Foreign destinations are always a thrilling place to
visit. After all, you can only get so
excited about traveling somewhere local.
Traveling overseas, however, offers so much more in terms of new things
to see and experience, and for most true globetrotters, it is those differences
that make it all worthwhile. Going
abroad can present some challenges other than trying to figure out how to
occupy your time during lengthy airport layovers. Communication. Chances are, your foreign destination also
comes with a foreign language and unless you are a multi-linguist, you may
encounter some harrowing interactions with the local that leave you frustrated
with your English-to-[insert language
here] dictionary and performing flamboyant hand gestures in hopes of
bridging the communication gap.
We at International Career Studies encourage you to always
try and learn a new language. Becoming
bilingual has many benefits which we spoke about in another post done back in
March entitled “Je
ne parle pas le français… o español”.
Speaking the language on a regular basis is the best way to learn of
course, but for the intrepid traveler who is concerned about getting by between
now and the day they are completely fluent in Yiddish, here are some helpful
tools for your mobile device or computer that can help make the transition
between blundering mono-linguist to smooth talker a bit easier.
Despite
the funny name, Jibbigo is a fantastic speech-to-speech translation app for
your iPhone or Android device. Voted one
of Travel & Leisure’s Top Travel Apps,
this application allows the user to speak into the device and then have the
device speak back the sentence in the desired language.
It
features state-of-the-art voice recognition software, a vocabulary of over
40,000 words, includes a dictionary, onscreen speech display and for super
convenience, the app does need to be connected to a network in order to
function. And what is perhaps the best
feature, is that Jibbigo is bi-directional which means that you can turn it
towards the person you are trying to communicate with in order to carry out a
full conversation.
Developed
by QuestVisual, this application for mobile devices had an amazing launch with
the spread of a viral demonstration video which amazed
and astounded people. This is a visual
app that allows you to point the camera on your iPhone at words on a menu, sign
or even billboard and have them translated.
It also features a dictionary and like Jibbigo, does not require you to
be connected to a network.
The
downside is that it can get a little pricey and the translations only go one
way. For example, you would have to
purchase the English-to-Spanish translator for $10.00 and the
Spanish-to-English translator for another $10.00. However for travelers who are constantly
befuddled by street signs and menus, this magical app is definitely worth it.
3.
Reverso
This
free online translator, while not horrible pretty to look at, gets the job
done. While it does require a connection
to the internet in order to access, this service allows you to copy and paste
in your text and then translates it into the desired language with just a
simple click. It also offers a
dictionary, conjugation guide, grammar tutorial and a few other nifty features
that go beyond simply translating a phrase to helping you understand the
sentence construction which is great if you are actually trying to learn the
language.
And
of course, let us not forget Google.
This powerful search engine offers a basic online translation service and
app for your mobile device for free.
Whether you only need to enter a single word, a single sentence or an
entire document, it can handle just about anything you throw at it. Simple and easy to use, Google Translate has
voice input for 17 languages, spoken translations for 24 languages and text
translations for 63.
For
anyone who has used this service before, you already know that it has the
potential to distort many of the available translations, specifically those
with abstract alphabets and characters; however, it is accurate enough to get
the gist across when traveling and it is free so we can forgive it for being
grammatically incorrect at times.
Now, that’s not to
say a standard hard copy dictionary isn’t worth investing in for that time when
your mobile battery dies but with so many fast and easy applications out there,
it is hard for the average traveler not to admit the value in having a digital
copy at hand that won’t leave pronunciation up to the imagination. Do you have a favourite app that you use
while traveling? We’d love to hear which
tools you have used and found useful.
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