iPod has already made traveling easier and millions of people are able to take advantage of the numerous uses the iPod gives us. People are able to carry music, photos, movies, and digital voice recordings anywhere we go. To add to these many uses traveling to foreign countries and learning a new language is now even simpler. There are several software packages available to iPod users that allow them to see and hear phrases in foreign languages.
IParrot is a multi-language translator that gives you translations of a variety of sentences so you can speak with others in different countries. By making use of the “Notes” feature, iParrot turns your iPod into a translator, language learner machine, dictionary, and encyclopedia. IParrot version 2.0 is compatible with the iPod Mini, iPod Nano and iPod Video. The program features text correction and improvement and pronunciation correction and improvement.
IParrot uses various categories that are organized into greetings, transportation, shopping, help, etc. Sentences are organized for instant access and ease of use. The iParrot is available in Chinese, English, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Korean and Portugese. Users are able to read sentences directly off the screen.
ILingo is another language translation software that works with iPod as well. ILingo is also organized into categories for ease of use. These categories include greetings, shopping, getting directions and emergency. ILingo contains basic phrases for international travel. Each country is tailored and you are able to find any phrase you need in any country. ILingo also helps users learn proper pronunciation as the speaker pronounces each phrase for you properly. Practice your language while you are on the plane and you will be ready to go when you land.
Each translator comes with four hundred phrases in each language. Audio files have been created by native speakers so that pronunciation is correct. ILingo is compatible with iPods that have the dock connector on the bottom. It is not compatible with the iPod shuffle, or and iPod that has a wheel that physically moves or a direct FireWire connection on top. There are two versions of iLingo. ILingo Euro Pack features French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. ILingo AsiaPack features Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Coolgorilla.com offers free iPod software. They have iPod translator phrasebooks with over 750 phrases that you can use while traveling in foreign countries. Each translator is divided into sections for traveling, socializing, emergencies, accommodations and a dictionary. Languages are provided by Lastminute.com and include German, French, Greek, and Spanish.
So as you can see the iPod is more than a cool toy for kids. It has some practical applications for business and the greater community. The benefits when traveling to a foreign country is obvious and imagine how much easier learning a new language is now going to be.
And no doubt as the iPod technology progresses even further and more uses of the iPod will become apparent. Eventually everyone will have one just like everyone now has a mobile phone.
With You in Technology
Adam White
By: Adam White
Posts Tagged ‘Foreign Countries’
iPod Language Translator
January 27th, 2010Wondering “why learning foreign languages?” – Here’s with 10 Benefits of learning foreign languages that your just cannot ignore
December 30th, 20091. Emigration
When you move to a different country or region, learning the local language will help you to communicate and integrate with the local community. Even if many of the locals speak your language, for example if your L1 is English and you move to the Netherlands, it’s still worth your while learning the local language. Doing so will demonstrate your interest in and commitment to the new country.
2. Career or Business Benefits
If your work involves regular contact with speakers of foreign languages, being able to talk to them in their own languages will help you to communicate with them. It may also help you to make sales and to negotiate and secure contracts. Knowledge of foreign languages may also increase your chances of finding a new job, getting a promotion or a transfer overseas, or of going on foreign business trips. Many English-speaking business people don’t bother to learn other languages because they believe that most of the people they do business with in foreign countries can speak English, and if they don’t speak English, interpreters can be used. The lack of foreign language knowledge puts the English speakers at a disadvantage. In meetings for example, the people on the other side can discuss things amongst themselves in their own language without the English speakers understanding, and using interpreters slows everything down. In any socializing after the meetings, the locals will probably feel more comfortable using their own language rather than English.
3. Study or research
You may find that information about subjects you’re interested in is published mainly in a foreign language. Learning that language will give you access to the material and enable you to communicate with fellow students and researchers in the field.
4. Travel
Many English speakers seem to believe that wherever you go on holiday you can get by speaking English, so there’s no point in learning any other languages. If people don’t understand you all you have to do is speak slowly and turn up the volume. You can more or less get away with this, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to venture beyond such places, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc, knowing the local language is necessary. A basic ability in a foreign language will help you to ‘get by’, i.e. to order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. If you have a more advanced knowledge of the language, you can have real conversations with the people you meet, which can be very interesting and will add a new dimension to your holiday.
5. Studying abroad
If you plan to study at a foreign university, college or school, you’ll need an good knowledge of the local language, unless the course you want to study is taught through the medium of your L1. Your institution will probably provide preparatory courses to improve your language skills and continuing support throughout your main course.
6. Secret communication
If you and some of your relatives, friends or colleagues speak a language that few people understand, you can talk freely in public without fear of anyone eavesdropping, and/or you can keep any written material secret. Speakers of such Native American languages as Navajo, Choctaw and Cheyenne served as radio operators, know as Code Talkers, to keep communications secret during both World Wars. Welsh speakers played a similar role during the Bosnian War
7. Culture
Maybe you’re interested in the literature, poetry, films, TV programs, music or some other aspect of the culture of people who speak a particular language and want to learn their language in order to gain a better understanding of their culture. Most people in the world are multilingual, and everybody could be; no one is rigorously excluded from another’s language community except through lack of time and effort. Different languages protect and nourish the growth of different cultures, where different pathways of human knowledge can be discovered. Perhaps you enjoy the food and/or drink of a particular country or region and make regular trips there, or the recipe books you want to use are only available in a foreign language.
8. Religion
Missionaries and other religious types learn languages in order to spread their message. In fact, missionaries have played a major role in documenting and devising writing systems for many languages. Others learn the language(s) in which the scriptures/holy books of their religion were originally written to gain a better understanding of them. For example, Christians might learn Hebrew, Aramaic and Biblical Greek; Muslims might learn Classical Arabic, and Buddhists might learn Sanskrit.
9. Linguistic interest
Maybe you’re interested in linguistic aspects of a particular language and decide to learn it in order to understand them better.
10. To help understand what other people think
Language influences culture, so learning a language helps you to understand how other people think, and it also helps you to get a general understanding of our world and the many people and cultures that inhabit it.
By: Bindas Bol Institute Mumbai
English Learning Software – Write Error Free English Instantly!
October 24th, 2009While Spanish may be the language that is growing most quickly across the world, English remains the language of the future. There are a number of different reasons for this that encompass travel, business, and worldwide trends. Some of the more prominent reasons that English is considered to be the language of the future include the following.
* The Language of the Sciences: English is currently the language of the sciences. Most prominent research papers are currently written in English, or written in another language and thereafter translated to English. As long as the scientific community continues to embrace the language, there is no reason to think that this trend will be changing course anytime soon.
* Most Business Is Done In English: English has become the language of business as well. While the dollar may be currently weaker than in recent years, for many years the United States was viewed as the premier nation in which foreign countries desired to do business. This, combined with the fact that England also had a very strong currency and is a financial powerhouse as well, made English the most common language in which to do business. Much as with science, unless business starts to be conducted in Spanish, there is no reason to think that English is not the language of the future.
* Technology: Because some of the world’s largest technology companies are based in the United States, these companies naturally are going to gear most of their new technology towards English speaking individuals. In fact, all of the popular programming languages are coded in English. With technology companies gearing themselves toward English speaking individuals it is hard to foresee us heading in any other direction.
While learning English can seem complicated and difficult, there is no reason that you should not start learning English as soon as possible. The language isn’t going anywhere; in fact, experts estimate that the number of English speakers in the world will double over the next 50 years.
When it comes to speaking a language, once you have picked up certain habits, it can often be difficult to break them, or to re-learn how to speak without using these habits. Many bilingual individuals who speak English translate sentence structures over to the English language, when the language simply does not work in the same way as other commonly spoken languages. Learning it right the first time around can ensure that you speak it correctly throughout your lifetime, and will help you in multiple facets of life including travel, business, and literature. Some of the reasons that learning to speak English correctly the first time will be to your benefit include the following.
* It is Difficult To Re-train Yourself: Re-training or Re-teaching yourself sentence structure, verb usage, and other common mistakes that can be made when learning a new language can be very difficult, and many individuals struggle with this concept. Oftentimes, once you learn something, you may never be able to learn it another way again. This is why it is important to learn how to speak English correctly the first time around.
* It Saves Money: Learning to speak the language correctly the first time around ensures that you never have to shell out any more money to speech experts again. Many individuals who have to learn how to structure their sentences in a foreign language all over again are forced to pay thousands of dollars to re-learn what they have already studied.
* It Saves Time: Re-learning how to structure your sentences in English can be very time-consuming. Ensuring that you learn proper conjugation and sentence structure from the beginning helps to ensure that you never have to spend your valuable time re-learning what you have already learned.
Learning English correctly starts with a teacher. If you do not have the correct resources at hand to learn the language, you will never be able to learn it correctly. Online software allow you to take all the time that you need to learn proper grammar when learning the English language, and to learn the language from some of the foremost language experts in the world who contributed to the design of the software. If you are interested in learning English through this special software package, please refer to the offers on http://englishsoftware.org
By: Jane Sumerset
