Product Review: Lingo Electronic Talking Translator

Not knowing the local language is one of the major obstacles that stops people from traveling to new countries. With an electronic translator, you can feel more comfortable knowing that you will at least be able to communicate your basic needs with the people living in the land you wish to visit. The Lingo Electronic Talking Translator is a good option if you are trying to decide which one to buy. It can be purchased for $200.00 at Brookstone.

The Lingo translator works in 14 different languages, including: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek. It knows 840,000 words and 46,200 phrases. This translator is different than some others in that it says the words out loud for you so you don't have to guess how to pronounce words from reading in a different language. You can use this to help you learn phrases in the other language or simply play it to the person you are trying to communicate with if you have having a difficult time getting your point across.

The machine has a QWERTY keyboard so it is quick and easy to enter whatever you are trying to say. This system is obviously much faster than carrying around a Multilanguage dictionary and translating word by word. On the screen, it will displace the words you input, the translation (in symbols if the other language does not use our alphabet), and the phonetic translation below that.

The translator also does a few other things that come in handy while traveling. It has metric and currency convertors. It also has the ability to record voice memos so you can easily make notes about your trip. There are eight travel games, a world time clock and alarm, an FM radio, a calendar, and calculator also included.

I find this product very handy to have with me while traveling. Before my trip, I will use it to learn some important phrases in the new language so that I will have them readily available. When I need to stay something that I don't know how to translate, I will use this product and either try to repeat what it said or play the audio to the other person. I find that it is usually well-received by people in other countries as I am making an effort to use their language and they can quickly understand the machine instead of us wasting time trying to communicate.