For those of us embarrassed by carrying the English to (insert language here) dictionary.

Fear not world travelers (or those who wish they were), technology has arrived to save us. The hand held Voice Travel Mate is a pocket translator capable of interpreting 700 commonly used phrases among 12 international languages including Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Japanese.
You just cycle through the screens to pick the phrase you need (i.e. where is the train station), punch the red Voice button, and the Travel Mate will spaek your phrase in the listener's native tongue. Concerned tht the voice will sound too Steven Hawking to get you a cheerfule reply? The voices used in the on-line demo didn't sound robotish at all. They certainly won't help you pick up that hot guy or girl though. Now realize what this thing is for, translating everyday phrases. You won't be discussing international fashion or politics with that young woman at the cafe, but it will help you with the basics like food, transportation and greetings. That's a steal for $50.