French to English translation apps are very helpful when stumbling into a situation where you’re drawing a blank when speaking French.
Suppose you’re studying French, planning on traveling in the foreseeable future, watching a French movie, or just starting the process on how to learn french. In that case, a French-to-English translation app can be invaluable. Although having a fluent friend to be your French translator wherever you go would be awesome, no friend is that awesome. if you’re a beginner it becomes especially important to make use of these tools as an English-to-French translation app will drastically improve your vocabulary.
Translation apps come with so many gadgets, gizmos, and features but each one has its limits so instead of wasting your valuable time we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the top 15 French translator apps and everything you need to know about them. Happy learning!
Best General Translation App
Google Translate
Source: Google Translate
Available On: Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- translate text from an image or handwriting
- automatic language recognition
- Translates websites and pdfs and Word documents
Let’s start with old Google Translate. I think the majority of us have come across this feature at least once in our lives. Although the app has had a fair bit of criticism in the past, it has made strides in improvement in recent times. One of the features that have improved over the last few years is the text-to-speak function which allows you to play back the audio version of your translation to improve your pronunciation and to make comprehension and communication a bit easier. Although it is important to note you may notice some common translation mistakes in the software.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Google Translate is free | Google Translate cannot provide a perfectly accurate translation |
| Google Translate is quick. | There is no proofreading |
| Google Translate is quick. | Google Translate offers no security or confidentiality for your data. |
WordReference
Source: Google Play
Available On: Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Only offers translations of words and phrases
- Results from native speakers
- A popular community that’s involved in improving the experience for you.
If you’re looking to figure out the nuances and idiomatic phrases of a language then WordReference is the place to go for cultural translations. What’s great about this app is the popular community that’s involved in improving the experience for you. WordReference makes use of a large forum frequented by native speakers where you can follow past conversations searchable by keywords to hopefully answer your question. It should be noted though that users prefer you to attempt to solve your question first and then native French speakers will correct and help you arrive at the right translation.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| takes advantage of questions that have already been answered by members | not all words have audio pronunciation |
| Makes use of native speakers | is not the best place to go for a direct translation of a sentence |
| Not a great catch-all app. |
Translate Offline
Source: Google Play
Available On Google Play
Key features:
- Works without internet or data
- Completely free
- Translates voice, photos, and texts
If you often run low on data or find yourself in an area with poor quality or no WiFi then Translate Offline can be very useful to you. For travelers, this offline English to French translator app functions without depending on the Internet and can save you the headache of data roaming charges when you travel. Another plus of this app is that it is completely free with an option to buy a full version without ads
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Translate Offline is free | Intrusive pop-up ads and survey requests |
| Translate Offline is a data saver | There is no proofreading |
FranGo
Source: Google Play
Available On Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- French keyboard extension
- Al Camera Translator
- offers transliteration, Sharing, Favorites, History, and Learning
FranGo lets you translate voice, text, photos in many languages to french or vice versa accurately, learning French or other languages more easily. This app features an accurate voice translator which allows you to listen to voice translations in either a male or female voice of your choice. A great aspect of this app is the dialect feature which allows you to switch to different dialects to improve your pronunciation in a practical setting.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No login required, safe, friendly use easily | Requires a subscription |
iTranslate
Source: Google Play
Available On Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- 5 tools to utilize
- Allows sharing with contacts
- On-the-spot translations
iTranslate offers a five-option toolbar that features text translation, a lens to capture images to translate, voice-to-voice powered by speech, a phrasebook including a collection of commonly used expressions organized by categories, and a tab house that stores tagged favorites, history, and a link to website translation. Users can also share translations with contacts via message or email or save them to other apps on the device. This app is free to try but offers in-app purchase options ranging from $4.99 – $49.99 for premium and pro features.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 5 useful tools to satisfy the mind | In-app purchases |
| Allow sharing and saving | It may miss common sayings and may fail to capture the meaning of certain phrases. |
| Offline options | Accuracy seems to depend on how common the word is. |
Best French-English Translation App
Takeeasy
Source: IStore
Available On Istore
Key features:
- 24/7 assistance
- Personalized translations
- Outbound life assistant
Have you ever wanted a personal translation assistant? Well if Takeeasy you’re one step closer. Takeeasy is a French translator app that uses real humans to give you personalized translations on the go with a 24/7 personal assistant for translating anything you need. Although a free trial call is offered, to be expected it is not a free service. This app costs around $1.99/min and although that sounds expensively daunting, most people will only need to use it for a few minutes at a time, keeping the total cost fairly low.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No charge if you hang up in 30 seconds. | Pay per minute |
| Free airtime will be sent monthly | Must have a good connection |
| Shake three times every day to get coupons for free translation. |
TripLingo
Source: TripLingo
Available On: Istore
Key features:
- local emergency information, medical phrases and safety tools.
- currency converter and tip calculator
- free international calls when connected with Wi-Fi
If you’re a foreigner visiting an international country this app is specifically targeted at you. TripLingo provides a phrasebook, and tip calculator, helps you to tell the time in French, and even has a Wi-Fi dialer and addition a useful voice translation feature. TripLingo refers to itself as your go-to culture guide to help you make a good first impression as an etiquette tool. A plus with this app is the built-in Wi-Fi dialer which allows you to make free international calls when connected with Wi-Fi.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| A culture guide is useful when navigating hostile conditions | app crashes most of the time when trying to take wi-fi calls |
| Free calls on wifi to save roaming charges | Other features of this app have known to crash |
| phrasebook including formal, casual and slang options |
TranslateMe
Source: TranslateMe
Available On Google Play
Key features:
- Simple and intuitive design
- Virtually seamless translations
- Uses the same technology as Google Translate
if you prefer a simple and intuitive experience, this French-to-English translation app would be the tool for you. Translate Me is a great option if you need an easy format and plan to be translating in both directions frequently. This app is designed as a layer that’s on top of Google Translate, so it’s no different from Google’s technology From a functionality perspective. This app also features an easy-to-use option that translates source text from a text message meaning you can translate a French text without having to copy and paste.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Seamless design | Only allows 2 translations a day without a premium subscription |
| Translates text messages | App is known to crash |
| Google Translate is quick. | Price can be a bit steep |
Best Context Translator
Microsoft Translator
Source: Google Play
Available On: Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Useful phrasebook with common phrases
- Automatically integrated with the rest of Microsoft suite
- Translation of conversations across devices
Microsoft Translator promises a lot but can it live up to its competition Google Translate? On first inspection, this app may be a bit overwhelming with all its features and it offers virtually the same as google with translations via keyboard, speech, handwriting, and photo. It is important to note the Microsoft translator is already integrated into Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This app can be disappointing though as it sometimes even fails to translate the most simple sentences.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Microsoft suite integrated | Microsoft text translation doesn’t perform as well as its competition. |
| Translates entire documents | the translation quality is poor |
| Google Translate is quick. | shouldn’t be used in a professional context. |
Reverso
Source: IStore
Available On: Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Includes examples of use in context.
- Instant translations
- Has an index of millions of words
Although this app is designed for large businesses, it is an all-in-one tool that provides you with high-quality translations and helps you improve your language skills seamlessly. Reverso is integrated with AI technology to effortlessly find countless examples in context and understand subtleties between different translations just by entering a word or expression. Although this app is free to use it does offer in-app purchases starting at $6.50 per month.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| looks at the overall meaning of the sentence and provides the most suitable alternative that fits well into the overall meaning. | The app does not work as well on desktop use. |
| Reverso allows you to translate a whole sentence by simply copying it into the clipboard. | |
| Gives translations with various examples |
Talk & Translate
Source: Google Play
is Available On Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Translations from Collins Dictionary
- real-time voice translations
- Offline mode for translations without the internet
Talk & Translate is a French to English translation app that works as a real-time voice and text translator with a streamlined user interface. It utilizes Collins Premium dictionaries to translate speech, text, or photos in seconds.this app offers an offline mode so you can avoid paying expensive roaming charges by downloading databases and translations, although it is important to note that the free version does require an active internet connection. A premium subscription to this app offers unlimited translations and no ads but the price may be steep for some at $69.99 per year.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Pick up hard-to-understand accents | Subscriptions information is misleading and difficult to cancel |
| Some translations may be inaccurate |
Best Speaking Translation App
Translate All Languages
Source: IStore
Available On: Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Share translated words and documents with friends.
- Detailed history
- Copy and delete text with one click
Translate All Languages allows users to convert text, voice, speech, and words from French to English (and multiple other languages). Made by experts it offers instant voice and text translations with ease of use in mind and is ideal for beginners. Unlike other apps, you can also copy-paste the translation from the translated text and send it to your friends.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Completely free and fast | Popup ads are intrusive |
| Easily copy and paste text anywhere | Not as good as Google Translate |
| Simple and attractive user interface |
DeepL
Source: DeepL
Available On Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Completely free
- Translate whole documents
- Your data is secure
DeepL may just be one of the best translation apps available. DeepL can capture even the slightest nuances and reproduce them in translation, unlike any other service. This app can translate texts quickly and reliably can outperform the competition by a factor of 3:1 and is completely free.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| servers are always encrypted. | the mobile app is more limited |
| Outperforms the competition by a factor of 3:1 | |
| Save words and phrases for future reference |
Jibbigo
Source: CrunchBase
Available On website
Key features:
- Unlimited free online usage
- Supports voice and typed input
- Supports offline usage
Jibbigo is a French to English translation app that you can use online or offline, making it convenient and ideal when traveling. You can download the offline translators when you don’t have WiFi access and there is free unlimited online use. The app dubs itself as an interpreter in your pocket where you can either speak or type your phrases into the app and then you’ll be given the translations. If you have access to an Internet connection, use the app as much as you like in online mode for free.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| works for both words and short sentences | To use in offline mode you will first need to download the selections individually. |
| Shows correct spelling |
FluentU
Source: FluentU
Available On: Google Play, Istore
Key features:
- Uses flashcards to learn words
- see example sentences, grammar info, audio pronunciations, and clips
- Post-video quizzes, transcripts, and keyword
FluentU is known as an immersive language learning app but it also has a strong French-to-English translation feature. This strength lies in its contextual video dictionary. A simple word search will bring up all its possible definitions and forms, as well as common phrases where they appear. It uses definition flashcards which you can save to your vocabulary list and study using personalized quizzes. Prices go from $29.99/month or $239.99/year.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Personalized flashcards | More expensive than the competition |
| Teaches through native French content. | Often uses an unnatural robotic-sounding voice |
Use Translation Apps to Improve Your French
Now that we’ve learned all we can about these French to English apps let’s talk about how you can get the most from these tools.
First, of all, it doesn’t have to break the bank. We often believe that a bigger price tag equals a better app, This is very often not the case. As we’ve seen above there are plenty of apps that can meet your needs without even spending a penny (especially if you don’t mind popup ads).
The second thing to keep in mind is that it’s not always a good idea to use an app that has too many things going on. Almost every one of these apps offers multiple languages so if you need a French or even a Japanese translator, it’s all under one roof.
If you can’t stand having to type out everything you want to say then go for a voice-to-speech translation app so you can get real-time translations by speaking through the app. This function worlds both ways so you can enjoy French podcasts, movies, songs, and so much more under your thumb.
If you’re traveling to foreign countries I highly suggest making use of image translations so you can easily translate menus and signage without having to tediously type every word.
Bon Voyage on your way to the City of Love
Using these French-to-English translation apps will get you through the nitty-gritty of learning French. However proper preparation is important when planning your travels or just looking to improve your abilities. Making use of online French tutors, will not only improve your skills overall but also guide you can into making the best use of your translating apps.
Finding the right tutor has never been easier with AmazingTalker. Over 2 million students can’t be wrong.
