Will be traveling to Italy. Am considering purchasing a palm sized translator Are there any travelers who have used same- did you find it beneficial and would you purchase it again Thank you
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Where are you going in Italy? Unless you're going waaaay off the beaten path, you'll find that the Italians you will interact with will speak enough English for you to get by. Learn some common polite phrases in Italian and use the money you save on the translator to buy a really good meal somewhere. :-)
Posted by
Seattle, Washington, USA
105 posts
I have been studying the Italian language for 2 years. Most of the web based translators are not that great. If you have an IPhone, there are many apps that will translate or even speak the words. But remember - if you say something in another language, the person you are speaking to may reply in that language. Even after 2 years I don't always understand what is being said.
I echo the prior post. Learn a few words of Italian... It is something appreciated in any visiting country. My first trip 10 years ago, I wrote out a cheat sheet of a few common words. But you can be sure that virtually everywhere you will find English speakers.even when I ask something in Italian, I often get a response in English.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32382 posts
Stephanie, This appears to be a duplicate of your other Thread in the "General Europe" section. It would have been better to start only ONE Thread on this subject, in order to keep all the replies in one place. As I suggested in replying to your other Thread, Pocket Translators are not really practical, and IMHO would be a waste of money.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
One of the few instances in which a translator might come in handy is if you're in a restaurant that doesn't have English on their menus. Although the waiter can probably translate most of the items, you might not want to make him stand at your table answering "What's this?" "What's this?" "What's this?" "What's this?" It's up to you to decide whether it's worth it, or just take a chance.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34123 posts
Michael from the land of Bucks from the Stars, There are small phrase books that can often help in restaurants. Surely they would give answers faster than keying into a device?
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
I'm not talking about what phrases to use in a restaurant. I'm talking about the ability to look up strange words. But I still think the OP will be just fine without it. Personally, I find a lot of phrase books useless because if the person you're speaking to replies in Italian, how do you know what they've said?
Posted by
Kailua, Hi, USA
54 posts
Stephanie, If you're taking an iPhone or an android smartphone, the free Google Translate application works very well. You can either type or speak the phrase and it will translate it; it's very accurate. It will also speak the translated phrase for you in Italian and about 50 other languages. It's free, too. There's another free application called Google Goggles. You can take a picture of a menu in, say, Italian and it will translate it to English. The downside is that you must use data for both of these applications, which means either buying an international data package from your wireless provider before you go (big bucks for a few megabytes), or use something like a pocket WiFi from Tep wireless: http://www.tepwireless.com/ It's another gadget you have to carry, but it actually lets you use data affordably on your mobile phone while traveling in Europe. It also lets you use Skype to make and receive phone calls cheaply. Hope you have a great time in Italy!
Gary