Franklin TWE-118 5-Language European Translator/Travel Ace

This is a good buy for the price. I have a copy of the Rick Steve's three-language guide for the traveler. I bought this as a supplement to the book. The translator comes with an instruction pamphlet which I keep with it. I have found the translator will take time to use without the pamphlet. It is compact and contains basic information for five languages. It should be a valuable aid for any trip to Europe.

I've had one of these for over 14 years now, when they first started coming out. My brother has the original one I got freshman year in high school, and I have one I got junior year. This item is still very much the same as it was 14 years ago, just a little sleaker and smaller. Very easy to use, turn on, type the word, and search. It still has thesaurus and games, and as reviews below mention, occasionally still brings up entertaining words if you are as bad of phonetic speller as I am. This item is excellent to save you from digging through pages of a dictionary in search of just a spelling, and not the definition. A must if you can't even get the first 3 letters square like I do looking up words. Most of these models will also play hangman with you, amongst a few other games to try and work with your spelling skills. The spelling ace my brother still has actually contained many definitions. These little machines are worth their weight in gold for highschoolers and college folks writing paper, even with spell check on the computer. This particular version is helpful with homework for foriegn language classes, but not if you are going to try and keep up with a fluent conversation in a foriegn language, but for typing letters/papers ect...works fine

The Franklin Translator is a nice idea, but it's for beginners. If you're not a beginner in the language you won't be satisfied with the vocabulary available in this tool.

I realized the item did in fact, work. I just needed to change the battery.

Yes, you usually get what you pay for.... so, I'm not surprised. This unit will translate words and short phrases into 5 different languages but the interface is not friendly and the little screen only shows about 2 or 3 words so you are constantly spacing the little ">" button to reveal the rest. It is always throwing out error messages even for simple english phrases.I can't imagine sitting at a restaurant and using it to help communicate. By the time you found the correct words the waiter would be on break.Perhaps back in the hotel room with plenty of time one could create some important phrases and store them.I think I will do better with my little Berlitz pocket phrase book, turn to the appropriate section and read it off the page.

I really didn't like this product at all. As a matter of fact, I ended up taking my dictionary with me to Italy instead. The translator was slow and not easy to use. The phasing is prewritten and had no relevance to me. I did not like the product at all.

Item did not arrive in original packaging or with a complete instruction manual!

Misses too many words I enter from my weekly Spanish magazine

J'ai reçu l'article avec 10 jours de retard et il ne fonctionnait pas j'ai dû changer la batterie,

Great device that fits into a pocket easily. Don't be disappointed at its limitations, because it gives good value for money.How does the keyboard work.....well enough, but be patient, follow instructions and be prepared to be creative in your requests. I think it will help those with no language and those, like me, with very limited language skills.And, it's always in my pocket, no need to worry about pronounciation, you can show them the text.

Very good, easy to use, and does the job. small size is useful for pocket or handbag, and is clear to read.

Absolutely feckin' useless! What a waste of money. Had I bought this in a pound shop I would have been disgusted and returned it. Seriously - a useless item...

Very common words can not be found (target, crawl, translation...). Ok, it is easy to use, but it does not even have all the vocabulary needed to translate the instructions! I returned it!!!