Sunday, April 10, 2011

iTranslate iPhone app

My first job after college was working in the international marketing department of a graphic design company. I remember spending hours translating our documentation and business letters into one language after another, piles of dictionaries and how-to books littering my desk and covering my floor. My associate, Pascal, looked on in horror as I butchered one language after another.

Well, those days are gone for good. We live in an age of Rosetta Stones, online translators, and apps for our smartphones that can translate in the palm of our hands or speak for us. I have thankfully retired from the world of international marketing, and I can only hope that Pascal found fame and fortune with the marionettes she was so fond of making.

I have several of these translators on my phone. I can't speak to the superiority of any one in particular. They all work on the same basic principal, type or speak phrase that you need, and the translator provides the translation for you. Text to Speech has come a long way but it still doesn't sound exactly natural. I like all the various voices iTranslate has to offer, but I have to admit I haven't bought any of them. If you have a favorite pass it along.

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