Visiting a foreign country where you don’t speak the language can make you feel disconnected and frustrated, and it can really lessen your travel experience. Think about all the things you’re missing out on by not being able to read signs or menus for example. Thankfully Google has a really cool and free translation app that can help you out with these issues so you can get more out of your travels to foreign lands.
Just download it to your iPhone or Android device, then take a picture of what you need translated and wahlah, Google translates it for you instantly! Now how cool is that?
Alright, so let’s try it out. Let’s try a sign in Spanish.
As you can see, you have to play around with the wording a bit to get the meaning but it gets you close.
I’ve been playing around with this app for a few days now and I’ve found that sometimes the translations are misleading, or downright bizarre. Now I know nothing is perfect, and expecting this app to be error free is asking too much, especially since I paid nothing for it. With that said, this app is still pretty amazing.
It also allows you to write words that you need translated directly onto the screen, then it converts your writing into type, push the arrow and it translates them.
…becomes…
The translate app also offers the option of speaking the words you want translated. Not only can you see what the translated word looks like, you can hear what it sounds like too!
This app is fun to see what certain words look like in different languages, so I tried “Gutter Pup Adventures” in eight different languages and here’s what it gave me:
ARABIC
HEBREW
HINDI
JAPANESE
KOREAN
PERSIAN
RUSSIAN
YIDDISH
There are a total of 91 languages that you can get translated, all for free! What a deal. The app will even speak the word or sentence for you for a lot of the languages.
If you travel this app is a must! I love it.
Have you tried this app? If so how would you rate it?
If you are familiar with any of the languages above and the translation isn’t correct let me know in the comments below.
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Hi my name is JP Chartier and I write for Gutter Pup Adventures.com where you can expect to read well-written and entertaining articles about the people and places that often get overlooked at many popular vacation destinations around the world.
Wow Im excited to use thid apps.
I just discovered this app recently too, JP, and I did the same experiments you did — a lot of fun. Most of the translations are close enough to be useful, and when they aren’t, at least they’re funny. I decided to try the “Google speak” feature by pointing my tablet at the TV as an ad for a charity was playing. It flashed through several choices before settling on “gluten-free Chinese sex”.
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