If you are travelling abroad with no way of making yourself understood, some Google-powered phones now have a translator function installed which can be activated by simply speaking the phrase you require into the phone and the phone will give you the translation either as text or in a computerised voice.
Additionally, if you are stopped by a foreign tourist with, say, little or no English, if the tourist speaks their query into your phone, the phone will produce the English and you can assist this visitor on their travels.
This technology is still in its infancy, but currently works quite well when translating basic phrases.
This application, which is free, is called Google Translate and works on phones running Google’s Android system and can translate text to and from more than fifty languages. However, so far, it can only recognise spoken works in English, Mandarin and Japanese although other languages are in the pipeline.
