There are a number of reasons why someone would want to learn the Chinese language. For example, Chinese is the most-spoken language in the world. If you are in business, you may have to communicate with customers or colleagues who speak Chinese. As China is a large market for goods and services, it makes sense for business owners to familiarize themselves with the language to expand their corporate interests. Electronic Chinese language translators can be used by those planning on traveling to China, whether for work or pleasure. Those individuals studying Chinese will also find these devices useful, since Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to master. Electronic translators are lightweight, portable, and convenient to use. There are a number of features available on these products; take the time to consider your needs in order to choose the one best suited to your situation.
What Are Your Needs?
Are you a student of the language or in business? Do you need to know basic phrases or will you be conducting complex business negotiations in Chinese? Is it important that you have access to technical terms? By answering these questions before you start shopping, you will be able to zero in on the type of translator with the features that are most important to you.
Examples of Electronic Chinese Language Translators
- Aim High, Inc. offers the YiShen 888 (Super) English/Chinese Electronic Translator on its web site. The user simply inputs the desired text using the keyboard or an electronic pen and it is translated to either English or Chinese. The unit also has the ability to "speak", which allows the consumer to hear the translation as well. An interesting feature of the YiShen 888 is that unfamiliar words can be looked up using the multiple dictionaries that are included with this product.
- LanguageTeacher.com offers a number of electronic Chinese language translators for its online customers. One of the products carried by this company is the Vocal 603-A language translator. The Vocal 603-A translates into both Cantonese and Mandarin. This unit is quite easy to use. The consumer simply types the text to be translated using the keyboard and presses "Enter" to receive the translation. To hear the newly-translated text, he or she presses "Say."
- Franklin's Global Translator is capable of translating to and from Chinese. This product can also perform translations in German, Italian, French, Japanese, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, and more. The voice used for the "speak" function is a recorded human voice, as opposed to a synthesized one. The text to be translated can be entered using the keyboard or a menu function containing over 12,000 phrases. This product includes a built-in microphone, which allows users to compare their pronunciation skills with those of a person who has spoken the language since childhood. Language quizzes to test the user's abilities are also included.
- The Maxmile Corporation offers electronic Chinese language calculators on its Besta USA site. The CD-628 model has a Chinese-English dictionary with more than 290,000 words and phrases built in. It also includes 130,000 voice recording samples, an American slang dictionary, and a large number of technical dictionaries. The consumer can use up to 20 cross-search windows at one time to find the information he or she needs. Students learning English will find the downloadable animated grammar and animated phrase features helpful. This translator also allows the owner to download files to a PC and is capable of recognizing handwriting.
- Aim High, Inc. is another distributor of electronic translators. The AM101 will translate English words or phrases to Chinese; the words will then be spoken in Mandarin. This product is geared toward English-speaking people who would like to learn to speak Chinese. A basic English-Chinese dictionary is included, along with five subject dictionaries.
