LIBRARY BLOG
Breaking down language barriers is one of the best ways to show respect and include others. Whether you’re touring a country, moving overseas, or having an international business meeting, opening lines of communication by speaking the same language or having the means to translate all sides of a conversation brings people together. Start the journey with these free language-based resources!
Translation Services
Reverso
Reverso offers a variety of language resources and services.
Reverso Translation: Translates fifteen different languages (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish) and can read text aloud accurately
Reverso Conjugation: Conjugates all types of verbs in ten languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish) and can read vocabulary words aloud accurately
Reverso Context: Translates expressions in fifteen languages (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish) into the context of clear sentences, great for understanding colloquial or slang terms and phrases in foreign languages
Reverso Speller: Checks spelling and grammar of English and French texts
Reverso Synonyms: Gives synonyms for words and phrases in thirteen languages (Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish)
Reverso Dictionary: Gives translations and definitions of millions of words including idiomatic phrases, specialized vocabulary, slang, and neologisms in sixteen languages (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish) and can read vocabulary words accurately
Website and Windows
Google Translate
Google Translate can translate text, speech, and photos in more than 100 languages, read translations aloud accurately, and translate text directly from outside apps. You can even upload documents for a complete translation. The Google Translate app functions offline, though with fewer available languages. The app also offers a feature where you can point your phone camera at anything written in a compatible language and see the translation of the text on the phone’s screen in real-time.
Website, iOS, Android
Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Translator can translate text, speech, and photos in over 60 languages and can read translations aloud accurately. It is capable of translating multiple languages in one spoken conversation without you having to manually switch language settings yourself, ideal for large international business meetings.
iOS and Android
TextGrabber
TextGrabber can translate text, speech, and photos in over 100 languages and read translations aloud accurately. Its Real Time Recognition mode makes addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses a clickable link in the translation. The app can be used offline, as well.
iOS and Android
Naver Papago
Naver Papago specializes in translating text and speech in fifteen languages (simplified and traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese) and is capable of reading translated texts aloud accurately. Users can choose the speed the translation is read, the gender of the speaker, and how many times the speaker repeats the translation with the settings tab. Similar to Google Translate, the Naver Papago app offers an augmented reality feature where users can film text with their phone’s camera and see the translation in real-time. You can also plug in a website’s URL and get a translation of the page.
Website, iOS, and Android
Learn a Language
Programs
Mango Languages
Mango Language is a program that can teach you over 70 languages from Spanish to Pirate, and it’s free through the Terrebonne Parish Library!
Mango teaches you practical phrases and sentences, uses a voice comparison feature so you can see how accurate your pronunciations are, and promotes long-term learning by using different engaging activities and a personal reviewing style that adapts to you the longer you use it. It also teaches the culture of the country the language you are learning is natively spoken.
You can learn more about Mango from our blog here!
Website, iOS, and Android
Duolingo
Duolingo is a program that can teach you 37 languages. The courses are taught in a variety of different native languages—not just English. Duolingo uses fun approaches to encourage better comprehension, like teaching translations for the sentence “My dog sells shirts on the Great Wall of China” alongside more practical sentences. Duolingo grades your responses immediately so you can grasp the conventions of the language quicker. Like Mango, Duolingo adapts to your learning style the longer you use it. The program also aims to motivate you with rewards like coins and levels to unlock.
Website, iOS, and Android
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
MOOCs are free, online courses offered by colleges but aren’t taken for a college degree plan. Enrollment at the colleges offering the courses is not required. At the end of the course, you can decide if you want to purchase a certificate that showed you passed the class.
Open Culture, EdX, Coursera, and MIT Open Courseware are a few websites that offer MOOCs for language courses.
(While you’re there, you might as well look into the other non-language courses they have to offer.)
-Lillian LeCompte, Reference Department