English to Spanish app for phone

[navegator]

I checked the internet for language translator app's for the smart phones and the androids and found a number off them.

Most people today have one of these phones and travel to a different language speaking country.

For those of you that have a hard time with non English speaking natives, the translators might come in handy, from what I gather some even use voice to communicate the translation.

I do not have the ability to upload anything from my tablet, or I do not know how, chose one and let me know how dumb I am please.

OH by the way I speak, read and write in 9 languages, Spanish is one of them and of course English is another.

navegator

[silversand]

Mexicowanderer wrote:
ZAPOTECO was overwhelming for my tongue. My pathetic attempts left my fire plug Zapoteca housekeeper howling and beating her fists on the floor.

....lol! Ha ha ha ha. That sounds familiar to me. My tutor (based in Tz'ununa, Lago Atitlan) reacted the same way!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

ZAPOTECO was overwhelming for my tongue. My pathetic attempts left my fire plug Zapoteca housekeeper howling and beating her fists on the floor.

[silversand]

Navigator wrote:
OH by the way I speak, read and write in 9 languages, Spanish is one of them and of course English is another.

....I was heartened to see that a Yucatec dialect Maya language translator was available for Android. Also, a Yoruba translator (for Garifuna dialect, Honduras Caribbean coast). Incredible.

I was learning to speak Tz'utujil (the western dialect) at one time, but lost most of that.

[Talleyho69]

No one mentioned English!!! Spoken in a lot of different countries, very different versions, but US English will be understood in Australia and Great Brittan. Some words are different, accents, idioms, all different, but still understandable.

If you spend any significant time or repeated visits to a country, try to learn the language. We love DuoLingo.

[lolapaluuza]

Thanks for the info

[EdwardHeavy]

Thanks for this post!

[Almot]

Mex - many thanks. You mentioned it last year, and this winter I had a chance to test - yes, Tengo Pregunta is a magic spell. They react immediately. No comparison to all those Perdone, Senor, Quisiera, Oiga etc.
If nothing else helps, of course. In a relaxed setting I would start with something like Di me, or Que piensas tu. Tengo Pregunta sounds a bit demanding. Though, if store clerk already addressed me with "En que puedo servirle?" or How can I help you (yes, they learn English, and faster than we learn Spanish), then I cold tell that I "got a question".

That distracted young girl in a store probably had something/somebody else on her mind when you talked to her - duh...

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"Come se dice?" is the magic phrase when you know your dialect is different than folks your addressing... "How is it said?"

ANNOUNCING your intention is another magic formula. When asking a question...

"Tengo pregunta"

The other person instantly switches gears. "I have a question"

I remember waiting in line to buy something. Young girls have an annoying habit of looking at a person and deciding that they are not Mexican and therefore anything they say or ask will be incomprehensible.

"I have a question"

"Mande (what)?"

"Does the store have...?

"Mande?" She was cracking chewing gum, her texting cellular lay next to the cash register.

"Do you sell? Is it available? Where do I find...?"

"Mande?"

"Te hables Espanol?" (Do you speak Spanish?)

Her face turned beat red. The customers waiting in line behind me roared with laughter.

She immediately answered the question.

Some young people are reluctant to converse sin colloquialisms, slang, and abbreviated idioms. Keep this in mind.

[John___Angela]

Pangaea Ron wrote:
John & Angela

I thought that I had a basic understanding of German from my junior high and high school German. schoolbook learning. But when we visited my wife's relatives in Southern Germany, (Weil der Stadt) the Schwabish was another animal. I could understand "high" German on television. but on the street I was confused, and at the mid-summer community gathering, even the schnapps and beer could not compensate for my failures, but I now have many new and very helpful German friends.

"confused" is a good word to describe it. Because they all understand Standard or high German (it's what is taught at school) my communication to them is clear. Not so much the other way when we were in Bavaria. Like anything it gets easier in time but we are not there enough for that to happen. However, one can find bayerish podcasts on the net and that helps. Again, not too concerned, most of Germany is fine. Many speak broken english and communication is never a problem but I hate resorting to english and avoid it at all costs.

[Pangaea_Ron]

John & Angela

I thought that I had a basic understanding of German from my junior high and high school German. schoolbook learning. But when we visited my wife's relatives in Southern Germany, (Weil der Stadt) the Schwabish was another animal. I could understand "high" German on television. but on the street I was confused, and at the mid-summer community gathering, even the schnapps and beer could not compensate for my failures, but I now have many new and very helpful German friends.

[John___Angela]

Agreed.

Spanish is my third language and as such I speak no particular dialect and am influenced by spanish of at least 4 countries. Although dialects are different for the most part Spanish is Spanish and any Spanish speaker will be able to communicate with any other spanish speaker. Even within Spain we found serious regional differences but at no time does it become a communication problem. I have occasionally used the voseo (vosotros) form of verbs but am not comfortable with it and don't bother. After a few weeks in a place everyone likes to mimic accents etc (especially fun in Madrid) but for the most part, speak whats comfortable for you and communications will take place. French is my second language and it works the same way although some will tell you that a francophone from Canada won't be able to communicate with a Francophone from France. Total horsehockey. Dialects change and some proper names and adjectives, the language stays the same. It can make for fun conversation though. 🙂

I recently achieved my B1 level in German and have started to listen to more of the Bayerish (Bavarian) German. Yah there are some serious differences but they are more related to the culture and with a little effort it still comes back to the same thing. German is German no matter what region. Having said that I am struggling with it more than I did with Spanish. I'm not worried, it'll come with time. Reading and writing are pretty much the same, its the dialect differences in the spoken word thats tougher (or at least for me) in German. It's something I want to get a handle on as it is a favorite part of Germany for both of us. Its no big deal as Standard German works anywhere, just a nice way to show respect for the regional culture if you can function outside the standard a bit.

Our experience with a translation APP in Italy was horrible. I just started speaking Spanish and almost always found a Spanish speaker. Italian and Arabic are on the list to learn but thats a couple years away.

[Almot]

Pangaea Ron wrote:
Colloquialisms seem to confound most translation programs, and Spanish spoken in Mexico differs from Spanish spoken in Spain.

That's why I prefer using smartphone as a dictionary only and build phrases myself. Google translation "La has visto?" - when it's not clear what gender is that what you're talking about, is like saying "It thinks" when talking about somebody. Unacceptable.

Spanish in Spain vs Mexico... From what I observed in Mexico, and comparing this to what I know about "Spain Spanish" from educational software, the difference is mostly in pronunciation, like sound "th" Vs "s". Vocabulary differs a little, not terribly bad - other than slang. Slang is a regional thing, no matter what country. Grammar differs very little, other than "vos/vosotros" there isn't much worth remembering unless you're a Spanish teacher. Mexicans can still suddenly crack "vosotros" with the respective verb conjugation if they are from some place South.

[Pangaea_Ron]

Colloquialisms seem to confound most translation programs, and Spanish spoken in Mexico differs from Spanish spoken in Spain.

[Almot]

Valhalla 360, I'm already past "vacation-oriented phrases" 🙂 - those took me just a few days before my very first trip. Numbers, directions, greetings etc. Couple of pages. No need to use any app for that.

Learning 5-6 tenses and using them requires memorizing both dictionary (including short phrase blocks) AND grammar. DicDroid is not a "phrase book", it's a dictionary. Don't know exactly how many words it contains, but so far it's been able to find auto part names when I needed them. I'm pretty sure that in offline mode I wouldn't get a lot more words from Google Translator or any other smartphone app.

When I need to know what the product is, I might use a smartphone dictionary - after all, label is a few words, not a "phrase". Sometimes I ask - Is it something like (whatever I think it is similar to, in Spanish), or - What is it for, or - What kind of (meat, cheese, poultry etc). Very often there is no "label", all you see is some "meat" in the tray, and you have to ask.

RV and auto repairs? Doesn't happen very often, and usually all you need to know is a part name. (And the address of good and not too greedy mechanic). Again, I might crack the Droid open, or point to that part and say - I need to buy/replace/fix this, or - I have a problem here. Or whatever phrase comes to my mind. Something always comes, if you take efforts to learn. Ex, if I forgot how to say "inflate the tires" I would say "Need a little more air in tires". With polite intro like "I think...", if the situation requires. Might even ask them (if I forgot and can't see the numbers on the tire) - How many should it have, 35, 40? - everybody knows that it's PSI, what else can it be when you are talking about tires, duh.

My point was - translators are doing a crappy job with grammar, and so-so job of providing the right vocabulary. It needs a human brain to filter and sort things out. And, if there is a fairly functional brain, why not using it for what it was designed for, i.e. learning. Talking is fun. And, if you are staying there for long time, it's more than just fun - it's a necessity.