Not Lost in Translation

[Skeezics]

FYI: "Google Translate" A free app from Google for the iphone and ipad. Simply key in the English word and then select the language you wish....and....you have the word translated.

 

We just returned from a land trip to China. (The 32 day trip on the Legend earlier in the year had us yearning for land, lots of land). Able to order an extra dirty martini, shaken, not stirred. After all, have to have your priorities in order. Anyway, our servers were tickled!

 

On a side note: We had a wonderful guide in Xian for the "Warriors". Be glad to provide the name; if anyone wishes. Know that Shanghai is becoming a port for many of the cruise lines. Only about a 2 hr. plane trip, plus an hour on each end for car transfers to and from Shanghai to Xian. So if you are embarking or debarking, is a feasible option.

 

Also posted in Ports of Call.

[Keith1010]

Excellent. Thank you for the recommendation for the App.

 

Keith

[Bornatravelingman]

If you have an iPhone or iPad, the application "ITranslate" ( http://budurl.com/itranslate )will blow you away. For 99cents the ap allows you to speak into the phone in English (or any of the other offered languages), and then transcribes it into the language you choose then speaks it in that language. I do speak multiple languages (French and Dutch), and I can tell you that the translations are excellent. You even have the ability to translate from American English to Australian English (which is quite funny).

[Bornatravelingman]

I did forget to mention if you use this overseas, and don't have a data plan, these translations could become pricy.

[sananda]

I have used Google translate extensively, and overall, I am amazed at how nice the app works. Also, you don't have to type the phrase in if you have the new iphone 4s, you just talk into the phone and check that it heard you correctly (you can edit by typing, you don't need to say it again). In a quiet setting, with my accent, it gets things correct ~99% of the time, accuracy goes down with the voice recognition in noisy settings. The pronounciation of the 3 languages I am fluent in is quite good when it plays the phrase through the speaker. You do need to have wifi or use your data plan to get new phrases, but before our trip we loaded in hundreds of phrases we thought we might use and the iphone stores the translations for you. Also it can quickly translate the same phrase into any of the languages it knows. Why is this useful? When we went on our cruise, my wife was more comfortable knowing that her phone could say "excuse me, where are the restrooms?" in Italian, French, Spanish and Catalan all with one touch of the screen.

 

But be warned, sometimes it gets the translations comically wrong. My colleague (native French speaker) was asked to vet the phrase "can you offer me a job?". Google translate came up with "you can rent me" in French.