Online translators

[MunchinMark]

Does anyone know of a translator that includes phonetic representations?

I have a friend from Hong Kong. Very often when I call, either her mother or grandmother, both of whom do not speak English answer the phone when I call. I only know one chinese (cantonese) phrase, and that is useless. Online translators that I know about (like Altavista) translate English into Chinese text. But I can't read it and if I were to write a letter I could do it in English anyway.

Failing that, anyone know the cantonese for 'sorry I don't understand what you are saying. Could you put ______ on the line please?'

 

[mig]

Why not have her phone you?

Cheaper too.

 

[Bindii]

I don't know if this is what you are after but it appears to have the phonetic reps for Cantonese here. It also has sound files so you can hear the word pronunciation. Not a lot of phrases to choose from but I hope it helps.

http://travlang.com/languages/

 

[MunchinMark]

M goi saai Bindii. At least I can now ask them if they speak English.

The Cantonese/English section has recording of the phrases in English, as does the English/Cantonese section.


Yes Mig, and I could e-mail her too, but neither are as immediate as making that call.

 

[Bindii]

M goi saai Bindii. At least I can now ask them if they speak English.

The Cantonese/English section has recording of the phrases in English, as does the English/Cantonese section.


Yes Mig, and I could e-mail her too, but neither are as immediate as making that call.

So I take that as you still need a decent link then?

 

[MunchinMark]

Well, until I can ask for my friend to come to the phone, yes.