There’s no need to take a phrase book on holiday with you to Turkey anymore if you have a smart phone or tablet loaded with the traveller friendly Google Translate App.
Google Translate Your Turkish Holiday Mate
The app could really make your Turkish holiday so much more fun allowing you to:
It won’t allow you to speak like a local but to be able to understand and communicate using just an app is just amazing.
We downloaded the App for the Apple iPad and Apple iphone to see just how good it is to use on the move.
Is Google Translate any Good?
Herhangi bir iyi? Is it Any Good?
Yes, it’s great and the latest version allows you to download your destination language so you can translate offline which is great if you don’t want to incur a hearty roaming charge.
So we downloaded Turkish and went to see how good it is.
Google Translate Picture This
Using your device on board camera Google Translate will translate the writing on a sign or other image you put in front of it. It uses the live video feed and translates on the hoof off line.
So useful when you are trying to work out what a sign means, where a train is going or the like or even a website from a screen.
It cleverly overlays the translated words on the original too.
Before
and after……
You will need to make allowances for the order of words but with a bit of artistic licence you should be able to understand.
You can also get the app to translate text from an image you have already taken too.
Here’s one of a shopping bag almost translated in full…..
Google Translate Speak n Spell
You will need to be online for this next function.
Click on the microphone button and the App will listen to your speech and then translate it!
Even better it will translate a conversation between both languages too.
Give it a try and see how you find it.
We tested the new app by starting with easy phrases and seeing how they came out.
• Where is Fethiye? – Nerede oldugunu Fethiye?
• How much? – Ne Kadar?
• Is there a discount? – Inderim varma
• Where can I get a boat trip? – Nerede bir tekne turu alabilirsiniz
• We are on holiday for 2 weeks – Biz iki hafta tatile bulunmaktadır
• Someone has stolen my credit card – Birisi benim kredi karti caldi
In each case the App writes the Turkish and then, if you press the speaker icon, will read out the phrase in Turkish. Yes, in a real Turkish accent too. Amazing!
Write Away
The App also offers input either via a keyboard or freestyle writing.
Keep It Simple or It May Go Wrong
So far so good for simple phrases. But what about the more complicated sentences?
We tested the Google Translate App with a sentence about a fictional shower problem in our hotel room to see if the App could translate.
Google translate in normal screen mode
Need to be Online?
No. If you download the language file for the language you want to use on holiday it will be available to translate images, signs, written stuff and the like on demand even if you are offline.
If you want the simulcast translation via speech you will need to be online.
Are There Limitations?
Short Text – Don’t expect you can read out a page of text and get the App to translate. It can only translate sentences of 100 characters or less but we found that enough for most of our day to day needs.
Be Flexible – One area we found did not work initially for us was time phrases. However, with some trial and error we found by using the specific English phrases like ‘a quarter past 5’ the translation was just fine.
DO NOT USE FOR IMPORTANT STUFF – We cannot stress this enough. use an official translator for legal or other important translations.
Noise – If there is a great deal of background noise or chatter then the speech recognition can be hit and miss. However, if that does happen you can just type in your question and press play for the app to speak the phrase in Turkish.
But despite these limitations we think this is one App that you really do need on your tablet or smart phone when you are on holiday or visiting Turkey and cannot speak the language.
Google Translate your Turkish Holiday Mate
Google Translate mobile is available for Apple Iphone, Ipad, Andriod devices and more.
Get it today, it’s a free app, and translate between more that 70 languages by voice, typing or handwriting.
Google translate your holiday mate.
Links
Check out Google Translate at Google Translate website and download the app here too on Andriod or Apple iOS
Get more help about Google Translate and image translation here.
The post Your Turkish Holiday Mate – Google Translate appeared first on Fethiye Times.