps will make your next trip more enjoyable and less intimidating! You won’t need to gesture wildly or shout real loud anymore! If you’ve used other translation apps that you love, let us know! We’re always interested in hearing your suggestions! Happy translating!
