Dear all,
I noticed in todays Sydney Morning Herald's :Summer" supplement today
an item about an Iphone/pad/pod touch app called Trippo VoiceMagix. It
is not, despite the name, meant to induce auditory hallucinations, but
a translation app. With it you can type or speak into it what you
would like translated and it translates onto the screen and also
speaks the translation. It supports 27 languages, including Pashto for
those who fancy a spot of birding in Afghanistan. The app is a little
light on Asian language, but it does include Hindi, simplified and
traditional Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Urdu. The producers aim to add
more languages over time.
The reviewer in the SMH claims that the translations are pretty good,
though the grammar is not exact at times. The reviewer tried it out on
speakers of Chinese, French, German,, Hebrew, Hindi and Urdu, and all
said that the translations as "surprisingly good". The translations
were not as exact on less conventional subjects. The reviewer tried "I
believe I mmight have consumed an unhealthy amount of alcohol. Is
there a toilet within spewing distance?" translated as the equivalent
of "I believe that might've can send an unhealthy amount of alcohol is
your toilet with Thanksgiving?' I think most birders would not require
such a translation.
I have put my USD 5.99 down and I will try it out. I might start with
my local chicken shop (Greek) and Thai take-away owners. I will report
back with my experiences with the app. I will be in Thailand and
Malaysia in the New Year, so I will be able to field test the app. I
hope it is good with Thai, as I am not real hot on tonal languages.
Also it is a pity it does not have Khmer, as I am going to Cambodis.
It would be nice to be able to quickly ask questions such as "are
there any land-mines in this forest?
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
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