Communicating in foreign countries can be hard, especially if you constantly have to flip through the pages of a translator book just to order a coffee. While standing in line to order that coffee, you most likely have your phone in your pocket, or maybe even in your hand. What if there was a reliable application available that could help you translate with the click of a button, or better yet, with the sound of your voice? Thank goodness for Linguatec Travel Voice Translator ($0.99, link).
Overview
Linguatec Travel Voice Translator offers users an app that they can use on the go. No more thumbing through the pages of a book, simply push a button, say a phrase, and receive the translation in both text, and audio.
Having the ability to hear the phrase or words you want to say makes it that much easier. Better yet, say you are traveling to Italy and you want to be able to access basic phrases quickly, the Travel Voice Translator allows you to save translations into folders you create, or you can simply “favorite” them. When you access saved or favorite phrases, you can even have the app read them back to you again.
The Travel Voice Translator offers a wide variety of languages and translation options, everything from such common languages such as Chinese and Spanish, all the way to Slovak and Turkish. Buyer beware, not all languages have voice recognition and the ability to read back, the app still seems to be a work in progress, but there are still multiple languages that are fully translatable with both text and audio.
The Travel Voice Translator offers translation in up to 66 languages, accurate speech recognition for 33 languages and dialects, and voice response for 38 languages with 53 voices. The library of language resources available is certainly worth the $0.99 price tag.
Now for the answer to the question I’m sure you’re all dying to ask, does it really work? While I am only fluent in English, I tested this app out with my bilingual Polish, and Spanish speaking friends. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the English to Polish translations were spot on, and even the written form was correct, although translating from Polish to English was a little spotty at first. Some words weren’t fully recognized, but all in all, the Travel Voice Translator app functioned pretty well.
Translating can be hard, and in most cases, people fluent in a language tend to speak pretty quickly, the Travel Voice Translator app allows you to control the speed at which sentences are translated back to you. You can start with a slow speed at first, then bump it up to a faster speed when you’re comfortable saying a given phrase. For some languages, there is also the option of having a male or female translator. You can even connect your Bluetooth, so when you are standing in line waiting to order that coffee, you can access your saved phrases and have the app read them back to you without anyone else knowing.
Verdict[rating:4]
If you’re looking for a basic translating application that you can take on the go, Linguatec Travel Voice Translator could be a good option for you. The app performs well in translating to and from various languages. The ability to control the speed of the translations as they are read back to you could be an invaluable asset when trying to communicate with a native speaker.
If you’re a regular international traveler, or if you’re just going to take a quick weekend trip to a resort in Mexico, the Linguatec Travel Voice Translator is worth a try.
Price: $0.99 – Available now in the App Store (direct link)
Pros:
- Translates better than most apps
- Offers the ability to store phrases
- Relatively robust language selection
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Not all languages in the library are supported by speech recognition and audio speech output.
- Languages may not translate with 100% accuracy
This review was written as a guest post by C. Marie Johnson .
