Mike's NBC-TV stories

Translation Apps for Travelers

Travelling to another country can be enriching, but frustrating if you don’t have the ability to communicate with those who live and work where you’re headed.

But a number of translation apps, however, make it much easier.

The Speak & Translate app lets you talk into your smartphone and get a translation instantly in more than 50 languages for voice-to-voice translations, and 120 languages for text-to-text translations. Speak & Translations uses real-time voice recognition that significantly enhances the speed of translations. It’s is free for iOS and Android.

Google Translate is another solid translating app, with more than 100 languages. One of the unique features of Google Translate is the ability to take a picture of a sign in a different language and have it translated instantly. Switch to conversation mode and have two-way instant speech translation. The app is free for iOS and Android.

TripLingo helps overcome language barriers for more than 100 countries, and in several ways. First, there is the feature that teaches users essential phrases – more than 2,000 phrases per language. It also instantly translates users’ voice, offers a 10,000-word offline dictionary, and provides information about local culture. The app is free for iOS and Android with premium features available for purchase.

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.