Translation apps?

I used Google Translate exactly as you described (and in the Baltics) to translate signs etc. in real time. For example, if I wanted to make sure the bottle of water I was buying in Riga was carbonated, I would hold up my phone to the label and let it translate the Latvian label into English.

David, Google translate will do exactly what you desire. I used it in Sicily to communicate with paramedics and doctors at the ER when my husband had a minor medical emergency. One of the paramedics actually initiated the conversation with Google Translate. She asked a question on her cellphone and I typed an answer back. Great tool and I would never travel without it. It has many languages available.

Hi David
Here’s another vote for Google Translate, an invaluable app!

Have a wonderful trip!

Used Google Translate this way in Greece last year. The app let's you choose to use your phone's camera as the input. It is a little wild to look at a label in a grocery store through the phone and watch Google substitute English words over the Greek ones. Sometimes it didn't make much sense, but it generally was awesome magic.

I think you can download a dictionary to use offline, but I may be misremembering that fact.

Hah - good answers! I have always just used it online, not the app. Off to go download it now.

Thanks!

Allow for user error..... there were times I'was frustrated that it was continuing to just show the can label in spanish.....and then I'd realise I had changed setting to translate English to Spanish..... so my phone was patiently showing me s Spanish words!!!!

Who knew? Well, I guess a lot of people, but I did not. Like David, I have used Google Translate by typing into the app. Thanks for sharing, all. This Travel Forum is the best!

SuzieeQQ
San Diego

" think you can download a dictionary to use offline, but I may be misremembering that fact."

I vaguely recall that the offline dictionaries are only available for some languages. For the languages you mentioned, you may need to have data access.

I've tried Google Translate and other apps on a variety of occasions and in different situations, and have found that they're useful for simple phrases but they're not perfect. I've asked native speakers in Italian, French and German on their opinions on the translations. Their answers ranged from "it's close and would probably get the meaning across" to "it's completely wrong". Apps are getting better all the time, but they're certainly not yet at the same level of functionality as the Star Trek Universal Translator.

Apps are getting better all the time, but they're certainly not yet at the same level of functionality as the Star Trek Universal Translator.

Agreed.

None of the languages we needed on our recent trip (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian) work with Google Translate when offline. I tried it a couple of times when online, and the results it produced were 100% wrong (and hilarious, actually). Here's one example:

In Estonia, I spotted a copy of Michael Wolff's recent book on Donald Trump in a bookshop window. The original title of the book (in English) is FIRE AND FURY. INSIDE THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE.

I ran that through Google Translate. It translated that to: HOLY RAW AND LIFE SHORT RIVER HOUSE.

I assume that "Donald Trump" translated to "Holy Raw". Can't really argue with that, I suppose.

Good for a chuckle, but...still needs a little work.

Yup, of all the apps I tried, Google Translate is still the best.