Translate from English to Spanish with Google Translate

I watched the Google I/O 2019 keynote live on YouTube earlier this week and there are some fun things coming out this year. 

One of the things I couldn’t wait to tell you about is called Googe Live Translate and it is available through your Google Assistant if you have Google Home Hub or any of the physical Google Assistants Hubs.

It’s important to realize that Live Translate is not available through Google Assistant on your phone.  These devices will receive the full Live Translate version soon:

• Google Home Hub
• Google Home speakers
• Google Mini speakers
• third-party smart displays from Lenovo, LG, JBL, and others 

I have already begun trying it out on my Google Home.

To get started is easy, simply say:

“Hey Google, help me speak Spanish”

“Hey Google, help me speak Italian”

“Hey Google, be my French interpreter”

“OK, Google, turn on interpreter mode.”

Google Assistant knows up to 26 languages so far.  Languages include:

• Arabic
• Chinese
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• English
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hindi
• Hungarian
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Slovak
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Thai
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese

But it gets better.  Google Assistant listens to your conversation and will even translate the language of the person talking to you, in English (or your native language) so you can understand as well.

Pretty cool, huh?

Google Live Translate is Perfect for:

• visiting guests from other countries
• interacting with your nanny, housekeeper, gardener, etc.
• helping your kids practice the language they’re learning
• brushing up on words and phrases before going on vacation to a foreign land
• teaching your young children different languages

Google Live Translate is not failproof, but it does pretty well.  It will interpret a conversation as long as two people do not talk over one another. 

The trick is to say a sentence or two and stop so Google can translate.  If you say too much, Google Assistant may miss some of it.

Google Live Translate is already available on Google Hub and Google Home and will be rolling out to third-party smart displays in the upcoming months.

Sounds Great But…

OK, I know what some of you may be thinking.  Sounds great, but I need this outside of my home more than inside my home.

You need translation when you are:

• at your office
• ordering food at your favorite Vietnamese restaurant
• ordering food at a Mexican restaurant and you need to tell them you have a gluten-free allergy
• traveling overseas and need directions, trying to find a restroom, or need to know the time
• trying to read a sign written in a different language
• reading a contract written in a different language
• reading a letter sent to you from your sponsored child overseas
• trying to understand a store clerk
• trying to help a customer in your store
• talking to the new kid (or her parents) in your kids’ school who doesn’t speak English
• talking to a neighbor or neighbor’s parents
• trying to read food labels

Google Translate App

I get it.  Fortunately, so does Google.  Their free app is called Google Translate and it too is really great. 

I used it years ago while traveling in Russia.  It was incredibly useful.  The app helped me to read menus so I could order food and be happy with what the waiter brought to me!

But that was 5 years ago.  Today, the Google Translate app is even better. 

Here’s an example I pulled from a sign written in Spanish online to give you an idea of how Google Translate works:

Using Google Translate, here’s what this sign says translated from Spanish to English:

Cute sign and translated so I can understand it.  Imagine using Google Translate when traveling overseas or in Mexico.  Even in the French quarter of Canada.  So helpful.

Within the app, you have 4 main options:

1. Camera – point your phone’s camera at a sign, menu, or contract and it will translate it on the spot for you
2. Handwriting – you can handwrite a message you’d like transcribed in the language you selected
3. Conversation – just like Google Live Translate, you can speak one person at a time and have the conversation translated in each other’s native language
4. Voice – say a word or sentence and Google will translate it for you.  You’ll see it written out on the screen and you can press the speaker button to have it spoken aloud

Again, Google Translate is not perfect, but it’s getting better every year.

The Google Translate app worked great for me when I needed to tell my neighbor’s dad that we were having a party and that the street would be filled with cars. 

My neighbor, who speaks English, was away on a business trip, but the rest of his family would be home.  I know his dad, who is Chinese, we’ve spoken before through a person who translated for us but I hadn’t spoken to him in a while. 

I have to say, despite the back and forth with the app, we had a wonderful conversation.  I was so thankful for the app.

Afraid you won’t have mobile coverage while traveling or where you need to translate?  No worries! 

You can actually download any language you’ll need onto your phone (not a huge file) so you can translate even when you’re not connected.  

But wait, there’s more!  If you happen to receive texts from friends, co-workers, or even roommates in their native tongues, is there an easier way to understand them?

There is!  With a simple click in the Settings on Google Translate, you can get a Google Translate bubble to appear in your text app so you can translate the message and have a response sent back that they can understand. 

Extraordinary, isn’t?  It’s called Tap to Translate.  Dependent upon your texting app, you will see a Google Translate button to respond back.

Don’t let language be your stumbling block in communicating with others one more day. 

Use Google Translate  (Android/Apple) or Google Live Translate to break down the communication barrier.