Instant, Offline Visual Translation for Travelers

If you’ve just moved to China without having an inkling of the Chinese language, we know how you feel. “When I started living in Shenzhen, I was looking to learn Chinese and not being able to read the characters was very frustrating,” said Thomas, one of our clients from NCM, and that’s also how Rogowski - Waygo’s CEO feels.

Rogowski’s experience in China inspired him to start Waygo – a visual translation app that allows users to wave their phone over Chinese or Japanese characters and receive an English translation immediately and in real time. What’s the best part? An Internet or data connection isn’t required. Waygo works well with things like menus or signs, allowing users to obtain meaningful translations of food items.

Here are the reasons shared by netizens about why you should choose Waygo:
1. Free to download and try with all languages included.
2. Instant offline translation.
3. Use your video camera as a visual translator or dictionary.
4. No data connection required.
5. Translate any menu or sign and never feel lost in translation again.
6. See the pronunciation of the words and learn how to say it.
7. Share your translations through SMS, Facebook, Twitter and Email.

And the tips:
1. Best used on clear Chinese text (currently does not recognize handwriting).
2. Intended for use on printed text, not computer screens.
3. Designed for clear menus, signs and labels, not books or complicated text.
4. If the text is small, hold the phone further away and use the zoom to translate more clearly.
5. If text is blurry, tap the screen to focus.

Waygo is primarily aimed at travelers in Asia. It focuses on what you would encounter as a tourist. From subways, to getting around, to understanding what’s on the menu. Things that we take for granted that are simple in our everyday life until we go abroad and can’t speak that language. If we only had something that could help translate all of that very easily. That’s what apps like Waygo are.

Waygo currently works on a freemium model – the free version of Waygo allows users 10 free translations a day, and the fully paid version of the app allows users unlimited translation.

But if you’re not just traveling around in China, you may better learn some of this language to accommodate yourself to any new circumstances in life or work. And in that case, you could also use a help from those translating apps as dictionaries.

Wish you travel or live like a local!