<p>Does anyone have experience with handheld translators? Especially for any of the Asian languages? Are they worth purchasing?</p>
<p>Aren’t there phone apps that do the same thing without having to buy a separate piece of equipment?</p>
<p>Which language(s) specifically? This is a good question to ask the international students and/or ESOL instructors at your school. I’ve had students who used many different models, but I haven’t paid enough attention to be able to recommend a specific device. The technology is constantly improving, so even if I knew what my students were using last year, that item is probably now off the market.</p>
<p>I downloaded a free app called Vocre to my Itouch for English-Chinese translation and it seems to work OK. I need to plug in a microphone, then just set it on a table and speak my phrase. It shows you what it thinks you said, then you hit “translate” and it replies in the other language. I’ve not only translated English to Chinese, but also tried out some Chinese words to see if I’m pronouncing them correctly, i.e. if it translates back to what I thought I meant. I’ve only used it for a few words at a time at home so don’t know how it would do with more extensive conversation.</p>