Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Three Life-Saving Uses of Phone Interpreters

If you or someone you know will be in a country where you aren't fluent in the native language, consider bringing along a prepaid interpreter card from OneTranslator.com. These cards provide pay-as-you-go interpretation between English and a number of other languages, and keeping one in your wallet might just save your life.

Use #1: Medical Emergencies
If you are sick or injured in a foreign country (including America, if you don't speak much English), you need to make sure you get the right treatment. If your illness or injury is critical, every second can count! Bringing a prepaid interpreter card with you is a good way to make sure that you will understand what's going on, and that your doctors and nurses will be able to understand you. Cards work from any phone, so you can use a hospital phone or a cell phone to connect to an interpreter.

Use #2: Transportation and Taxis
Airplanes, trains, buses, and taxis can be difficult enough to navigate without a language barrier, but what happens when you need to change a flight and you don't share a language with the service agent? Or if your luggage is lost in a foreign country? What if you need an emergency taxi but don't speak fluently enough to tell the driver where to go? OneTranslator's services are perfect for any of these situations; once you get an interpreter on the phone, you'll be back on the road in no time.

Use #3: Public Emergencies, Disasters, and Other Unforeseen Events
Even something as small as a power outage can be frightening if you don't speak the language well enough to know what's going on. What about a flood, fire, or earthquake? What if a political rally is taking place and you are questioned by the police -- in a foreign language? Just connect to a OneTranslator interpreter and communicate with confidence. Once when I was traveling, I encountered a complete transportation strike; bus and taxi services were shut down, but I was 3 miles from my hotel in an unfamiliar city, late at night. If I had been carrying a OneTranslator card, it might not have taken me 3 hours to find my way back to my hotel with bits of misunderstood directions from helpful strangers!

OneTranslator outshines pocket translation tools or books in emergency situations because it provides you with instant access to a fluent speaker of your needed language. You don't have to worry about your accent or vocabulary, and you definitely don't have to hunt for the words you need (or try to talk through hand gestures). If you will be in a situation where a language barrier could arise, bring a OneTranslator card along to keep your travel worry-free.

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