Franklin Electronics 5 Language European Translator

I bought this translator to be (I hoped) a speedier alternative to a paperback dictionary. I'm a grad student who needs to learn French very quickly, and on my proficiency test, I won't be allowed to use any electronic dictionaries that have an internet connection. This one seemed like it could be really helpful to have around, and for this cheap price, I went for it.It's completely useless. 1) It's very slow and cumbersome to type on, resulting in a lot of typos that slow you down further or which confuse the translator. 2) It has a very limited French vocabulary, apparently. It doesn't have most of the words I've tried. 3) There is no way that I've figured out to add accent marks. It tries to "correct" your spelling (which takes for..ev...er...), but 9 times out of 10, it's too confused and it can't figure out what word I want. 4) A dictionary is faster and smarter than this electronic one, at least for those of you looking to translate from a foreign language into your native language. Perhaps it's useful for those looking to go from English to a foreign language, but it's so tedious to type on, you'd be much better off using a smartphone if you have one.

The translator is easy to use and helpful because it has several functions, i.e., translations, dictionary, and conversions. However, in getting started, I thought the unit was broken -- I couldn't get it to turn on even after changing the batteries. I called the company and got the response that I should to peel off the protective covering which had been covering the screen so fully that I saw no change on the screen when hitting the power button. I was told that this is a common experience and think that the company should give more direction in the owner's manual. All in all, the size is good for travel, the screen is easy to read, and the ability to change among languages and functions is fairly intuitive.

The directions that come with the translator are not clear. When you follow what you think the directions are, it doesn't seem to work. I am not even sure that I will take it to Europe with me when we go. Excess baggage.

The instructions were a bit difficult to follow; not clear at all. Not enough detail about what to do if their limited instructions didn't work. It took us awhile to do it right but we finally managed it...and that with my 2 university degrees and my husband is a lawyer!!! It was not that technical just not well written. However, now that we have it working it will be a bonus in some European countries like Germany, Spain and France where not that meany people speak English. Italy is the exception...lots of Italians speak English and fortunately I speak a bit of Italian (and French, but not enough of that). I think it is a great tool for travel, especially in Europe.

I am sure it will be what I wanted as soon as I get to understand it more. Some of the instructions are not clear enough for me.But with the help of my daughter and grand daughter, I should be learning more about it as time goes on.. I hope so anyway.

This product is extremely cheap... I would not turn on, I suspect the battery was dead, but was not going to spend additional money on a new battery just to test that theory. The construction is extremely cheap plastic, more like a toy than anything else. Fortunately we are Amazon Prime members so return and refund were easy. Don't waste your money and time!

I bought this for a European trip my girlfriend and I took through France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. It was very useful for decoding items on menus or figuring out street signs. Our one issue, at no fault to the translator, was that we did not know how to pronounce the words/phrases. In France and Germany reading words may seem easy but pronouncing them is a whole other challenge. I suggest that if you are buying a translator to converse with others, get one that will help you pronounce what it translates. Otherwise if you're just going to be using it as a reference, this translator works great.

Did not preform as well as I expected. I had trouble working the keys and it would give me no translation too often.