English/Spanish Translator iPhone App

I recently searched through several English/Spanish iPhone translator apps, and found one that is revolutionary. Here is the basic stuff it can do:

1. Type or speak a word/phrase and it will translate it to another language (works for 50+ languages)
2. Push a button, and it will speak the translated phrase

But, what makes it revolutionary is the conversation mode feature. At first this seems like legendary SciFi stuff (very Star Trekkish), but really the app is just combining voice recognition technology, an online translation engine, and voice output to become a personal translation assistant you can carry in your pocket.

See the icon in the screenshot above. Click that to enter conversation mode. You can then click either speak a sentence in English or Spanish and it will use voice recognition software to figure out what you said, automatically translate that into the other language, then say it out loud in the other language … just like a real-life translator would.

Just How Good Is It?

Honestly … I don't know how accurate it is. My wife is certified to teach Spanish, and after looking at how it translated a few phrases she thought this app did a better job translating than most of the other apps I tried. At the end of the day, a machine will never be as good as translating a person who really knows and understands not only the language, but the local vernacular as well. My bet is the translation is rough at best, but would likely get the point across 90% of the time.

Which App Do I Get?

There are 2 iTranslate apps … a free one, and one that costs $1.99. You get the basic functionality with the free one, but if you want conversation mode you need to get the $1.99 one. The free one says you can use conversation mode if you want to pay per transaction … but there is a bug in the app, and it will just steal your money and never work (ask me how I know). To enable unlimited conversations in the $1.99 app they will make you pay an extra $0.99. So total it will cost you about $3. Of course it would be better to learn to speak the language yourself, but it seems like $3 can get you at least 1/2 way there with this revolutionary app.

Here is what the app icon looks like:

Change Voice, Dialect & Speed

You can customize the voice, dialect, & speed it uses to speak the phrase for each language. It might be weird for a trade partner if Kent was talking to a trade partner in the field, but when he said a sentence the app repeated it in a woman’s voice in Castilian Spanish (this is the Spanish someone would speak in Spain … but not in the U.S.). To customize these settings, click the icon in the bottom-right of the main screen, then select Voices, and select the language you want to change.

Helpful Links

• Watch video of iTranslate in action
• View App in iTunes
• More Info From iTranslate Company Website