Google Translate.
K that’s the blog!
Just kidding. I wanted to take a quick blog to share the ins and outs of my favorite app for travel to a country where you don’t speak the language. I admit, traveling to countries where English wasn’t spoken was a MASSIVE fear of mine when I started out traveling. And that was back in the early 2000s! Before all this technology. I no longer have that fear, but I do cherish the technology we have now in places where it’s not easy to communicate.
Google Translate is available in all the app stores. It is it’s own app, so you don’t have to login with google or have any gmail account or anything. (Though you can if you want).
The home page of google translate:
The top right icon lets you login to your google account.
The star allows you to save common phrases across your devices if you do login.
The center allows you to enter text in your own language, or paste text from the unknown language. The bottom arrows will allow you to choose from which language TO which language you need translated.
There are 133 languages (right now) available in google translate. And most of them are downloadable by clicking on the down arrow next to the language.
The switcheroo arrow allows you to go back and forth between the language you’re working with.
“Conversation” opens a window that allows you and the person you are conversing with to record the language and receive a translation. A taxi driver. Your waiter. A woman you’ve asked for directions. It’s pure magic.
The microphone icon in the bottom center allows you to speak into the device and receive a translation, or allow someone else to speak into it (similar to “conversation”) but one phrase at a time.
The camera icon is my favorite feature of all. Open it, and point your device at your foreign menu. Voila! It’s translated right in front of your very eyes.
Have I convinced you that you don’t need to be afraid of traveling to countries where there’s a different language? I sure hope so.
And if you need help getting started or taking those first, middle, and last steps… you know who to call for travel planning services! It’s me!
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