Necessary

Posted by S on May 15, 2013 in S Posts | 1 comment

J has a cool app on his phone that will speak Chinese for us. It has helped us out on several occasions, ordering tea, sorting out larger numbers, settling a time when a driver would pick us up.

It is not super sophisticated — it is more of a phrasebook than a translator — and has worked great for most of our needs, but it is also limited in scope.

For example, this app can request or declare many wonderful, but possibly unnecessary, things:

• May I have a seat next to the toilet?
• I would like 2 eggs.
• Pasta without tomato sauce.
• My camera has been stolen.
• I would like to buy a swim cap.
• I would like to rent a beach chair.
• May I have a piece of cake?

However, it has no translation for:

• Will you please stop the van so I can go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW?!?!?