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Somewhere at a cocktail lounge in Norway, you'll see that "Ladies are Requested Not to have Children in the Bar" while on the other side of the globe, you'll see another sign at a Korean restaurant in New Zealand that says "We do not re-use the food."
These funny mistranslations could have been avoided if only a reliable translation app. was used. There are a variety of choices available in the market and here's a list of options to choose from:
iTranslate
Overview: More than translating the usual written and spoken phrase, this app can adjust an audio playback speed to slow down or speed up so you can have a more accurate pronunciation. You can mark your saved translations as favorites so you can check it out again at any given time and save it in Evernote to create a personalized phrasebook.
What's Hot: The bookmarking feature is a great time-saver. The offline translation mode is available in eight dialects while 92 languages with 27 voice translations are offered online. Its voice-to-voice conversations work in 40 languages.
What's Not: Great features are available. Only for paid subscribers though (monthly subscription costs $4.99, bi-monthly is $9.99, and annually comes for $29.99), Phonetic English spellings might be lost in translation for languages with different alphabets.
The Bottomline: More useful for audio translations and features are mainly available online.
Google Translate
Overview: With Google's flagship mobile translation tool, you can generate a written translation for almost anything that you type, speak, take a picture, or even draw on your touchscreen. It has added a number of supported languages with audio translations. But wait, there's more. Google updated the app's functions with its conversation mode. It can translate conversations and can even translate two audio languages at once, with a spoken and text translations for both parties of the conversation in quite real-time speed.
What's Hot: As Time Magazine called it "a great companion for a trip abroad", Google Translate's versatility, simple interface and mostly accurate translations make it one of the best translation app today.
What's Not: It can be literal at times. And when it comes to Asian characters, results can be comical.
The Bottomline: It may not be perfect but with 90 languages with 38 having voice translations, features available offline including the downloadable translation packs for 50 languages, and no fee, surely the best things in life are free.
TripLingo
Overview: This iOS app offers several translations for 23 languages from Arabic to Vietnamese and shows how any given phrase be translated to formal, casual, slang, and even crazy versions. Not only does it offer phonetic guides, non-English alphabets are available too. But if you want to be more accurate, you can connect with a human translator for a fee of $24.99 for five minutes.
What's Hot: It's interesting to know that it also comes with instructional phrasebooks, tips sheets on local etiquette which both work connection-free, and audio lessons. And its phrase book's impressive language translation is golden.
What's Not: The price. To enjoy the app's premium features, costs can range from $9.99 for a single language to the complete package of $49.99. A free version only offers a mere 20 phrases for each language.
The Bottomline: Advisable for business travelers or tourists who can allocate a budget for the app's fee especially its live support.
Ingilizceturkce
Overview: Though it's not a mobile app, translation is made easier through this website. Texts can be translated into major world languages such as English, Chinese, French which are included among the 51 languages it supports. It also has text to speech service and speaking voice translator.
The Good: Its voice translators are not only educational but can be pretty enjoyable, especially when you hear the intonation of different languages. If all else fails, you can ask for a professional translation support for a fee.
What's Not: It's a website, and they don't have an app at the moment.
The Bottom Line: Ideal to use for those studying to translate English in a beginner and elementary level. The sight and sound features help in faster learning of language, especially English.