Character drawing is useful for translating unusual fonts or reflective surfaces, which can confound photo translation apps.

Some smartphone apps let you use your finger to sketch any character you see – whether Chinese characters or Korean hangul – to get a quick translation. TRY 'HANDWRITING' WHAT YOU WANT TRANSLATED Travellers should also keep in mind that Google is blocked or otherwise hard to access in mainland China, meaning that you may have to use one (or multiple) of the alternatives. Google’s translator easily dealt with a customs import form written in Thai, or a simple newspaper story written in the Hindi script Devanagari. Across the board, photo apps are quick, functional, and generally offer decent translations, especially of printed material. The Korean-made app Papago excels at Korean especially, and also provides Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese. Microsoft Translator offers it for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The behemoth of translation, Google Translate, offers photo translation for Chinese, Filipino, Hindi, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Malay, Mongolian, Nepali, Tamil, Thai, Uyghur and Vietnamese. Since then, the world of photo translation apps has boomed. I could point my phone camera at a menu or a sign, it would take Chinese characters, Japanese kanji and kana, and Korean hangul, and instantly translate it to English on the screen. When I first used a translation app at the relative dawn of the industry (circa 2014), the only real option for non-Roman characters was Waygo. With a small amount of help, you can translate dozens of languages and scripts, illuminate pictographs and characters, and learn something new. We’ve collected some of the best language apps and technology for travellers to Asia – from full-fledged machine-learning translators to a simple tweak to your phone’s keyboard.

But while language can be a hurdle, it can also be a joy. (Art: The New York Times/Gracia Lam)įor an English-speaking visitor to Asia, which spans close to 50 countries, navigating a new language can be daunting at first.

Let these apps and digital tools help you get by (and maybe make you some friends). While you may live in Asia, you may not know every language spoken in the nearly 50 countries here. Annyeonghaseyo, namaskara: Language apps to take with you to Seoul, Nepal and around Asia

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