iPhone: Top Language Translation Apps

BEST FREEBIE
World Nomads
Free

Languages: Twenty-three, including Arabic, Cambodian, Cantonese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Lao, Malay, Mandarin, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Australian—the last app is handy for translating otherwise incomprehensible Aussie slang.

Usability: The World Nomads apps present lists, divided into categories, of a few dozen basic travel phrases. After tapping through the categories, such as "places to stay" and "directions & transport," you can select an appropriate phrase and hear an audio clip of a native speaker pronouncing it—a high-end feature we're surprised to find in a free app.

Frustrations: Dining phrases are missing—a big drawback. There are also inconsistencies. The Thai app tells you how to say "yes," but not "no." (For the record, it's mai.) Sometimes, an app suffers the opposite problem and presents the forest rather than the tree you need. For example, the Arabic app suggests five ways to greet people, but none of them is the handy salaam aleikum, which is all you need to know.

Overall: Most of what a tourist needs to understand is covered, including key words (such as "please" and "thank you"), numbers up to 10, and a few phrases useful in transportation ("Where is your ticket?"); lodging ("Too expensive!"); and safety ("Stop, thief!" and everybody's favorite "Those drugs aren't mine!"). There's also a Language Lesson feature in which all of the phrases are strung together in a short audio skit of a "typical tourist situation," complete with background sound effects.

Details: World Nomads and iTunes Store

BEST VALUE
Coolgorilla Talking Phrasebooks
$1 per language

Languages: Eight, including Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Usability: The interface is similar to World Nomads'—useful travel phases, divided by category, organized in a simple, straightforward fashion.

Frustrations: Some translations seem less than necessary (guess what the Italian words pizza, lasagne, and tiramisu mean in English?). More languages would be nice. Also, Coolgorilla is a British company, which means you need to translate things into British English in your head first (chips are French fries). The apps are a bit buggy and crash on occasion—not a huge concern, but annoying.

Overall: While they function similarly to the free World Nomads apps, the Coolgorilla apps come with 10 times the number of phrases per language, making them a fantastic investment for just a buck. The app for each language features more than 500 phrases in 40 categories (accommodations, food and drink, activities, shopping, etc.), all professionally translated and spoken aloud. The speakers get amusingly breathy and excited when translating such phrases as "Kiss me" and "I want you." Fittingly, the phrases come after "Would you like a drink?" and "What's your sign?"

Details: Coolgorilla and iTunes Store