Traveling is an exciting activity. Buzz words like wanderlust, leisure, and brocation have been rampant on the internet because travel has become a passion of many. However, going to a foreign country that does not understand your language can be scary and frustrating. Fortunately, there are many software programs today that can help. One of which is Naver Papago.
What Is Naver Papago?
Did you know that Naver is the primary search engine that people in South Korea use? Papago is Naver’s translation app and service that helps you when you are off traveling to different countries or translating a word or a phrase into a different language. It can translate speech or text from a specific language to another.
An interesting fact is that the name Papago is an Esperanto word that roughly translates to “parrot.” You can see this quirky detail in the look and feel of the Naver Papago website, where its icon represents the parrot’s colors. The logo of the app is also a parrot.
Naver Papago is an automated application. This means that it is now extremely easy for you to travel and communicate in foreign countries because of this translation device and app. It integrates machine translation, character recognition, and speech recognition and synthesis. You can bid goodbye to awkward and inaccurate translations because it uses all these state-of-the-art technologies to give you the best and most accurate translations.
Will Naver Papago Cost You a Dime?
Naver Papago offers so many cool, handy, and practical services that you can use while you are overseas. You might think that this app is crazy expensive, but you will be glad to know that this app is free to use!
You can easily access this translation software through your computer browser or mobile device. All you must do is to create an account. Another option is for you to log in through Facebook or Line, or use a QR code for an easier way to sign in.
Naver Papago App Features
Text Translation
Simply type a word or a phrase in your native language or a language you understand, then you can choose your target language from over ten languages available with Naver Papago. With just a simple click, you can automatically translate your phrase into your desired language. Papago’s interface is also very user-friendly and intuitive. It is very simple.
Image Translation
Image translation is very helpful especially if you are traveling abroad. There are always signs that are in the local language of the country you are visiting. This situation can be very tricky because you can’t just simply type the unfamiliar characters into the app.
Fortunately, Naver Papago also has an image translation functionality. All you have to do is open the camera function on the app. You can then take a photo of the sign with the local language and choose the language output to understand what the sign says.
Voice Translation
Another handy feature that Naver Papago offers is voice translation. This is especially helpful when it comes to long phrases or even multiple sentences. You can access the app and open its voice translation feature and choose the language output you want. You can then say the sentences you want to be translated. After a few seconds, the app will automatically translate it, making communication a breeze even if you are in a foreign country!
What’s also neat is that it works both ways. For example, the foreign person you are talking to can also use the app, and it will automatically translate their message into a language that you understand.
Offline Translation
No internet? No problem! Naver Papago offers an offline translation platform that works even if you have no access to the internet. Again, this works perfectly well if you are in a foreign country and do not have access to Wi-Fi or mobile data. This way, you don’t have to worry about connecting your mobile device before using the translation services of Papago.
It is important to note that the offline setting of Papago is only accessible through the app. It uses the app’s built-in translation content so you can bid goodbye to internet dependence to solve all your translation needs.
Conversation Translation
The conversation translation is another neat feature that Naver Papago offers. If communication is done rapidly, as in a conversation, you can listen in through the app’s conversation translation feature.
This has a significantly slower buffer time because it is built and designed to handle even the fastest exchange of sentences and phrases in any language that is available in the app. This way, you can communicate with a breeze through Naver Papago’s Conversation translation feature.
Handwriting Translation
Many languages have unique characters. Think about Chinese characters, which are different from Japanese, Korean, and even Russian and German characters.
A great feature of Naver Papago is the handwriting translation feature. This means that you can use the app to write your characters, and it will automatically transform it to your chosen language output. Similarly, a local in the country you are visiting can write on the screen of your mobile phone and use the app, and it can automatically transform it into characters that you can understand.
Website Translation
Website translation is another excellent feature that Naver Papago offers. If you are researching what to do and where to go before your trip, you can use the software to translate the website to understand the information and update your travel itinerary!
Dictionary
The dictionary also provides common words and definitions for all the languages available in Naver Papago. This is so you no longer must sift through your travel books of common words and phrases. All you must do is type in the word you want to learn, and it opens up the definition of these commonly used words and phrases.
Supported Languages
Papago currently supports 13 languages: Korean, English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Russian, German, and Italian. So, if you go to any countries with these native languages, you don’t have to worry about breaking that language barrier!
Word Sense Disambiguation
This feature of Naver Papago prevents mistranslation. It requires verification of certain words with more than one meaning. Words with multiple translations appear with an underline and are highlighted with a green color. You can click on the word and pictures to find out more about the word’s possible meanings.
Conversion of Currency
Currency conversions can be tricky when traveling. Fortunately, Naver Papago also helps you out with money matters. Here, prices appear green and underlined. You can click on the price for the amount conversion. The current conversion rates are based on the KEB Hana Bank.
Phrasebook
The built-in phrasebook includes a wide variety of important and helpful sets of phrases. What more is that these built-in categories do not require connection data, and you can use it offline! You can choose from Shopping, Food, or Bus Routes and Schedules categories.
Favorites and Hashtags
You do not have to worry about trying to find your frequently-used feature of the Naver Papago app. Simply hitting the “star” button will add specific translations to your favorites list.
Push-to-Talk
In the push-to-talk feature, real-time translation occurs. This feature also updates and corrects translations while you talk.
Honorifics
The Honorifics feature lets you choose the level of formality in the output translation. Papago manages this feature through a toggle. The feature switches between a basic or formal form to a higher or polite form.
Naver Papago Pros and Cons
Pros
- Translates basic terms and phrases.
- Includes dictionary definitions of words with more than one meaning.
- Free
- Phrasebook accessible offline and sorted by topic
- Translates pictures
Cons
- May switch from formal to informal speech
- Does not include romanization
- No sample sentences or context
- Limited number of supported languages compared with others
Is Naver Papago the Best Translation App Today?
Yes! Naver Papago is free and has a simple and user-friendly interface. What’s more, it is especially useful for people who love to travel!
Naver Papago boasts of amazing features. What we especially love is it lets you save words as “favorites,” making it extremely to retrieve your most frequently used words or phrases. This helps you create a word pool and phrase bank easily accessible anytime and anywhere. Another great thing about the app is the interpretation and translation of texts, voices, and text in photos.
It’s also worth noting that Naver Papago is more widely used in South Korea than Google Translate. So, if you ever travel to South Korea, you can count on Papago to accurately translate Korean to English and vice versa.
Say goodbye to feelings of anxiety and frustration about the language barrier while you are in a foreign country. Travel lightly and communicate with ease with Naver Papago!
