Traveling Translator App Hits Over 5 Million Downloads
Chinese-based startup Mafengwo is a website that provides content on all things travel-related. Aside from the website, one of the products that it has developed is Traveling Translator. The app serves to help users to get around despite language barriers. It contains all the frequently asked questions likely to come from a confused traveler, ranging from greetings, transport, ordering food etc. Simply tap on the questions you want to ask and show it to a native person.
中国を本拠地にしたスタートアップMafengwoは、旅行に関したありとあらゆるコンテンツを提供するウェブサイトである。ウェブサイトのかたわら、この会社の開発した商品のひとつがTraveling Translatorである。このアプリは、ユーザーが言葉のバリアを超えてさまざまな場所に行けるよう、補助サービスを目的としたもの。混乱している旅行者の多くがよく挙げる質問(挨拶、交通手段、食事の注文の仕方名と)が全て備わっている。使い方は簡単で、ただ聞きたい質問をタッチし、地元の人に見せるだけです。
Note that Traveling Translator doesn’t do simultaneous translation. All the content is already loaded within the app. In other words, you do not need internet connection to be able to use the app. I thought this is really helpful since most travelers will not have data access on the road anyway. There is also simple “simultaneous translation.” If you type in hello the app will return a “nihao” result. But it’s very limited, of course, compared to Google Translate.
A PR rep told me that the app gets its answers from its group of third-party translators who have pre-loaded their translated content into its database. This is why users can access the app and its content without having an internet connection. The team at Mafengwo took a year to collect all this translated content to be able to provide a useful experience for users even when offline. Because the content is translated by humans, it is far more accurate than machine translation. Traveling Translator is available in over 30 languages and has so far attracted five million downloads. The iOS version costs $1.99 while the Android version is free. Click here to get yours.