How to choose a pen-pal app with translation

"Can I have a pen pal abroad without speaking their language?" It depends on the app — specifically on where translation lives.

Three ways apps do it

① A translate button inside the letter. Open the letter, tap once, the translation appears next to the original. No round trip. Lettie works this way, with 28 languages, free.

② Round-tripping through an external translator. Copy the letter → translator → write a reply → translate again → paste. Four app switches per letter. Fine at first, tedious by the third letter, and tedium becomes late replies, and late replies become the end.

③ Paid translation. Translation tied to coins or a subscription. If your pen pal speaks another language, the cost recurs with every letter.

What "28 languages" means

On Lettie it means two things.

• Letter translation: whatever language they wrote in, you read it in yours. Original and translation sit side by side, so you can also pick up their phrasing.
• The app itself: menus, buttons and notifications in 28 languages — Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Czech, Greek, Persian, Filipino, Malay, Dutch, Polish, Romanian, Swahili, Ukrainian, Urdu.

Five habits that make translation work

1. One idea per sentence. Long compound sentences wobble in any translator.
2. Spell out slang. "lol" → "that made me laugh".
3. Keep the subject in. Dropped subjects flip "I / you / they" in translation.
4. Leave proper nouns alone, add a short gloss. "Gamcheon (a hillside neighbourhood in Busan)".
5. Explain the situation behind a joke. Puns don't cross; situational humour does.

If you still want to learn the language

You'll still improve with translation on, because you keep seeing the original next to it. Take one phrase you liked from their letter and use it in your next one. That's the learning that sticks. More in language exchange through letters.