iBalkans is truly a unique computer assisted language learning application intended for language students, businessmen, diplomats, visitors to the Balkans and people living in South Eastern Europe who wish to communicate with their neighbors across language barriers. It is much more than a travel phrasebook and allows the user to enter into the very heart of the rich and varied Balkan cultures. With iBalkans loaded onto the iPhone, iPod or iPad, visitors to any country in South Eastern Europe can easily communicate with the locals, thereby enabling trips off the beaten track and into the very heart of the Balkans.
The Balkans are a hypnotic and eclectic mixture of East and West, North and South, ancient, classical, medieval, modern and post-modern. The people are warm, generous, forgiving but also temperamental, tempestuous and enigmatic. Balkan cultures are similar in many respects and this multimedia phrasebook and word list is the necessary and perfect companion as you wander through the Balkans with your iPhone or iTouch in your hand.
Language is Power — so go out, be adventuresome!
iBalkans is the necessary travel companion for your journeys and work in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey.
iBalkans is also intended for use by the Balkan peoples to enhance international understanding — native speakers of any Balkan language can choose the English or French modes to communicate in these languages while traveling outside the Balkans. Likewise, iBalkans allows communication between all Balkan peoples — choose your mother tongue and the output can be in any Balkan language.
iBalkans contains over 850 phrases and words in each of the Balkan languages: Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovene, and Turkish, so your interaction can be handled in the native language of all the Balkan peoples. The app also comes with English and French.
Simply set your source language and your target language and iBalkans will provide you a natural translation of over 850 phrases and words selected by our team of language experts. Select phrases from scroll down menus and your written and spoken phrases will appear immediately. All translations come with sound files of the selection recorded in a professional studio and read by native speakers and provided in native script (and in transliteration for non-Roman scripts, e.g. Greek, Bulgarian, Macedonian). Study and authentic reproduction of the selected phrase is enhanced by short quizzes.
iBalkans is a native app and does not require cellular service or a Wi-Fi or internet connection, therefore you can save roaming charges and it will work in even the most remote location. We do not use Google translate or other commercially-available web-based translation services. Instead our team of native-speaker developers has rendered the phrases and items into their native tongues exactly as they are used in their languages today. We do not use voice synthesizers, but only real voices as spoken by real humans, living in the Balkans!
The phrases and items are arranged according to several useful topics: Essentials; Life on the Street; Eating and Drinking; Conflict What Conflict?; Travel; Romance; and 10 Phrases to Save Your Life. Each topic contains many useful phrases that have be field tested in the cities, towns, markets, airports, train stations, cafes and restaurants throughout the Balkans.
iBalkans also contains quizzes and assessment tools to help you improve your study. You can also create your own favorite list of phrases for easy reference.
Language is Power!