Pick a translation app for your next business trip

Stuck in the outskirts of Tianjin, hoping to find your way back to the train station to catch the bullet train back to Beijing? Do not worry, the translation app in your smartphone will save the day. Here is a selection of five popular translation apps.

iTranslate Voice

iTranslate Voice allows travelers to say a phrase into the app and have the translation spoken back. With the AirTranslate feature, you can connect two users wirelessly to communicate in their native languages and have a realtime translated conversation.

iStone Travel Translation

This app offers a database of more than 300 daily phrases in a wide variety of languages.

Waygo

Waygo is the one of the few apps that offers instant visual translation of Chinese characters. The app also offers Japanese translations, Korean support coming soon.

iVoice Translator Pro

This app offers as a double-sided translation service. You can ask the other person to speak back to the app. iVoice comes with a user-friendly interface for displaying a translated conversation.

Word Lens

Word Lens is popular because it can snap a photo of written text (menu, street sign) and translate this into your language. This app supports translations in English, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese.