App Aims: Translating Messages Into Leprechaun-Speak

Reviewer’s Comments
Translate your own words into an Irish accent and email the results to family and friends to amuse and entertain with the Speaking Irish app by PerkinsNetwork. Type in a word, phrase or entire sentence; tap the smiling shamrock and the app will add a bit of blarney to your text. You can share the blather by tapping the email button. This puts the translated text into the Mail program so you can select a contact and send off your greetings.

This app has a smooth, stable interface and cute graphics but it falls short in the usability department. The text you enter is displayed at a very small point size making it difficult to read. The app doesn’t have a very complete slang dictionary so it won’t convert words like “restaurant” into the slang version which is “eating house”. Occasionally it does make the translation (as demonstrated on Speakin Irish’s App Store’s screenshots) but most of the time it seems to simply change some words to what must sound like an Irish accent which brings up another point. It would be really nice to actually hear what the words sound like so that you can practice the pronunciation. As it is now, saying aloud what the app displays on the screen is filled with the potential for really embarrassing yourself. The developer is open to receiving words and phrases to add to the app’s database which is a good thing because the app needs more work. Speakin Irish has a good premise but needs further enhancements to be of much value.

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