Google Translate Question

Google translate is invaluable in any situation in which you don't speak the language. Here are a few tips:

• Download on your Android phone. Unless you take your iPad with you when you travel and it is easily accessible, you will likely use the Android phone more often.
• If you will not have access to cell service or that service is expensive for you to use while traveling, you can use Google Translate offline (e.g. without an internet connection). While you are attached to a wi-fi network, open the Google Translate App on your device, select that languages you want to translate to and from and top the download icon next to the language you want to use offline. Confirm the download and then it will be ready to use if you don't have internet connection. Note camera translation may require an internet connection.
• Google translate has several options: you can type in the text in your native language and then the translation will come up in the translated language. You can speak into Google translate and it will be translated. In either option, you opt to read yourself, show it to the person who speaks that language or play the audio of the translation. Google translate also has a camera option in which you take a photo of the words and it will translate.

Hope this helps.

There is also a camera button in the lower right corner. If you push that, your camera open and you can point it at a sign, menu, etc. Then push the shutter button and Google will translate the sign. Same thing if you have a Google search bar on your phone. There is a camera button that will also translate for you. That same camera on the search bar will also help you if you see something and wonder what it is. Point at something and press the button and it will tell you what you're looking at. My wife uses it quite a bit when she sees some flowers in a garden she likes. She'll point the camera at the flower and Google..usually.. comes up with the answer.

Practice it at home. I use it daily, especially when I am trip planning, like now. Many of the Romanian websites I have visiting are in Romanian only. I can use Google Translate to translate the whole webpage or highlight snippets of text and translate those. That will get you used to working with it.

You can do the same thing with your phone. Find a recording of a foreign language on TV or your iPad, then pull up Google Translate on your phone, start playing the recording and tap "Conversation" on the GT app. It will then translate that conversation for you. Or you can type in sentences and words, and it will translate it for you. But start doing it now so that you will be proficient when you go on your trip.

I had an interesting experience with Google Translate in Germany, when I was trying to talk to a bus driver who was Italian. His German was limited. I speak German, but mine is limited as well. He was trying to tell me something (in Italian) that I couldn't understand. And I was trying to tell him that I knew the bus wasn’t ready to leave and I just wanted to wait there. But he didn’t understand. So he started using Google Translate. But the problem was he was using it to translate his Italian into German (not very successfully, I might add). He evidently did not realize I was American.

I finally managed to get my German through to him so that he understood what I was asking. He had a lightning bolt moment, said yes, and I got on. It was quite the debacle!

All the above is true with the Microsoft "Translator" app, if you'd like to reduce your G 0og le footprint. It works great for me.

I've mostly used the online version for translating written documents, so for that its more useful to have a keyboard to type in the words. It will get remarkably complete even when it has to guess the words, and you don't have the proper symbols or letters on your American keyboard.

There are lots of useful Google Translate App tutorial videos on YouTube. Check them out.

Google translate is good, but I wanted to also suggest DeepL which I think does a better job at translation. It's another app you can download, and it also has that camera functionality for Japanese. You just point your camera at the text and it starts reading it- you don't even need to take a picture. You should be able to get it on your phone and your iPad.

To be honest, you might not even need it. We went to Japan in 2015 and no one in our group knew any Japanese beyond "hello" and "thank you" and we managed fine. At tourist sites and popular restaurants enough people speak English that you can get by. Of course, it's still a good idea to have an app as a back-up. Good luck with your trip!

I thank you everyone. Good information

I am going to hang on to it.

I live in senior housing and one of the social workers who puts on progrms here was using Google Translate with an Iranian resident today and she told me that she will show me how.

Just play with Google Translate at home.

You can download the translation data for a particular language to use it off-line. However, it works best if you have Wi-Fi or mobile data to do translation on the fly.

You can try Translate from English to Japanese and from Japanese into English. You can try typing in phrases. You can try taking photos of signs or menus in Japanese. You can go to Japanese websites and translate everything into English. And you can try the conversation mode. Last year, Los Angeles Dodger Shohei Ohtani gave a press conference in Japanese on television. I turned on Google Translate and compared the translation to that of the interpreter. The translation was fast and pretty good.

I usually compile and save a few common phrases so that they are ready to use when traveling

funpig

Thank you fo the reminder

I have had a lot of things come up and did not get to Google Translate. yet.

Really need to practice.

I am hoping that I can get Google Translate on my iPad or another translation. I do not relate to my phone very well and prefer my iPad.

But while I am on my computer right now, I am going to go to Google Translate.

I have been lax about learning how to use Google Translate because of other things that have come up in my life but I finally went to Google Translate and tested it on my computer.

It was easy enough.

And I will be able to download on my iPad as well as phone.

Will download on my iPad and test first.

You can try taking photos of signs or menus in Japanese.

Or simply hovering your camera over the menu or in front of the sign when having the Google Translate camera function open. It doesn't have to be a static photo that you have taken.

That is great that the person there at your residence will give you some training. Supplement that with some YouTube tutorials and you should be good to go !

Just an FYI, if you want to have another keyboard to use, it's very easy to add one.

I have been learning and speaking German for the last 5 years, so I added a German keyboard to my iPhone and Macbook. You can also do this with your iPad (and presumably your Android phone).

On the iPad just go to the Settings, then click on General, then Keyboards. Look for "Add New Keyboard" and it will give you all the country options, including Japanese. Once you have it set, you can toggle back and forth between the languages by tapping on the globe icon in the lower left hand corner. It's really very easy.

Thank you Kim and Mardee

for the interesting and helpful information

Mardee, it does sound a little complicated for me but worth trying. Have to keep the old brain going

As I have previously said, Family Eldercare is in my building and I will ask for assistance.

I am getting so excited about my trip. Just about three months away.

While one can add a Japanese keyboard to one's phone, I'm not sure that is useful if you can't read at least the hiragana syllabary. You'd need to be able to read the characters to type them.

For basic communication in Japan, I don't think you'll have a problem in English. It's not seamless like in the tourism industry in some parts of Europe, but there is no expectation in Japan that non-Japanese people speak Japanese. By all means, have Google translate or a similar program available and learn a few basic words. But Japanese people will mostly try to speak to you in English anyway.

I visited Japan in 2019. Google translate was immensely useful - not so much in communicating with people, but to read labels, instructions, etc. The only time GT failed was when the script was vertical, like
t
h
i
s

I do think it is worth your time to figure this out before you go. It will be a lot of fun, very excited for you!

Thank you HK and MapLady for your helpful information .

I am going to get better acquainted with Google Translate before leaving.

I am very excited for me also. It is coming together.

Just downloaded Google Translate App on my iPad. I have a mini iPad.

Think that I am figuring it out. It is actually very easy.

It is actually very easy.

See, we told you! ;-) Seriously, I'm glad it's working for you. It can really be helpful.

Mardee

And it is even fun.

I am so glad that I listened to forum and did it.