Electronic language translators

Waste of money. Anyone who wants your money will speak english:) Learn a few simple greetings in the local language and you will be fine.

You certainly have a point. Thanks

Can you imagine trying to laboriously type a question into your translator while the person you are trying to ask waits? And what happens when they answer you? Keep your money. You will most likely be in tourist areas, and you will always find someone who speaks English. But as the previous poster said, it's only polite to learn a few basic phrases in the native language, too.

There are number of programs available for smartphones that allow you to type, but better yet, will translate what you or another person - like the one you're trying to speak to - says into text which is shown on the screen. As a bonus, it will then speak the translation. Google Translate which was released Feb. 8, is free and will show you how this works for many languages. However, it probably isn't practical for European travel because it needs to send and receive data, which would probably cost a fortune unless you only used it at a wi-fi hotspot. You could track your data usage on the phone while testing the app to get an idea of how much data is required. Standalone translators like Jibbigo! are not free, but because they rely on their built-in database, they don't use up 3g data either. There are youtube videos for smartphone language translators that will show you how this stuff works. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jibbigo&aq=f You'll notice that the translation apps usually keep track of the words and phrases you translate and/or allow you to keep a list of the phrases you want to use another time. Assuming that you are trying to communicate with someone that doesn't speak English and that is patient or fascinated by the tech then using one of these new language translators could be a big help. I would still recommend having at least one standard phrase book and getting comfortable with the basic survival phrases.

Voice recognition translators would be relatively useless in an area where the dialect or accent was stronger than the "standard" pronunciation.

shawna, The others have made some really good points. Either a dedicated Language Translator or a Smart phone App have potential difficulties. Locals are not likely going to wait patiently while you laboriously type phrases into the device. Even if the device is able to speak perfectly, it will likely have problems understanding a quickly spoken response (especially if it's in a dialect). My suggestion is the same as the others. Save your money on the Translator and buy a Phrasebook (those offered on this site are great, and the 3-in-1 Italian/French/German would work well in your circumstances). Learn a few of the common polite words and phrases (please, thank you, good morning, etc.). You'll probably find that many of the locals don't want to speak their own language anyway - they'd much rather practice their English! In my experience in the three countries you mentioned, you probably won't have too many language difficulties in businesses that cater to tourists. I've had a few cases where no one could speak English, but somehow I managed to communicate. To paraphrase one of Rick's favourite pieces of advice, "speak slowly and clearly and enunciate every word; avoid slang and word contractions". If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door before you leave. Where are you travelling in the three countries you mentioned? Happy travels!

You've received good advise above. Often part of the fun and meeting locals is attempting their language. One of our favorite memories of Cinque Terre when we were visiting was everyone (including the older lady behind the counter) laughing at our attempts at very broken Italian as we ordered meat and cheese for a lunch picnic. They even got us going and we giggled our way thru paying. Still not sure what I said that was so funny, but remember the good-natured ribbing, laughing, and back slapping as we left the store. Later the grandson of the lady behind the counter saw us again walking around town and came over to talk with us (in perfect english!). Now I look forward to leaving the beaten track, going into a shop and trying the local language as a way to break the ice.

I prefer a phrase books. I find it takes too long to type in the phrase I want to translate. Plus I might be able to find some string of letters that possibly could be their response on the phrase book page. Chance of me knowing the exact spelling of their response - not very likely. For example if was to ask for directions in French I might be able to make out that speaker said something that sounded like it could be "gauche" - no chance I would know to spell it that way just from hearing them.

Try www.langcommlingo.com You get access to an interpreter night and day if you get stuck but if you don't it only costs you a tenner for a whole year's access to an interpreter. Language gadgets are no doubt very clever and serve a purpose (menu translation and the like), but if the balloon goes up you can't get much better than a human interpreter.

I highly recommend a good electronic dictionary for your smart phone. One that recognizes verb conjugations and plurals, etc. (I love the Accio Pack translators for iPhone.) You will not use this to communicate with people. But you can use it to discretely translate menus. You can use it to construct a crude phrase if you need to go to the pharmacy and then use it to translate the directions on the package. In a real bind, you can have someone write something down and you can translate it. You çan't do that with a phrase book. While it's not as easy as using Google Translate, it is off-line and can be used in Airplane mode.

My wife bought one for me so I packed it on one trip. I found it to be completely useless. I tried using it to translate menus and signs with no luck. The translator only worked well if you knew the root word; the local word as modified with tense, gender, and/or local dialect didn't translate correctly. A phrasebook is more useful. You really will survive without any language except English. Do a little study of basic polite words and phrases, menu items, etc. and you will likely enjoy your trip more.

I completely agree with Dina. I am taking language classes and it's been really helpful to quickly type in a word or phrase and get the response instantly. No, it's not 100% accurate, proper English, but it'll help enough.