San Miguel FAQ

Google translate is not perfect but it has been of great help to me.

It can run in your web browser or on your phone.

The Google Chrome browser can translate web pages as you browse the web. See: Translate webpages in Chrome. You can use the Chrome browser on Android, iPhone/iPad and on computers.

How to Download Google Chrome.

If you are not using Google Chrome, the Google Translate web version can translate words, phrases, documents and web pages in "any" browser. If you are not using Chrome and your browser does not translate web pages, see: How to Translate a Website with Google Translate. A small difference from those instructions that I have seen lately, is the word "translate" does not appear. Instead there is a small boxy icon to the right of the web url. Click that icon to go to a page with the translated website. This option works for many, but not all, web pages.

The mobile phone app can also translate words and phrases that you type in. Or, copy-n-paste. It can also understand, more or less, spoken English and Spanish and translate and speak English and Spanish. It helps if you speak slowly and in small sentences or phrases. Let it translate that bit, then continue.

Its pronunciation used to be much better than mine. There were words I used to mis-pronounce so badly that I could not be understood, but my phone could say them correctly and be understood. Once I was trying to say "todavía no" meaning "not yet" but was not understood until my phone said it. Once I heard it, I also learned how to say it better. I am getting better. Poco a poco.

The phone app can also translate written images like menus, signs, etc. Touch the camera icon in the app and point it at what you want to see translated. Make sure that English->Spanish or Spanish->English is set correctly.

Sometime the translations require context that the app does not have. You may need to apply common sense and some knowledge of local culture to better understand the translation provided.

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