Mobile phone software company LingoPal has launched a suite of applications for Java-enabled mobile phones that may spark love between different nationalities, and at the same time render the traditional foreign-language phrasebook redundant.
Initially available in seven European languages, the software employs high-quality audio recordings of foreign phrases, accurately pronounced by native speakers, which play across the phone's loudspeaker. LingoPal's Richard Johnson said that two different products are available. "The LingoPal Voyage is aimed at the general traveller, and includes the most-needed phrases used when visiting a foreign country." Categorized into fourteen subdirectories such as accommodation and directions to enable easy searching, the phrases can be individually stored in a favorites folder to make the process even simpler.
It is the LingoPal Flirta, however, that should attract the attention of wandering hopefuls. Like the Voyage, Flirta is divided into subdirectories of likely scenarios, including At a Bar, On the Beach and Compliments. The reverse translations subdirectory assists two-way conversation between the couple.
"Now, instead of being lumbered with a bunch of different phrasebooks bulging out of their pockets, travellers can utilize their mobile phone as a tool to help communicate in a foreign land."
The company has a number of plans in the pipeline. "Many more languages will be rolled out in the coming weeks to cover most destinations," Johnson continued. "You will only be limited by the amount of storage in your mobile."