Simply indicate in the app what you mean
Phrasebooks on your iPhone and iPad
It happens to everyone sometimes: abroad you want to explain or order something and you have no idea how to express it. And how do you say “thank you” again without having to learn an entire language? Could your language skills and vocabulary use a refresher or do you need help deciphering the menu in a restaurant? Then these language guides can be a useful tool.
- Google Translate
- DeepL
- Phrasebook
- Point it
- iTranslate
- iTranslate Voice
- More language guides
We discuss contemporary variants of the What & How guides and apps that can give you a real-time translation of texts you see on signs. There was also a Van Dale Reference Dictionary in the past, but as is often the case with these types of apps: after a while the makers no longer feel like it and it is no longer updated. This app has therefore disappeared from the App Store.
Do you want to learn the language more thoroughly? Then we have listed the best language course apps for iPhone and iPad for you. For those who really want to be eloquent!
iCulture recommends: Google Translate
This app hardly needs any explanation: almost everyone knows Google Translate, with which you can translate sentences, signs and all kinds of other information. Point the iPhone camera at a text in a foreign language and the app will provide (approximately) the translation. It’s not perfect, but it’s often good enough to know whether it says ‘No Trespassing’ or ‘Welcome’. What is useful about this app is that it works in no fewer than 103 languages and that you can also request translations offline.
DeepL
DeepL is similar to Google Translate, but offers smarter translations. Artificial intelligence is used to do this, so that the context can be better taken into account. This makes sentences sound more natural and look less ‘translated’. DeepL is made by a German company and is suitable for texts, conversations, images and files. It works for free and you often also get alternative translations for certain sentences. Don’t feel like typing a sentence? Point the camera at the text and you’ll get a translation in the 7 most popular languages.
Phrasebook
Language guide sounds very Dutch, but the app is simply translated very cleverly. The busy appearance should appeal to you, but on the other hand the app is regularly maintained and even has an Apple Watch app. As a user you can choose from Dutch-French, Dutch-German and Dutch-English. Furthermore, the app translates to Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
After choosing the language, you will see the categories with cheerful illustrations: Favorites, Frequently Used, Greetings, Romance, Food, Emergency, Health, Shopping and Hobbies. There are also separate categories Basic and Travel, with information about time, professions and animals, for example.
Using the app is self-explanatory: tap on a category, choose a word or phrase and it will be spoken. You can repeat the word orally, record and play it back and then compare your pronunciation with that of the program. Do you think a word or sentence is important? Click on the asterisk and the sentence or word will now be added to Favorites. Handy to look through again later.
You can also take complete language courses in this Language Guide app, for which you pay a few euros and can choose from Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic or Russian.
Point it
You have to be careful with this app. It is still available, but has not been updated in a while. So be careful before you pay a few euros for the app, only to find out that it doesn’t work properly.
Point it is actually more of a visual guide than a language guide. This app is not intended to teach words, but to clarify what you mean. Especially with exotic languages or when you travel through several countries, it can be impossible to learn the language. Consider, for example, regions that are off the beaten track, where incomprehensible dialects are spoken.
In such a case it may be more useful to simply point out things so that everyone knows what you mean. ‘Point it’ is also available in a paper version and is popular with travelers who go a little further from home. Just like the paper guide, the app contains 1300 photos of all kinds of things that you can point to. The selection of photos is based on the writer’s many years of travel experiences.
The app is available in six languages (including English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese). Dutch is not available, but precisely because of those pictures, this app is easy to use even with minimal knowledge of the English language. You may be better off with the paper guide. It will continue to work for years, even if the iOS app no longer exists.
Of course there is always a cheaper solution. If you want to order a croissant, you can of course also just Google for pictures of croissants. But you do need an internet connection – and that is not always the case in remote areas.
iTranslate
If you are looking for another alternative to Google Translate, iTranslate is perhaps the most well-known name. The German company makes an app that allows you to translate text, websites and speech between more than 100 languages. The Offline Mode allows you to use the app even if you are in an area without internet. You can listen to the translations in a male or female voice. You can also switch between dialects of a particular language.
iTranslate tries to distinguish itself with dictionaries, in which you can find synonyms and different meanings, for example. It also contains a list of 250 commonly used phrases that may be useful in a particular language. If you like to chat with someone in a foreign language, the iMessage app will come in handy. And it even comes with an Apple Watch app. After the 7-day trial period you must become a subscriber. This costs a few tens of euros per year.
iTranslate Voice
With this app you can immediately talk in more than 40 languages! Contains more than 250 predefined sentences. You can view a written version of every conversation within a few seconds and share it with someone else. With iTranslate you can have a conversation with someone else, without having to know the language.
Opening photo: Kaspars Grinvals via Shutterstock.
More phrasebooks for iPhone and iPad
- Culinary French AZ (€3.99, iPhone/iPad, iOS 9.1+) – French culinary concepts from A to Z.
- Learn 50 Languages (Free, iPhone/iPad+ IAP, iOS 10.0+) – This clear app with audio files is not named after the number of languages, but after the 50languages method, a specific approach. You can learn many languages and pay a few euros per language.
- Go Talk – Learn Languages (Free, iPhone/iPad+ IAPiOS 8.2+) – Search, games and contact with native speakers: this app has you covered in all directions.
- HelloTalk – Language Learning (Free, iPhone/iPad+ IAP, iOS 13.0+) – With this app you always have a native speaker at hand. HelloTalk puts you in touch with a conversation partner with whom you can chat. Not suitable if you want to know right away what is on the menu, but useful if you are curious about local customs.
- Tandem: Language exchange (Free, iPhone/iPad + IAP, iOS 15.0+) – Tandem also puts you in touch with a native speaker. Useful if you want to know something about the country and are looking for a conversation partner.
Want to know more about learning languages on the iPhone? Then read our overview of language course apps on iPhone and iPad!
This article is part of the iCulture Holiday Special. Do you have any tips or comments? Send a response via the link below.
