‘The best travel hack’: TikTok user shares secret Google Translate function

A British tourist was ‘blown away’ by the ‘unknown’ feature she discovered on holiday

While the hack is helpful, it doesn’t always give the most accurate of translations (Getty Images)

A British holidaymaker in Turkey was “blown away” after discovering a travel hack on the Google Translate app.

Travel influencer Nguyen was out at a local Turkish restaurant when staff told her they didn’t have any English versions of their menu.

To overcome the language barrier, Nguyen used her Google Translate app.

In a now-viral TikTok, Nguyen found what she described as “the best travel hack”, something she had never seen before when using the app.

“Oh my God guys. My mind has been blown,” she said in the TikTok.

“I’m at a restaurant at the moment and they don’t do an English menu and they don’t speak a lot of English either. So I was like, ‘It’s fine, I’ll just put it in my Google Translate.’

“I went and downloaded the app for convenience for the rest of the trip and then I saw a little feature.”

Nguyen spotted a camera symbol in the app and when she clicked on it, the camera on her phone opened up, and she then held her phone over the menu.

“Excuse me – what? Literally it translates everything within seconds. Like how sick is that? I’m literally so excited about this feature that I’m slowing up my words,” she said.

She then asked if her followers knew about the feature, calling it “Such a good travel hack”.

“You guys need to get on this and thank me later,” she added.

Her video has now been viewed more than 960,000 times, with many commenting that they had no idea about the feature.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one that didn’t know. Thank you for making this video for all of us living under that same rock,” one TikTok user wrote.

“I’m 71 and feel good today – been using this for at least eight years,” another responded, while a another added: “I’ve used Google Translate for years but never used this great feature. Thanks!”

Some followers were doubtful as to whether the feature actually works, but others shared their own experiences using the app.

“I just recently got back from Spain. I used the Translate Apps camera. Yes. It works!” one user wrote.

However, some warned that the app isn’t always entirely accurate.

One user wrote: “We did this when we went to Japan. Translation not perfect and sometimes hilarious but helpful.”

Another user commented: “Been doing this for 5-6 years. It’s nothing new. Best is to download the language, then you don’t need internet connection.”