11 Best Translation Apps for Android in 2021

If you are planning a trip to another country, whether it be for business or travel, one of the first things you need to do to prepare is to try to learn a few words and phrases that will help you communicate.

Before you leave, try and book a few sessions with an online language tutor who can help prepare you to hold daily conversations in commonly spoken languages. 

One other thing you should consider doing, however, especially if your time is limited is to download a good translation app. A translation app can help you out of tight spots when you just can’t understand what is being said, but you can also use it to learn in your spare time.

You can use a translation app to figure out the meanings of words in a foreign language and help you memorize these meanings so, when you hear them spoken you will be able to understand them and come up with a good response.

Take a look at this list of the best translation apps for Android and choose the one that sounds like it will suit your needs the best. 

1. Google Translate

This is the most basic and easily accessible of the best translation apps for Android on this list. It’s probably one of the easiest to access on mobile and is totally free, with no ads or in-app purchases.

Google Translate can recognize and translate over 100 languages online and more than 50 languages when you are offline. You can input the text that you want translated via typing (this is the only way available if you are offline), voice input, and handwriting.

One particularly handy feature of this app if you are traveling is that it can translate the text that you see around you, all you have to do is focus your mobile device’s camera on it. So, if for example, you can’t read a street sign, you just need to aim your camera on it and Google Translate can translate it for you. 

2. Microsoft Translate 

This app provided by Microsoft is also one of the best translation apps for Android. If you are a Microsoft loyalist, you might find this a good alternative to Google Translate

Microsoft Translate is completely free, with no in-app purchases and ads. It works with over 60 languages, which is less than Google Translate but more than many of the other apps on this list.   

This app supports phrasebooks and provides pronunciation guides and alternate translations. It also supports two-way conversations with up to 100 people at the same time. There is also Android Wear Support.

3. iTranslate

This is a popular translation app for Android that supports over 100 languages and even allows you to switch between dialects.

 Aside from translating text, the app also offers you a handy dictionary and thesaurus function that will help you find the meaning of the word as well as alternative, similar words.  There is an offline mode, so even if you don’t have access to the internet you can use this app. 

iTranslate is available in a free version, but there is also a paid or pro version. The advantage to the paid version is that it allows you to use your mobile device’s camera to translate text. So, you can scan street signage or a menu and the app will translate it for you. 

4. BK Translator 

This is a free translation app that translates a variety of languages. The app works by translating between the user’s chosen language and English. So, if you set the app to recognize and translate Arabic, it will show you a translation in English.

Currently available on the Google Play store are BK Translate apps for Burmese, Indonesia, Thai , Khmer, German, Malay, Turkish, Bengali, Arabic, Vietnamese, Persian, Japanese, Urdu, Korean, Chinese , Filipino, Polish, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Hungarian, French, and Portuguese.

To use this app, you can input the text that you want translated by typing, voice, and even handwriting. You can use the app to translate full sentences or just particular words.

Many of the best translation apps for Android are free to download on the Google Play Store, the BK Translator app is no exception. The downside to having a free app like BK Translation, however, is that you will see some advertising as you use the app.

5. Dictionary Linguee

This is a free app that is basically a multilingual dictionary that supports almost a dozen world languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, and Polish currently)

When you input a word and ask the app to translate it, you will also be provided with audio pronunciations and example sentences. This will also help you learn the language as it is easier to pick up new vocabulary words if you see them being used in sentences. 

You can download the dictionary that you want to use for free and use them in offline mode. In other words, you can access the dictionary even if you are not connected to the internet. 

This app is entirely free, with no ads or in-app purchases needed. Just make sure to check that the language you need to learn is supported by this app.

6. Reverso Dictionary

Some of the best translation apps for Android are basically multilingual dictionaries that you can access through your mobile device.

Reverso Dictionary is a multilingual dictionary that supports 14 languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Romanian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese). When you ask the app to translate a word for you, it also offers example sentences and audio pronunciations to help you better understand the word’s meaning and how to use it.

One interesting feature of this app is the fact that there are word games on it that will help you memorize the words in a fun and interesting manner.

There is a free version but there is also an ad-free premium version.

7. Innovative Apps

Innovative Apps provide a variety of bilingual dictionary apps for free that can work as translation apps. All you need to do is find and download the specific dictionary app for the language that you want translated.

All of the dictionaries provided by Innovative Apps offer English translations as well as pronunciation guides. There is a voice search feature that, along with auto-suggestions, can help you translate conversations.

Innovative Apps also provide you with lists of synonyms and antonyms, which can help you build your vocabulary. There are also word games provided that will help make memorizing the different words fun and interesting.

As we said, all the apps are free. There are advertisements, however, so if you find that sort of thing annoying you might want to look for a different app.

8. Dict.cc

This is another translation app that is available for free on the Google Play store, but there is also a premium version.

The free basic version works with a variety of languages, including German, English, Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish.

While the app only works with single words, it is a good translation app if you need to get translations between two languages. The app is bidirectional so you can get German-English and English-German for example.

The app also provides audio pronunciations, which is a good way to ensure that you are learning the proper way to say the translated words.

If you want to pay for the premium version, you will get a larger database of supported languages. So, if the language you are interested in is not on the free version, you might want to pay for the premium version.  You will also be able to use the app without seeing ads.

9. Klays-Development

Klays-Development offers two types of translation apps. There is a single app that will work with more than a dozen different languages. However, there are also several different bilingual translation apps that focus on specific languages.

All apps from Klays-Development have the same simple and easy-to-use UI. You can either speak the words you want translated or type them in. 

The difference between the single app and the individual translation apps comes down to price. You will need to pay for the single app but, aside from having more languages available, it has no ads or in-app purchases. The individual apps are free with advertising.

 10. Naver Papago

This is a free translation app developed by Naver, which is a popular South Korean search engine. IT actually functions similarly to Google Translate.

The app supports 13 languages including, of course, Korean. The other languages that can currently be translated by Naver Papago are English, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Thai, Indonesia, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Russian.

This app allows you to translate text, voice, and even images it can even translate while online. It also recognizes handwriting and websites.

The major advantage to this translation app, however, is that all its functions work offline, so you can easily use it on the go.

11. TripLingo

The TripLingo app offers voice, text, and image translation. It is particularly handy to have when you are trying to converse with native speakers. The voice translator translates your speech into another language in real-time and will translate the response back to English. The voice translator function is available in 19 languages.

This app features a phrasebook with over 2,000 phrases (formal and informal) in thirteen different languages. There is also a 10,000-word offline dictionary.

TripLingo also offers audio lessons, a flashcard feature, and quizzes that allow you to have fun while learning a new language.

Conclusion

Language apps are a fun and convenient way to supplement your online language lessons. There are apps that can help you learn grammar and apps that you can use to improve your vocabulary.   

While the quickest way to develop your ability to hold conversations with native language speakers is still to work with an online tutor, downloading a translation app can also help you build fluency and improve your listening comprehension. 

A good translation app will help you navigate a foreign country and improve your ability to communicate. This in turn will not just make your trip more fun, but will also help you develop useful connections and lasting relationships.