technology

These translators are surprisingly useful tools for international travelers.

Are you heading abroad for business, but don’t have a firm grasp of the regional patois? Get a handle on the local language before and during your trip with this selection of hardware, software and Web services.


1. Ectaco Partner EE800

Going to Eastern Europe? Pick up the Cadillac of translator gadgets, Ectaco’s
EE800, a full-color gizmo that not only translates English to Czech, Polish, German, Russian and Ukranian, but also actually speaks phrases aloud at the push of a button. At 11 ounces, it’s a little bulky, but you’ll be grateful for the help.

$550, ectaco.com




2. Franklin TGA-490(*EDITOR’S PICK*)

A snazzy talking translator doesn’t have to break the bank: Franklin’s top-of-the line TGA-490 has almost all of the features of its more expensive competitors, but for a decent price. The TGA-490 is preloaded with 450,000 words in 12 languages (from German and Dutch to Korean and Chinese), and it speaks aloud 115,000 of them in a recorded but natural voice. The design is impressively sophisticated, with a slideout keyboard that lets the translator collapse easily to hip-pocket size.

$230, franklin.com


3. Sharp PW-E250

Sharp’s PW-E250 is a good compromise between features and portability. It barely fits in a pocket, but the spacious keyboard makes it easy to type English phrases for translation into Spanish or back (sorry, no other languages are supported right now). Additional features include complete dictionaries in both languages, crossword and anagram solvers, a calculator, and currency and metric conversion tools.

$50, sharpusa.com





4. Ectaco iTRAVL NTL

Just say what you want to get across—in English—into the iTRAVL NTL. It crunches the lingo and spits out a translation in Russian, thanks to sophisticated voice recognition software. Don’t expect an unabridged dictionary, but the 14,000 included phrases should be enough to get you around St. Petersburg. When you’re not communing with the locals, you can fire up the embedded MP3 player or browse the included CIA World Factbook.

$500, ectaco.com



5. Franklin TWE-118

For only 25 bucks, the TWE-118 is a decent emergency tool that fits easily into a standard dress-shirt pocket. Though awkwardly constructed, the device offers 210,000 total translations in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian and German), making it the perfect tool to carry around the Continent if you only need the highlights of each language.

$25, franklin.com

How do you say ‘software’?

Ultralingua Dictionary

Already have a Palm or Windows-based PDA? Load it up with Ultralingua’s translation software, and you’ll also have a simple electronic dictionary with up to 350,000 entries, without additional hardware. Various language combos are available (including Latin and Esperanto), each for a mere $30. Versions for laptops and Symbian phones are also available.

$30, ultralingua.com

Accio Dictionary for iPod

Who knew your iPod had a brain? Turn your favorite music player into a translator with Accio, which uses the same software as the Ultralingua Dictionary, but pared down for easy scrollability. You should only expect about 8,000 entries, but the audio phrasebook is a real help compared to the usual printed guide.

$20, acciodictionary.com

AltaVista Babel Fish

The big daddy of online translators, AltaVista’s Babel Fish is the best resource for just about any major language translation, handling Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian and Portuguese, along with the big European languages. Though best used for looking up single words (longer pieces of text start to sound a little nutty), Babel Fish can translate entire Web pages if you’re in a pinch.

Free, babelfish.altavista.com

Google Gadgets Translate

Get translation services anytime you’re online by using Google Translate, part of the Google Gadgets suite. (You’ll need to install Google Desktop—desktop.google. com—first.) With Translate installed, you get a real-time tool that sits on your desktop, ready for a quick word and phrase lookup whether you’re browsing the Web or trying to read Paris Match.

Free, desktop.google.com/plugins/i/translate