I’m not lost for words thanks to App

DATELINE TAIWAN – I’m so proud of myself – I can now communicate in over 20 languages.

Arabic? No problem.

Chinese? I can communicate in both the “Simplified” and “Traditional” forms.

French, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish and even tricky Thai – you name it; I can talk to anyone in the world.

Okay, I confess. I didn’t spend the last five years holed up in a Biarritz class. I just downloaded an App on my iPhone called Trippo – and it was free!

Trippo is the coolest thing I’ve ever come across in the App Store. It allows me to ask a question into my iPhone in English like “excuse me sir, can you tell me where the railroad station is located?” and Trippo translates it into one of 24 languages and a voice repeats the same question in the language of choice.

So when I arrived in Taipei this morning, I just had to give it a try.

I stopped an airport worker and asked into my iPhone “can you direct me to the arrivals hall?”, then pressed the “translate to Simplified Chinese (the language spoken in Taiwan)” and held it up to the startled worker who broke into a wide smile as a lovely female voice inside the phone spit out my question in Chinese.

The potential of this App is endless. Who needs to hire a translator or guide in foreign countries? I will no longer be lost for words when I meet new people on my travels.

Isn’t technology wonderful?