Imagine trying to get directions when you're lost or ordering from a café menu when you can't understand the waiter. Traveling to foreign countries can be an amazing experience, but it can also be a headache if you don't speak the local language. Thankfully, these translation apps can help any traveler overcome those troublesome language barriers.

Google Translate - Easiest to Use

Few apps are going to match the language database in Google Translate. This free app translates words and phrases from more than 60 languages. You can type or speak words or phrases into your mobile device, and Google Translate will give the corresponding word or phrase in the language of your choice.

Being a Google product, it is user friendly. It displays full screen translations, offers correct pronunciation on translated words and even chats in the language of your choice in conversation mode. The translations from Google are reasonably accurate, and the app is compatible with virtually every mobile device.

Interpret - Best Search Results

If you don't want to be limited to translation results culled from Google alone, Interpret offers a step forward. This app employs results from both Google and Bing in obtaining the correct translation for you. It translates more than 50 languages and is completely free to download on your mobile device.

Even more, you can share your translations in an email or post them to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Your friends and family will be impressed by your newly acquired foreign language skills.

Jibbigo - Biggest Offline Dictionary

You are not always going to have a working Internet connection in your travels. Jibbigo is a perfect app for this situation because it can work offline. It does cost $4.99 to download, but it is a worthwhile addition to your other T-Mobile cell phone features. It offers a database of more than 40,000 words, acting as a virtual dictionary for your mobile device.

A voice-recognition system on Jibbigo adapts to multiple voices and makes speech-to-speech translations a breeze. It also has a simple interface that makes it easy to use on the go.

SayHi - Most Conveinent

This translation app operates on the same principle as Siri does on iPhone. You simply speak into the microphone on your mobile device and SayHi will translate your words into a second language of your choice. It translates all of the major spoken languages and costs just $1 to download. This makes having an actual conversation in a foreign country much easier.

The main problems with SayHi are that it works slowly and does not always make a correct guess of what you said. Still, occasional errors are offset by having a spoken translation at your fingertips when you need it.

Once you download the right language translation app, your international travels will become many times more enjoyable. There is no need to feel lost and confused over foreign languages. These apps put a new spin on communicating with your mobile device.