If you’re travelling to a country where English isn’t widely spoken, here’s a handy trick to turn a smartphone into a translator for free – without using any costly data abroad.

The Google Translate app’s available on Android and iPhone. It’s free and lets you translate words and phrases to and from your chosen language.

The real boon is it lets you download free language packs on your smartphone to access offline. Do this before you travel, and you won’t need data to use it overseas.

To do it, download and open the app, press the menu button and select “offline languages”. Then tap the pin button for each language you want to download. There are 90 languages to choose from, including Greek.

Our verdict:
Good: Google Translate can translate conversations in near real-time, and you can translate signs by pointing the in-app camera at them, with no Internet connection required.

Bad: Conversation mode has a few glitches, and translations are often too literal.

Bottom Line: Google Translate, with its versatile input methods, simple interface and offline support, is one of the best translation tools out there.

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