
Show HN: Mantaphrase, an app that lets you converse in a foreign language - wlue
http://www.mantaphrase.com/blog/2012/10/09/introducing-mantaphrase/
======
DEinspanjer
This sounds like a very good idea and I would happy pay a few bucks for it on
Android the next time I have to travel somewhere I don't speak the language.

Have you considered providing the flip side of the conversation? I would want
to use an English interface to present a question and possible answers to a
person who speaks another language, but it might also be possible that I'd
want to let them pick from a list of phrases/questions in their language and
allow me to answer as well.

~~~
wlue
Thanks for your comments! The idea of the conversation interface is that the
user is driving the conversation. We wanted to make it extremely simple for
the other person to see and respond. We don't have a good solution for the
flip-side yet. It's one of the issues we found with certain translation
applications that have user interfaces meant for two people. One person is
probably not going to know how to use it.

I definitely do see value in this kind of interaction though, but we're going
to have to be careful about how we implement it so we don't make the interface
confusing for the person you actually want to communicate and not confuse!

~~~
romey
Maybe you could make it detect when the device is turned upside down, and
display a 180º rotated interface in the conversation partner's language? So
the interaction would be input phrase->turn phone upside down->partner enters
phrase?

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unohoo
Does the app read out the phrase? If not, I see this as a big challenge in
developing countries where, depending on who you interact with, the person
might not know how to read (even their native language)

~~~
patar
Patrick here. Good insight, and this is a feature we currently have in the
works!

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grecy
At a street market in Quito, Ecuador a few years ago I watched in horror as a
backpacker pulled out his shiny iPhone and shoved an app like this in the face
of a vendor.

The phone cost more than the vendor will make in a year, and the backpacker
was oblivious that he was shoving that in her face.

I would never use such a thing.

~~~
TWAndrews
Right, because no vendors in developing countries are aware that western
visitors-including backpackers-are comparatively well off.

I don't travel in Asia much, but if some European languages are added, this
will go on my must have list of apps.

~~~
grecy
Of course they are aware of it, but it's another thing to shove it in their
face so blatantly.

Never mind the safety implications of publicly showing off a ~$500 device in a
crowded street market in a developing country.

~~~
Zirro
While the point you make is certainly something to think about when travelling
to developing countries, there are many developed countries out there as well
where an app like this could be useful. The example given in the blogpost was
Japan.

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incision
Looks great.

I'm hoping there's an Android version in the works?

~~~
wlue
Yes, it's something we're seriously considering for sure.

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anuleczka
This is excellent! I recently moved to Switzerland without knowing any French,
and while using Google Translate to figure out how to ask basic questions
works fine in a pinch, I'm usually at a loss if the person responds by
speaking too fast or using complex vocabulary. Though I can get by in French
now, I'll definitely bring this with me when I'm Taipei and Tokyo later this
year. Keep it up!

~~~
hnriot
As a Brit who lived in St Gallen for a couple of years, I never found any
problem, the Swiss all speak perfect Swiss, English, French and German. My
schoolboy French was useless because the moment I would open my mouth they
would instantly switch to English, even in rural areas.

~~~
eru
> the Swiss all speak perfect Swiss, English, French and German

What do you mean by perfect Swiss? (To be honest, as a German I am inclined to
classify Swiss German as its own language. Especially since we already grant
Dutch to be a different language from German.)

~~~
eric_bullington
He probably means Romansh. It's one of Switzerland's national languages,
although only a small minority of the population speaks it.

~~~
eru
Yes. It's always fun to bring that up, because people generally see
Switzerland as trilingual only. Haven't met a speaker of that language, yet,
though.

~~~
lignuist
I met some. It was fun to see, how they could communicate with spanish people.

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MIT_Hacker
So legit. I'm taking Chinese right now and not only does this let you converse
in a foreign language, but it can help you learn the characters for everday
sayings along the way. Great design and I'm excited to see that it's launched!

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huhtenberg
Useful app and a good idea, but if I could pick phrases by saying them (or
keywords), it will make this a _super_ useful app and a _brilliant_ idea.

(edit) I've been using a Google Translate-based contraption to do what this
app does, and the most annoying and awkward part is that pause in the
conversation when you have to type stuff into the phone. You get rid of this
pause, you got yourself an _exceptionally_ useful product.

~~~
wlue
Yes! This is something that we're really excited about, and is definitely on
our pipeline.

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noonespecial
Nice. The "universal translator" is the 'Trek thing' I'm looking forward to
getting next. Seems like the race is on between the replicator and the
translator.

~~~
jackpirate
I'm not super optimistic about either, but 3d printing is nothing even
remotely like replicating. We haven't even started on that problem.

~~~
noonespecial
Radio telephones were invented in the 40's. Even in the late 80's cell phones
were nothing like communicators.

Now, in most places on earth, I can tap my phone and say a name and get the
person on the line.

I am very optimistic. I'm tired of the dystopian naysaying that seems to be so
popular these days. The future is full of win.

~~~
devilshaircut
I think he means that they are two fundamentally different devices. 1980s cell
phones still do voice communication. A replicator, unlike a 3-D printer does
not simply reproduce a shape. It also reproduces the constituent matter.

~~~
noonespecial
My cell phone doesn't call starships in orbit via 'subspace' radio either.
With the hairs and the splitting.

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pokoleo
These guys have been working for a while on this, and I know they have some
other ideas that aren't even in the app yet. Looking forward to seeing them
add to the app.

It's a beautiful app, and I wouldn't be surprised if it won designs from
Apple.

-sc

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ssewell
Best implementation of voice-to-voice communication I've seen yet:
<http://www.vocre.com/>

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ronyeh
Cool idea!

You mention "large, readable text"... would it be larger and more readable if
the app was in landscape mode? Or would it be harder to use?

~~~
wlue
The app works in landscape when in a conversation. This makes the text a bit
bigger.

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oniTony
Where are you sourcing the exchange rate data from? Since August CAD has been
above USD, but the app shows it at ~$0.98 instead.

~~~
wlue
Exchange rate info right now is just an approximation that's stored offline.
In a next release, we're going to be sourcing information like that more
often.

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ch
I'm curious to know how much field testing you guys have done with this app.
It looks very promising!

~~~
wlue
We have had a bunch of beta testers use it in China and Japan. It was also fun
to pretend to not know English and use it at a restaurant.

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susanhi
The UI looks great! I wish I had this when I was traveling in Japan.

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mikelikespie
It's quite nice looking. Nice job guys!

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cbhl
Congratulations on launching!

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mavlee
Congrats guys

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schoash
bummer that 5.1 is mandatory :(

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wensi
looks legit

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IanDrake
I stopped at: Hand your $600 phone to a stranger.

Although, they could sell a tether as an accessory.

~~~
patar
Mantaphrase uses large readable text that can be read from a good distance
away. That means you can show your device to another person without having to
hand it over!

