Does Anyone use Google Translate while traveling?

Our bus driver last year on our Village Italy tour did not speak English very well. When we wanted to have more than a basic conversation, he would say something in Italian to Google Translate on his phone and then show us, and we'd answer in English and he would read the Italian. It worked surprisingly well but we all understood the technology.

Yes to using both Google Translate and Microsoft Translator. They were lifesavers in Calabria where the B&B owner and one of his guests, a very sweet 80 y/o priest, didn’t speak English. The apps helped in SIL’s ancestral village where no one we met spoke English but they were curious why two old ladies were walking around taking pictures. Our 15 words of Italian didn’t go far. While I question how accurate some of the translations were, I can’t imagine traveling without some way to communicate.

Yes, it is very good. I used it in Japan a few weeks ago.

I have used Google Translate more often recently but it kind of kicked me in the butt in Lviv recently. I got so used to using it over the previous 10 or 12 days, we were at a wine and cheese festival and I used it to ask a question to one of the vendors (English to Ukraine translation) by typing my question in the app in my phone and proudly showing it to the vendor, when she curtly replied " I can speak English you know". I felt like an idiot for not asking first.

nope never; it can be rude and awkward assuming no one speaks English and not at least learning to say "hello do you speak English" in the local language before shoving a device in someone's face. A lot of people were forced to learn English and other languages under colonial power and could resent it

Mike,

Yes, I've used Google Translate several times with somewhat "mixed" results. It works reasonably well with simple phrases but not suitable for carrying on any kind of a "real" conversation. It sometimes produces a translation which is close enough to get the meaning across and other times it's completely wrong! I've tested it with native speakers of German, French and Italian, and my results there were pretty much the same as I found during travels.

Using it for live translation with a shop keeper or whatever might not be well received as older people especially won't appreciate having an electronic device stuffed under their snout while they're trying to conduct business.

Google Translate is getting better with each new version but still not at the level of the Star Trek Universal Translator.

When I left the charging cord for my iPhone in Evora, Google Translate was a godsend when I discovered my carelessness. I approached a lady outside a supermarket in Castelo Branco. I spoke into the phone, she spoke into it and I easily found a shopping mall with 3 phone stores! I’ve used it a few times since and it’s handy for learning pronunciation or taking a photo of a sign and getting a translation - especially when visiting museums with no English signs describing the exhibits.

I have found that just using it ahead of time to come up with the name of what I need before i go into a shop saves energy. For example: "custodia per lenti a contatto" in Italian means contact lens case... helpful when i lost mine recently here in Italy.

I just speak English. If that doesnt work I use lots of patience and a few hand motions and usually get there. My answer is usually, "not your fault, I am in ____________ I should speak _____________"

I use it for sign translation- that feature of holding up your phone’s camera and getting a real time translation. Was super helpful hiking in Switzerland when a German word on a sign turned out to be “Detour!”

I use it only for necessities, after asking (in the local language) if the person speaks English. It works fine for simple things like asking directions but I don’t like it for more complex things.
So I wouldn’t go up to someone and attempt to debate politics with google translate. I WOULD use it to ask “do you have medicine for a headache”

I actually use it most often with Spanish - a language I can communicate the basics and have simple conversations in. It is great for filling in gaps - I can look at the translation and see what it’s doing, how to structure what I need to say, and I will be able to pronounce it!

Kelley, does it work with Cyrillic?

I don’t know about Cyrillic. I’d really think so - it works with Greek and Thai so the Roman alphabet isn’t required.
Note that for the photo feature to work you have to download the language - I’ve never had it work on cellular, but it does if you download the language ahead of time.

Nope. The translations can be so far off to be insults.

I use Google translate in place of using a phrase book when I travel. I have also used it in advance of travel when I have had to call a business for reservations. I always start with the appropriate salutation for the local language and then ask if they speak English. if they don't, then I have already typed into Google translate my request and read it. The trick is over the phone trying to have Google translate accurately capture the response. Because I deal with mainly reservations and not complex requests, it is easy to confirm the response.

Sandy

I want to add that I had better luck with Microsoft Translator than Google Translate and found it easier to use. However, it wants to auto correct to English when you type in a foreign word—very annoying.

I use it all the time, in real time. It’s a very helpful tool. It is not rude. It is not awkward. It allows you to communicate in the most efficient way.

Yes! I just tried it with Russian to English and the camera live-translated it perfectly.

You can download phrases in advance so you don't have to keep typing them in.

Yes, I have used it overseas. I also use it almost daily at work as I teach English as a second language. It’s not always accurate, but it’s definitely helpful in many situations!

I used it in Italy to communicate with our AirBnB hostess. She initiated it, as her English wasn’t great and my Italian was pretty much nonexistent. It was actually quite fun and we were both cracking up, typing and showing the phone back and forth to each other. Quite handy.

Now if they could tie it to a phone call so the person on the other end could hear the translation. I'm thinking about the time in Budapest when I tried to call a taxi but couldn't pronounce the name of the street I was standing on.

We’ve used it. But not in real time. Did a bit of ahead-of-time research, rehearsed a little, kept the phone handy just in case. Worked a treat. I even got complimented on my Italian accent (yes, we were in Italy) and I’m claiming that as all my own work!

I do what Ian does.

Funny, my husband has used it on several trips. First, we try English, then a phrase or two (which we butcher in the native language) along with pointing and gesturing and then the google translate. I am a Speech/Language Pathologist and have used it when I am working with a family that English is not their first language. Especially grandparents to simply explain what is going on and how they can help their grandchild. I have found that helpful.

While on vacation in Eger, Hungary, I got a sinus cold. I used Google Translate on my phone to communicate with the pharmacist. I typed in my symptoms and what I was looking for, hit translate, and handed her my phone. She typed back and handed it back. It went on like this for a few minutes (I wanted a tablet, she only had nasal spray), but eventually that's what I got and it worked great.

I have it on my phone and tablet, and downloaded three different translation files so I don’t need to use data, but have never needed to use it.

I had to use it in August 2016. The B&B I was staying in is run by an 80 year old couple that doesn't speak English. The wife was watching the CNN-International videos of the flooding in South Louisiana and didn't understand when I was telling her that that is where I live. After several days, I decided that it was best to cut my vacation short because my wife was home dealing with the flooding by herself.

I was trying to tell the wife that I was leaving tomorrow and I needed to pay whatever was owed to them. After a few minutes of both of us not getting anywhere, I used Google Translate to explain my predicament. The look on her face said it all as she finally realized what I had been telling her.

I've used it, when all else failed, and overall I have found it helpful, though far from perfect. It's a good tool to have along, but I don't suggest you reach for it as the first thing to try. First, make at least some effort in the local language - even if you can't speak it - at least TRY. Then, if that goes really badly, often the person you're trying to communicate with with admit they speak some English (and often theirs is as good as my own). Failing that, try some combination of local language (if only the polite words), gestures, then pull out your phone/tablet, mix in a lot of "sorry" and "please" in the local language. You will get things done, though maybe not elegantly.

I've used in everywhere from Japan to Latvia (I bought a musical instrument in a Tokyo shop where no English was spoken, that was interesting...), from Thailand to Ireland, from the Faroe Islands to Montenegro. Mostly it's at least some help. But Faroese completely threw it - it didn't recognize Faroese as a language, it just treated it as Icelandic (not surprising, both are derived from medieval Old Norse) - and some of the translations were wildly wrong.

It can also be good for a cultural "ice breaker" to introduce some humor into an otherwise awkward interaction: occasionally some of the mis-translations are so completely hilarious it can make for a lot of laughs all around. Try it in a bar after everyone has had a couple drinks and you will probably make some friends. ;)

Never. I've never used Google Translate, don't want to, don't trust it, not needed.

I use my basic French, halting as it is but still slow but sure.

German is absolutely no problem at all, I speak my High German, "they " will respond or try to in kind, no problems whatsoever in communicating.

I've never used it but on my last French trip a Scottish man at my Airbnb was using it to speak with our French hostess. He was doing quite well with it and said it allowed him to have conversations beyond just the basics.

Yes, we’ve used it successfully, even in Russia and Belarus. I’m sure the only way we could get last minute tickets to the Bolshoi was because we had a way to communicate with the ticket office.

Only have used the camera function to translate signs and market labels (particularly in Hungary where neither of us have any language skills.)

We’ve used the picture translate a few times when stumped with some words on a menu.

I do remember our taxi driver in Granada speaking into his phone and then pointing it towards us when he was getting close to the hotel to explain that he would not be able to stop in front of the hotel. I knew about it ahead of time, so I was able to respond quickly that I understood.