Comment by stevelosh | Hacker News Reader

Comment by stevelosh | Hacker News Reader

Wow.

I downloaded the app, bought the Spanish -> English pack, and tried it with some simple phrases in a big TextEdit window on my monitor. It flickered a bit, but I expected that from a monitor. It got them right.

Big deal, common phrases are easy -- I could just buy a phrasebook. Then I tried a random phrase from the Spanish version of "Dive into Python":

    Una función, como cualquier otra cosa en Python, es un objeto.

It flickered like before from the monitor, but it was easy to read the translation:

   A function, as any other thing in Python, is a object.

Perfect? No. Usable? Absolutely.

As soon as a French -> English pack is released I'll buy it, even if it's $100.

This is the kind of thing that would make it possible for me to move to Montreal. I love that city, but don't know French. I could learn, but it would take time and I'd be lost like a baby gazelle on the Serengeti while I learned.

This app could ease the process of moving to an entirely different country. That's amazing.

Hello, future, it's nice to see you.

I live in Montreal and you are right that you would need to understand some French but only to read signalization, some store names and public advertisement. Signalization of course is important if you are driving but an app like this won't help you (you are holding the wheel I hope). Besides that, almost any store or institution has bilingual staff (and when they don't most French speakers will understand basic English). Don't let that hold you back... unless you hate snow and cold winters ;)

Seconding this. I know many people who speak only English and are doing just fine here. Almost everybody who works at a store is bilingual. It's still worth it to learn French though, if only to get the francophones' respect. I often hear Quebecois friends complain about people in Montreal not doing an effort to learn French, but they'll respect people who put some effort into it.

I live in Montréal too and I'm chiming in that it's easy to live here with only English, 25% of the city is natively anglophone. Some people in the company I work at (also immigrants) see no reason to learn French, which the quebecois probably don't want to hear.

It is easy to get the hang of signage too; lots of French words are spelt almost identically in English, and the language is much easier to read than it is to listen to. You should get the hang of it quickly.

On the other hand, if you have to get any kind of job that involves speaking with customers ... you are shit out of luck.

Combine the technology with something like http://www.gizmag.com/vuzix-wrap-920ar-augmented-reality-gla... and you could walk down the street and read everything in your own language.

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