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This Awesome App Translates Foreign Signs For You

This Awesome App Translates Foreign Signs For You

Ever saw a sign in a foreign language and thought, “Oh boy oh boy, I hope this means there’s a bathroom down there”.

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(Photo: Jennifer Woodard Maderazo/Flickr)

You’re not alone.

As anglophiles, we’re pretty lucky, as the English language tends to let us get by in most global big cities. It’s when you venture off the well-beaten track that things can get a little tricky.

Foreign words, especially foreign characters, can be difficult to decipher if you haven’t studied the native language. Sometimes, your best and only bet is to hope that someone might happen to speak English and can direct you to where you’re going, but this rad app is here to change that.

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(Photo: “Word Lens Demo” by Quest Visual, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

If you haven’t already done so, download the Google Translate app. Last year Google incorporated a revolutionary technology into their Translate app that’s making travel a whole lot easier.

The technology (which was originally released as an app called Word Lens, but has since been bought out by Google) allows users to translate text instantly, just by using their phone’s camera. Just hover over the text using your camera and the app will do all the work for you. Amazing.

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The best part? You won’t need Wi-Fi for it to work. The app can also translate up to 90 languages using this camera trick – it’ll certainly come in handy at one point on your travels.

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