Cattwg Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Thinking about Bulletguy’s post and the language barrier. Has anyone any first hand experience of hand held translators? One of these devices, if they really work may be a worthwhile investment for we wanderers of the Continent. Prices seem to vary from about £15 to £150. Are the more expensive ones so much better? The other option may be membership of one of the ‘pass the phone websites’. Again does anyone have any first hand experience of them? I appreciate that there may be an apps for an iphone. I do not have an iphone and in any case would rather keep them separate – on the principle that if the iphone is stolen you have lost both facilities. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 They also do some good ones for Android smartphones. We have used ours on an HTC Wildfire to quite good effect on occasions, though I see from your last paragraph that this is not a route you wish to use. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Useful to be able to spend a little time with you robber - should give his mate a bit longer to rummage in your van while you swap anecdotes on your translator! Maybe he'll even relieve you of the translator as well as your cash! Mind, he'll always to be able to say thank you in English. My head hurts! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Brian Kirby - 2011-12-18 5:10 PM Useful to be able to spend a little time with you robber - should give his mate a bit longer to rummage in your van while you swap anecdotes on your translator! Maybe he'll even relieve you of the translator as well as your cash! Mind, he'll always to be able to say thank you in English. My head hurts! :-D Apologies, re-reading the above I realise I had omitted to add, before "My head hurts!" that one may well be very useful later, at the police station. I was so overtaken by my mental image of handing it to the thief, I forgot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Brian Kirby - 2011-12-18 6:08 PM Brian Kirby - 2011-12-18 5:10 PM Useful to be able to spend a little time with you robber - should give his mate a bit longer to rummage in your van while you swap anecdotes on your translator! Maybe he'll even relieve you of the translator as well as your cash! Mind, he'll always to be able to say thank you in English. My head hurts! :-D Apologies, re-reading the above I realise I had omitted to add, before "My head hurts!" that one may well be very useful later, at the police station. I was so overtaken by my mental image of handing it to the thief, I forgot! Started on the vino a tad early this evening Brian? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 BGD - 2011-12-18 6:15 PM Started on the vino a tad early this evening Brian? ;-) I was just thinking the same thing (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 pelmetman - 2011-12-18 6:21 PM BGD - 2011-12-18 6:15 PM Started on the vino a tad early this evening Brian? ;-) I was just thinking the same thing (lol) (lol) No! I think that's the problem! CORKSCREW!! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Some years ago, at the insistence of SWMBO, I subscribed to a service called "Pass the Phone", which I believe is based in Spain. For a one-off fee for a number of calls (I think it is ten) it is possible to use a phone-based translation service in order to sort out a problem and is not time-limited. This we took out when we first started to travel into Europe. If the problem is serious enough to warrant a translator then it is possible to call the number, explain the problem and then pass the phone to the other person who then is given the message in their own local language When travelling extensively it is highly unlikely that a voyager will be able to converse in each of the languages of the countries journeyed to. Since we invested in the facility we have learnt French and can get by in German, but Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are beyond our capabilities and we are of an age where learning a language is becoming increasingly difficult. Why oh why weren't we given the opportunity to start on a foreign language at the start of the formal education process? J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 eljay - 2011-12-18 9:56 PM Why oh why weren't we given the opportunity to start on a foreign language at the start of the formal education process? J You think you've got problems ;-)...................I'm still trying to learn English :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 eljay - 2011-12-18 9:56 PM Why oh why weren't we given the opportunity to start on a foreign language at the start of the formal education process? J Don't know your age, but when I was at school, way back in the 50s / early 60s, it was very difficult not to learn languages. English, French, German and Latin [yes, I know, a dead language, but awfully useful for the rudiments of grammar in whatever language you study] were compulsory - in a Welsh school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Gwendolyn - 2011-12-18 10:47 PM.....................................Don't know your age, but when I was at school, way back in the 50s / early 60s, it was very difficult not to learn languages. English, French, German and Latin [yes, I know, a dead language, but awfully useful for the rudiments of grammar in whatever language you study] were compulsory - in a Welsh school. Now a Welsh-Latin dictionary I'd really like to see! :-) Discipuli picturam spectate. Picturam est tablam. Ubi est Roma? Ubi est Galla? Remember that? :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Look you topic twisters, this is an interesting topic for me. So, to pull it back on track a bit, has anyone tried one of the talking handheld translators or is that what you are all on about? I have one of the text jobbies and have found it quite lacking, unable to translate simple phrases like " It appears that my diesel injection pump has packed up, I need recovery". Fortunately my "pass the phone service" (a Spanish gentleman passing by who spoke English, Spanish and German) was able to translate for me.(thanks Miguel if you are reading this)) Are the talking translators good or what? Which one do you own? H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattwg Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 eljay - 2011-12-18 9:56 PM I subscribed to a service called "Pass the Phone", which I believe is based in Spain. For a one-off fee Yes, thanks, eljay I am aware of this service in fact there are now several companies of this type – a Google search brings them up. My concern would be that the membership is paid or the minutes bought but when the service is actually required in ‘X’ years time the company no longer exists. The device would only have to be as good as say Google Translate which I often use to add specific phrases to my various phrase books and dictionaries. Assuming that the device is adequate, the main disadvantage I can see is that really you need to be in a situation where the other party can read the translation. Otherwise you have to be able to pronounce the foreign language, probably over the phone. As Hallii intimates, many of us travel far and wide across Europe so I would have thought the question would have been of interest to quite a few on the forum. So the question stands. Does anyone have any first hand experience of hand held language translators? Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I think to be any good it would need to be good at voice recognition as it is very time consuming trying to converse with pencil and paper and/or a dictionary and as for holding a conversation by writing or typing into any device - particularly one that does not have a full size keyboard - sorry but I can't see it being very practical in many situations especially in an emergency? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryW Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I have what amounts to an electronic dictionary and I would suggest this type is of little or no use in an emergency. I also have a device that translates phrases in certain categories including SOS. This type is better, it at least allows you to request an ambulance or say that you have been robbed but that is about as far as you can go. See my old ebay listing http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290624866001?ssPageName=STRK:MEUSX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1560.l2649 In my opinion neither is of much use though I do carry the second when visiting countries in which I do not have some basic language skill. Better than nothing when I already have one but as suggested above, today I would research aps on a smart phone rather than purchase one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I know you said not an app for an iphone but you dont need anything. Just a phone with access to the Internet. I have an iPhone but any phone will do. I also have Vodafone's data traveller which is £10 a month for the internet everyday anywhere in europe. I just bookmark google translate. Wander around France or Switzerland or whereever and when I see something I want to translate I just type it in and it translates it. Fannys your Aunt! It gets a bit tedious at museums and stuff but its flipping useful. I think iPhone did develop an App where you point the camera at a sign or menu and it auto tranlsates it but last time I looked it was only in beta and in Spanish only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.