How to talk with your partner's family when you share no language
Usually your partner ends up interpreting every line, and spends the visit translating instead of talking. Here is what helps, and how to use one phone as the interpreter so your partner can join in.
Try Nualingo free for three minutesNo account and nothing to download. Three minutes a day on each device.
One phone on the table: how it goes
Before the visit, open Nualingo in your phone's browser and choose your two languages. Use the three free minutes with your partner first, so you both know what to expect.
At the table, ask your partner to explain in the family's language what the phone does, and whether everyone is happy for it to listen.
Press Start listening and put the phone in the middle, where everyone can see the screen.
Say one sentence and pause. It appears on screen with the translation under it, and a voice reads the translation aloud. The reply comes back to you the same way.
If it gets a name or a place wrong, type the correction and the correction is spoken. Keep the conversation afterwards only if you want to read it again.
What helps, with or without an app
- Short sentences, with a pause at the end of each. Long, winding sentences are hard for any interpreter, human or not.
- One person at a time. The phone follows whoever is speaking, so two people talking at once comes out muddled.
- Learn a few words yourself: hello, thank you, and something kind about the food. Nobody expects fluency, and the effort is noticed.
- Give your partner a break. They can still step in for jokes and things that need explaining, but they do not have to translate every line.
- For medical, legal or official matters, use a professional interpreter. An app is for everyday conversation.
Questions people ask
- Can an app take over from my partner as the interpreter?
- For everyday talk, it can take most of the load. Jokes and idioms sometimes come through flat, and names, places and numbers are where it slips most, so your partner will still help now and then.
- Does my partner's family need to install anything?
- No. Nualingo runs on one phone, in its browser. The family only needs to talk.
- Which languages does it cover?
- Any two of 60, with Thai, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Spanish among them. Each of you speaks your own language and hears the other person in it.
- Is the conversation recorded?
- To interpret, your speech is sent to the speech service we use. A conversation is kept only if you choose to keep it, and you can delete it later.
- Can we use it on a video call with family abroad?
- No. Everyone needs to be beside the same phone, so it suits visits and meals together.
Try it at the next family meal
Each device gets three free minutes a day, with no account. Try it with your partner first, then take it to the table.