Translation made easy
By Meg Rivera
WORKING in an ESL school has definitely given me some perspective on what it’s like to navigate your environment in a language you barely speak.
Having grown up in Cebu, I don’t always appreciate how easy it is for us to communicate in English. However, it certainly inspires creativity among my students when they want to be understood. I once had a student who needed toilet paper from his sleeping roommate who was from another country. You can imagine what he had to mime to be able to communicate what he wanted!
But awkward miming aside, this week we look into three apps that make translation easier. There certainly isn’t a limit on where and how you can use these, which is the best part about using them. Do away with the weird charades, and look a bit sleeker at trying to demystify any weird language barriers you might run in to.
App name: Google Translate
App developer: Google, Inc.
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: You didn’t think I was going to do this article without mentioning Google Translate did you? This is one of the best free apps I have ever seen for translating texts. It translates a multitude of languages into grammatically correct sentences, which is handy if you need to say a whole sentence rather than just a word.
Overall comment: There is a reason why this app is so favoured. The simple user interface makes it easy for anybody to use, and you can even listen to the translation to get the pronunciation right. A nurse friend of mine has used this to communicate with a French patient, and she says that there was nothing this app could not translate correctly. A solid app, which excels at what it was designed for. Four clicks out of five.
App name: iTranslate
App developer: Sonico GmbH
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: This comes as the closest competitor available against Google Translate. It comes pretty much with all of the same features, except with a handwritten option.
Overall comment: I was blown away by this one, and this is after playing with Google Translate. The handwritten option lets you write the words for translation instead of just typing it in. This is excellent if you had a smartphone and tended to write more than type. Dead useful, and good for learning new words. Four clicks out of five.
App name: Word Lens
App developer: Quest Visual
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: Easy as pie. Hover the text over your camera lens, and let this app unscramble it into a language you understand. It does vice-versa translations, and doesn’t need a network connection to function. Buy the language packages you want, and you’re good to go! Your choices are limited to the European languages for now, so I’m hoping that future updates include some of the Asian ones.
Overall comment: This is pretty cool to play with, I must say. You literally see the words rearrange themselves before your very eyes. However, use this only for simple signs or short pieces of text. It doesn’t have its grammatical competence down yet, so you could potentially be in for a grand time trying to understand what the text means. Good in a pinch though. Three clicks out of five.
