Nervous for first trip to Barranquilla

[vikingo]

 67 you mentioned Cartagena, Cartagena is a well known tourist destination because of it's rich history and antique architecture, 400 year old houses which are very rare in the New World, miles of colonial stonewalls and it's famous castle, the biggest fortress ever build by the Spaniards during their colonial days. Barranquilla is not a tourist destination, rarely do I see a gringo here, because Barranquilla is an industrial city with nothing to offer that a tourist could be interested in. There is a lot more tax collected from hotels and restaurants in Cartagena  than BAQ can only dream off. Therefore unlike Barranquilla with trash and litter in the streets and where it gets dangerous after sundown and it's truly Third World;            Cartagena's streets are kept clean and do to a lot of police protection and hundreds of tourists roaming the streets during the night Cartagena is fairly safe at night. Just watch out for the odd pickpocket which you can avoid if you follow my advise in a previous post, like not carrying a wallet and nothing of value in your back pockets.
 Cartagena has half the population of BAQ and has 500 hotels while BAQ has one hundred. Some of Cartagena's hotels are on the beach but most are not. Cartagena has a couple of interesting islands, Isla de Barú and Islas de Rosarios with frequent boat traffic for tourists, pristine beaches and some hotels. A great destination for you to take your bride next time you visit her. You can also take her to San Andrés, islands off  the coast of Nicaragua which belong to Colombia with a tropical Caribbean atmosphere and unbelievable clean beaches, most locals, former slaves which escaped from Jamaica speak English and the Islands are very safe, lots and lots of tourism, mostly from well to do Colombian mainlanders. Only locals born on the Islands are allowed to live there permanently. Decameron all inclusive tours including great meals and open bars are the best known, I took them twice. That is something a gringo should spend his hard earned money on instead of blowing it away in boring Barranquilla and it will leave a lasting impression on your bride. Every colombiana I've talked to dreamed off seeing San Andrés some day. Two more easy to reach islands belong to the San Andrés archipelago, Providencia and Santa Catalina, with very little tourism and they are very pristine and untouched by modern civilisation.
 
                                                                                 
 

[vikingo]

I should add something about beaches. Barranquilla does not have a beach, the nearest beaches are in the neighboring towns of Salgar and Puerto Colombia and the water is anything but clean do to contamination from the big city and the contaminated Rio Magdalena flowing into the ocean.
When the better educated barranquilleros go to the beach they go to Rodadero in Santa Marta or to Santa Veronica, halfway between Barranquilla and Cartagena where the waters are clean.
 

[Alabamaboy!]

One of my favorite places to take a lady in BAQ is to "Las Flores" which like its own pueblito outside of BAQ right on the river where there are many restaurants with fresh seafood, many with live entertainment. Really cool IMO.

[AndyLee]

Congratulations to Rschnb67 for finding a good woman to visit in Barranquilla and arranging to make the all important first trip to meet her. Good on you and I wish you the very best of luck in your journey!
Also, congratulations for choosing Jamie´s services. I and many others on this forum have met and worked with Jamie and we can agree with your conclusion that he is a straight up guy and will do his best to help your trip be successful.
I really hope your girl turns out to be all or even more than you expect. But, if not, you will still make a good friend and get to enjoy a tropical vacation. And, if the wheels fall off, you can easily turn to Jamie to set you up with a few new dates.
I would always choose an apartment over a hotel for the same reasons given by benjio. Of course you can beat Jamie´s price by renting a room in a hotel, but in my honest opinion that's not a good way to economize.
The hotel will charge a surcharge for second person in room, usually 20%, and you will have noisy people all night sometimes. [size=78%]The apartment gives you more privacy and more comfort.[/size]
Especially if you can cook, or if your girl wants to cook for you. Buying food and wine, preparing and cooking together, sharing the dinner, these are all ways to make some excellent memories. Plus, if you want a midnight snack or midmorning brunch its easier desnuda than having to get dressed and go out to a restaurant or panaderia.
Having the translator available is key to your first trip. It´s good to have Google Translator on your smartphone, or buy one of the more sophisticated electronic translators, but they are not even close to being as useful as the personal translator will be. Benjio pointed out some really good feedback on his own experiences using a personal translator.
My first few months in Colombia I had only beginner Spanish and I relied on a Franklin Webster electronic translator and a notepad and I have to tell you it was the worst mistake I made. I should have spent the money to buy a good Spanish Language program like Rosetta Stone and learned at least up to intermediate level before I even came here.
The hand held translator is slow, tedious, not always accurate, sometimes confusing, and you can easily feel like a fool after trying to have a romantic conversation with the damn thing.
Admittedly, the Smartphone is much better because you have voice-to-text and the interface for English and Spanish is a simple click. Still, I think the personal translator is a good first visit solution for you.
It´s about a 45 minute flight from Monteria to Barranquilla, then about a one hour taxi ride to Jamie´s place. If you can meet her at the airport the taxi ride with the translator in place will be a good first introduction to not only your girl, but the third world city you will be traveling through.
For the time being I would´t put too much thought into whether she wants a kid or not. If she was looney to have a kid she would have already told you. It´s easy for me to have this conversation with a woman because I find a way to work into the conversation that I had a vasectomy over 20 years ago. Rarely does that upset a woman who is near or above 30. Often times it works to my advantage because it takes away her fear that she will become pregnant and she doesn´t have to use birth control.
My current girlfriend is 26 and a school teacher in primary grades, so she gets her fill of kids at work. She has told me a couple times that she enjoys sex with me more because she doesn´t have to worry about getting pregnant and she doesn´t have to take birth control which messes with her cycle.
I have dated at least a dozen Colombianas in the 30 year age range who have told me point blank they don´t want to have kids, so, keep an open mind on this question.
Good luck on your trip, have a good time.

[fathertime]

I think (just assuming FT...correct me if I'm wrong) FT is referring to Jamie's house on Calle 43 con 76B.

Yup you are correct in your assumption.

  These days he's putting clients in apartments he rents in the city from what I understand. All depends on how many guys are using his lodging services at once. FT is right. The house is nice but it is close to a major road, a few bars and some late night restaurants so there's always an element of riff raff in that area after the sun goes down.

Good updated info.  My info is at best 7 years old now.  I did like the location and amenities of the old place.  I don't recall reading anybody describing the newer apartments.


Fathertime!

[vikingo]

.

Vikingo you're making a lot of assumptions about Jamie's business model and not looking at the advantages of using his services. First off, Jamie's lodging is now fully furnished, secure, luxury apartments his clients have all to themselves. By fully furnished I mean pots and pans in the kitchen, a blender, food processor, silverware, a nice TV with premium cable, reliale wifi and your own washer and dryer (no expensive hotel laundry service). I stayed in one of Jamie's apartments last time I was vacationing in Barranquilla and all the appliances were top of the line. When you stay in a hotel you're forced to pay for every single meal whether it's room service or a restaurant. You can save hundreds of dollars if you go to the grocery store and fully stock the refrigerator in the apartment. Not to mention Colombianas go absolutely nuts when you cook for them. There's also a maid you can trust that cleans the apartment as supposed to hotel room service workers which you absolutely CANNOT! Jamie's maid will even go grocery shopping for you.


Jamie's translators come in handy for a lot more than converting English to Spanish. They read the subtle signs the women there give off that reveal whether or not they are truly interested in a client. You know as well as I do that Colombianas will NEVER outright reject you. They'll play interested just to save your feelings, avoid confrontation or for a few free meals. The translators will also ask you about your budget to make sure not to take you and your dates to restaurants and other places that are too expensive. They know trusted taxis just in case you're out late without them. You can use them as much or as little as you want. They are literally on call 24/7 for anything you need. When it gets to the point that a client and a girl need time alone to cultivate a budding relationship, they will usually voluntarily excuse themselves and recommend you spend time alone. Jamie encourages this and I've seen them do it dozens of times.


I'm not saying there aren't other options. There's more than one way to skin a cat. What I'm saying is for a first timer that doesn't know the language or anything about the culture or the women, Jamie is a good option for getting your foot in the door.

Benjio I agree that Jamie's operation fulfills a need for a first timer who is scared of the unknown and by the bad publicity Colombia receives from the media in North America.
That being said, I feel it is not a wise move spending 330.000 pesos a night at today's exchange rate times seven nights minimum for a stay in an apartment when you get a more luxurious quiet accommodation at Dann Carlton for the same price or a little less with pool and gym in the best hotel in Barranquilla, located in the extreme North where it is safest, with some very nice restaurants and bars all around you, not to mention the Buena Vista next door. How do you commute to your girl who is watching your every move to be wise about managing money?
67's bride's monthly! rent in Montería is about 330.000 pesos.
And how many gringos want to use their precious time of a few days going grocery shopping, cooking and doing the laundry?
And as far as the pain in the ass interpreter goes at 300.000 pesos who deprives you totally of your privacy and creates an embarrassing situation for your girl because it doesn't go with her culture to discuss private matters in front of a stranger. I still feel a quality latest technology electronic translator is the solution and the girl thinks you are cool. The two of you can even take it to bed with you...It will be around 24 hours, where-ever you two go. Just remember it won't understand slang.

[Rschnb67]

I feel for the first visit of three or four days only I would prefer to use Jamie's service I don't know who to trust so I need to trust him

[vikingo]

I was talking generally, 67. In your case you already made arrangements with your bride to visit her family in Barranquilla after you go back home, so you are making the right move with Jamie with all your concerns and its just a few days anyway. I assume your bride was already grown up when she moved away from BAQ so she probably knows the city well. I would also get me one of those high tech translators, use it as plan B when the real translator is not around or not needed and give it to your bride for Christmas as a learning tool if you want to continue with her of course, she'll be tickled to death, I'm sure.
Also keep in mind these girls don't understand any kind of slang nor our jokes, all you'll get is a blank stare.
Don't worry about 20 year old electronic translators being cumbersome and useless, high-tech translators have made giant steps recently, it's a totally different ballgame now.
I will order me one for myself too, every so often I get stuck with Spanish words I never heard of.
I'm looking at the 'Trano T-11' at Amazon for $199, looks like a dandy and is not too big and heavy.
Anything for much less than $200 is a toy of course.

[Rschnb67]

Great advice thanks

[AndyLee]

Even the most expensive state of the art electronic translator is a clunky joke compared to cheap smartphone about $100, with google translate app and voice app.
 
The real solution of course is just learn Spanish, it´s not that hard.

[AndyLee]

That being said, I feel it is not a wise move spending 330.000 pesos a night at today's exchange rate times seven nights minimum for a stay in an apartment when you get a more luxurious quiet accommodation at Dann Carlton for the same price or a little less with pool and gym in the best hotel in Barranquilla, located in the extreme North where it is safest, with some very nice restaurants and bars all around you, not to mention the Buena Vista next door. How do you commute to your girl who is watching your every move to be wise about managing money?
67's bride's monthly! rent in Montería is about 330.000 pesos.
And how many gringos want to use their precious time of a few days going grocery shopping, cooking and doing the laundry?
And as far as the pain in the ass interpreter goes at 300.000 pesos who deprives you totally of your privacy and creates an embarrassing situation for your girl because it doesn't go with her culture to discuss private matters in front of a stranger. I still feel a quality latest technology electronic translator is the solution and the girl thinks you are cool. The two of you can even take it to bed with you...It will be around 24 hours, where-ever you two go. Just remember it won't understand slang.

best advice, don´t knock it till you have tried it. Shopping, preparing, cooking, eating, cleaning up and washing dishes together is a fast way to bond, and to see if she is domestic or a princess, and a really fast way to test the waters in a situation similar to the one you will be living in if you stay together.
In my honest opinion, staying in the most fancy hotel in the city will send a bunch of wrong signals to the girl. First off, probably only a very few of them will have clothing suitable for Dan Carlton. Most will be embarrassed when they feel poorly dressed and totally out of their league.
I´m reminded of a girl I was dating in Popayan and I invited her to attend the theater with me one night. She showed up in her best clothes but they were woefully inadequate for the occasion and she was totally embarrassed and ready to bolt. I was a fool for expecting her to have ever attended the theater before and for expecting her to have fine clothes to wear. I´d feel the same way taking a girl to the Dan Carlton.


Or, you could expect a second outcome. The girl might take one look at the finery of the Dan Carlton and surmise that since you are a rich gringo you must live this way all the time. From then on out she will expect totally first class accommodations from you.
One time when I was dating a new girl in the US I wanted to impress her with my wilderness camping and kayaking skills so I invited her to spend the night with me on a river in the mountains of Virginia. She was hesitant but she could tell I really wanted her to love this sport, so she came along.
I set out to impress her with a gourmet campfire meal of filet mignon and gulf shrimps, portobello mushrooms, five herb salad and a very expensive bottle of French Pouilly Fuisse, about $45 at the time, followed by a candlelight warm oil massage. She was helplessly addicted to wilderness camping after that and needless to say every camping trip after that she expected the same gourmet meals and extraordinary treatment.
That could happen with any girl you take to Dan Carlton.

[robert angel]

I think a lot of us who've married women from overseas, married ladies who for various reasons, weren't really experienced in the kitchen. In our case, my wife was raised to put her family and studies first. She helped clean and certainly to do daily chores, laundry etc. (no princess) but they didn't press the children on things that perhaps different parents would've pressed.Not that there was a lot of different food or equipment to use towards cooking, money was prioritized for education.

But what's important is that she wanted to learn, to cook, to bake, to try many different things.Some of our funniest moments were, shall we say 'kitchen experiments'? And they haven't stopped. She's always trying to make a classic recipe more healthy, be it using a bit less sugar or salt, baking instead of frying--a lot of things, some we even quibble over. I won on the no whole wheat or spinach pasta subject, but realize her other 'ideas' still come out tasty and my blood pressure and cholesterol numbers look better for it. But she was ready to adapt, even embrace, some of the best things and ways available in a new land, in a traditional wife's role, without embracing over the top materialism.

Her head screwed on right from the start, her value system and personality well formed before we met, the 'hard work' was already done for me. Being the eldest sister in a large, tight knit family didn't hurt either.

[AndyLee]

I think a lot of us who've married women from overseas, married ladies who for various reasons, weren't really experienced in the kitchen. In our case, my wife was raised to put her family and studies first. She helped clean and certainly to do daily chores, laundry etc. (no princess) but they didn't press the children on things that perhaps different parents would've pressed.Not that there was a lot of different food or equipment to use towards cooking, money was prioritized for education.

But what's important is that she wanted to learn, to cook, to bake, to try many different things.Some of our funniest moments were, shall we say 'kitchen experiments'? And they haven't stopped. She's always trying to make a classic recipe more healthy, be it using a bit less sugar or salt, baking instead of frying--a lot of things, some we even quibble over. I won on the no whole wheat or spinach pasta subject, but realize her other 'ideas' still come out tasty and my blood pressure and cholesterol numbers look better for it. But she was ready to adapt, even embrace, some of the best things and ways available in a new land, in a traditional wife's role, without embracing over the top materialism.

Her head screwed on right from the start, her value system and personality well formed before we met, the 'hard work' was already done for me. Being the eldest sister in a large, tight knit family didn't hurt either.

I wish I could encounter more of that attitude in Colombia. I have only seen one Colombian family where money was prioritized towards education. For the most part, families here don´t seem to prioritize anything, they just live the way everyone else in their class lives. or so it seems to me anyway.
In the US i was married to a PhD in Pharmacy who spent her career working for US Agency for International Development and worked in some 20 different countries. She was active in politics and community affairs and could hold an interesting conversation on a huge range of topics.
One of my biggest adjustments here in Colombia has been to find girls who were able to engage in good conversations. Even the educated girls are often lacking interest in anything outside their family and village. Rarely do I engage in a good conversation about politics or religion or family planning or entrepreneurship or a dozen other things that interest me. Not just the girls, the Colombian men are often slow in conversation, too.

[vikingo]

best advice, don´t knock it till you have tried it. Shopping, preparing, cooking, eating, cleaning up and washing dishes together is a fast way to bond, and to see if she is domestic or a princess, and a really fast way to test the waters in a situation similar to the one you will be living in if you stay together.
In my honest opinion, staying in the most fancy hotel in the city will send a bunch of wrong signals to the girl. First off, probably only a very few of them will have clothing suitable for Dan Carlton. Most will be embarrassed when they feel poorly dressed and totally out of their league.
I´m reminded of a girl I was dating in Popayan and I invited her to attend the theater with me one night. She showed up in her best clothes but they were woefully inadequate for the occasion and she was totally embarrassed and ready to bolt. I was a fool for expecting her to have ever attended the theater before and for expecting her to have fine clothes to wear. I´d feel the same way taking a girl to the Dan Carlton.


Or, you could expect a second outcome. The girl might take one look at the finery of the Dan Carlton and surmise that since you are a rich gringo you must live this way all the time. From then on out she will expect totally first class accommodations from you.
One time when I was dating a new girl in the US I wanted to impress her with my wilderness camping and kayaking skills so I invited her to spend the night with me on a river in the mountains of Virginia. She was hesitant but she could tell I really wanted her to love this sport, so she came along.
I set out to impress her with a gourmet campfire meal of filet mignon and gulf shrimps, portobello mushrooms, five herb salad and a very expensive bottle of French Pouilly Fuisse, about $45 at the time, followed by a candlelight warm oil massage. She was helplessly addicted to wilderness camping after that and needless to say every camping trip after that she expected the same gourmet meals and extraordinary treatment.
That could happen with any girl you take to Dan Carlton.

Even the most expensive state of the art electronic translator is a clunky joke compared to cheap smartphone about $100, with google translate app and voice app.
 
The real solution of course is just learn Spanish, it´s not that hard.

I suggested Dann Carlton for the convenient and safe surroundings and the pool where he can leisure with her during the hot days and feed her cold drinks, lol. I thought if he is already spending that kind of money - why not get your money's worth. On the other hand, for 330.000 pesos you can get a nice hotel room in Cartagena too and really get to see something interesting. I agree though, she might get the wrong impression of him unless he explains the safety aspect of it real well. Anyway he made his plans for this trip and the next time he'll head for Cartagena if I read him correctly.
Barranquilla has nothing to offer, I'll say it again. Have you ever been in Barranquilla?
Those of you who have, what did you like about it? Whitey, Father Time? Benjio? Alabamaboy? 

What you say may be true about the smartphone if all you want is a google translator. Personally a smartphone drives me nuts because of the tiny keyboard. I gave mine to my girl's 18 year old niece who lost hers and I use my old regular cellphone now.
If you look at the Trano T-11 at Amazon it has a handy keyboard and some impressive Spanish and English learning and grammar programs, like verb conjugation, much more than just a google translator.
I'd like you to read up on it and give us an opinion if you would.
I for one am impressed by what I saw and read so far about the T-11.
Trano has an even better one, the T-88 with a rechargeable lithium battery instead of 2 AAA, but it is twice as big as the T-11 and much heavier, more like a laptop, the other one is a pocket translator, weighs less than half a pound and is 3.5 x 5.5 inches. I would get rechargeable batteries and a charger for them though.

[robert angel]

I think that lively, multifaceted conversations between guys raised in the USA with women from third world nations, even those with similar levels of education, will usually come up short compared to totally domestic couples' conversations.

I know it's an area that my wife and have had trouble at times. What's important to her, what's 'interesting', her level and areas of sensitivity, are different than mine. She notices things I don't and vice versa. Sometimes she gets a bit put out that I can and do, strike up conversations on an almost encyclopedia like amount of subjects with people spontaneously, leaving her out too much. What's worse, is that sometimes more than intellectual discourse, what she really wants is a good, hearty laugh, to hear stories about me growing up as a wily rascal etc. She'd rather leave 'work at work' doesn't want to hear about ehnanol versus gasoline or the electoral college, bla bla, bla. While she's a lot more interested in the news than before, without her saying so, I think just like she was, just like tens of millions of people back home still are, she felt and still does, that if it's important enough,  she'll hear about it.

She came from a place where unlike the USA, where the weather channel is the most watched channel on TV, from where 'the weather' is basically raining or not, or good or bad, where time is seen differently. Where she's from, families seem to spend more meaningful time together, laughing, enjoying things like music and eating together, a place where guys still 'court' their girls, where guys can be flirty but 'good girls' can't.

Yea, I'd say it's simpler mindset than most American's, but that it's also something we'd probably be better off buying more into. I guess 'my' world certainly has changed hers, but that hers has, and continues to, change my mindset as well.

[fathertime]

I suggested Dann Carlton for the convenient and safe surroundings and the pool where he can leisure with her during the hot days and feed her cold drinks, lol. I thought if he is already spending that kind of money - why not get your money's worth. On the other hand, for 330.000 pesos you can get a nice hotel room in Cartagena too and really get to see something interesting. I agree though, she might get the wrong impression of him unless he explains the safety aspect of it real well. Anyway he made his plans for this trip and the next time he'll head for Cartagena if I read him correctly.
Barranquilla has nothing to offer, I'll say it again. Have you ever been in Barranquilla?
Those of you who have, what did you like about it? Whitey, Father Time? Benjio? Alabamaboy? 

 

I stayed at the Dann Carlton in Barranquilla once around 10 years ago. I recall it being very pleasant, and it had a nice pool. 


Insofar as Barranquilla, I haven't done too much, a few day trips to various nearby locations, went out to a lot of dinners, and bowling...Hit the casinos a few times....spent time at swimming pools when they were on site (Prado and Daan Carlton)...went to local gyms fairly during my earlier trips.   For my limited needs it was fine...the city was great for looking at, and meeting ladies.  Overall the city itself probably isn't very touristy, but perhaps that leads to a more genuine Colombian experience.  Staying in my wife's family humble home enabled me to witness how regular people lived, which I really have found enlightening.   


 I get what you are saying, although for a first trip, I would say most individuals would benefit greatly from staying at Jamie's even though it is quite pricey compared to other places.  The type of support a fresh newbie may desire is available in the next room and that counts for something. 


Fathertime! 

[AndyLee]

Barranquilla has nothing to offer, I'll say it again. Have you ever been in Barranquilla?
Those of you who have, what did you like about it? Whitey, Father Time? Benjio? Alabamaboy? 

What you say may be true about the smartphone if all you want is a google translator. Personally a smartphone drives me nuts because of the tiny keyboard. I gave mine to my girl's 18 year old niece who lost hers and I use my old regular cellphone now.
If you look at the Trano T-11 at Amazon it has a handy keyboard and some impressive Spanish and English learning and grammar programs, like verb conjugation, much more than just a google translator.
I'd like you to read up on it and give us an opinion if you would.
I for one am impressed by what I saw and read so far about the T-11.
Trano has an even better one, the T-88 with a rechargeable lithium battery instead of 2 AAA, but it is twice as big as the T-11 and much heavier, more like a laptop, the other one is a pocket translator, weighs less than half a pound and is 3.5 x 5.5 inches. I would get rechargeable batteries and a charger for them though.

Yes, I lived in Barranquilla for five weeks to see if I liked the city enough to want to live there. My apartment was about 7 blocks from el centro Buena Vista. The apartment was furnished nicely, including cooking utensils and all appliances. The rent was about 900,000 month at that time, back in December 2009.
I liked Barranquilla a lot and would consider living there if that is where my woman wanted to live. I found a really good Mexican restaurant, and the Archies was really good for pizza and wine selection. The Buena vista is an excellent shopping compound with both Exito and Jumbo and the three levels of shops. I had a medical issue with a bad cough when I was there and I found a great clinic that gave me a treatment that solved the problem for only 25,000 and it was walk in service. I did find that I needed air conditioning to sleep well at night, and i had jog early in the morning or in the evening to beat the heat. I definitely would enjoy living in Barranquilla if the need came up. But, for now I enjoy living in the eje cafetero where the temperatures are always 5 or 10 degrees celsius lower than BAQ.
I also spent two weeks in Cartagena, and just did not feel any attraction to the place. Too many gringos, too many tourists, costs were high, beaches were nasty. Just didn´t appeal to me even with all the attractions.


I´ll take a look at the translators you´re describing, but I already have a Macbook Air and a Samsung smartphone. There is a whole world of Spanish translation tools on the web. I would definitely not carry a second device.

[AndyLee]

What you say may be true about the smartphone if all you want is a google translator. Personally a smartphone drives me nuts because of the tiny keyboard. I gave mine to my girl's 18 year old niece who lost hers and I use my old regular cellphone now.
If you look at the Trano T-11 at Amazon it has a handy keyboard and some impressive Spanish and English learning and grammar programs, like verb conjugation, much more than just a google translator.

Okay, I looked at the electronic translator T-11. It is more sophisticated than the Franklin that I had, but still nowhere near as useful as a smartphone and it costs more than a good smartphone.
I paid 535,000 for my Samsung Grand Prime with 5 inch screen and I am very happy with it. It was on promotion at Alkosto marked down from 670,000.
On my smartphone I have Spanish dictionary, thesaurus, translator and conjugator instantly and I can do it by voice. I speak in English and the phone responds in Spanish. My girl speaks in Spanish and the phone responds in English. It´s a bit clunky to have a full conversation this way, but a heck of a lot better than the T-11.
I can zero in on just one word and get all of its conjugations or a thesaurus instantly, or I can copy and paste huge chunks of text into the translator and it spits out the translation instantly and will read it aloud to me. Or I can copy and paste the translation into an email or whatsapp message with just three clicks. 
Type on the keyboard in Spanish or English, the phone will handle it automatically.
The size of the keyboard in portrait position is sufficient even for my big thumbs. Turn the phone to landscape position and the keyboard becomes a small tablet, very easy to use.
I have Duolingo, Discover Spanish and Rosetta Stone apps on the smartphone, so I can study Spanish anywhere I want.
When I tire of the translator capabilities i can always use the smartphone to make phone calls, send messages, send emails, update my Facebook page, talk to friends on Skype, read the world news, google topics of interest, search the web for anything I need to know.
With Maps I can get street view shots of the address I am trying to find, or I can see the barrio or village I´m visiting. I can get satellite views of the location and youtube videos of the place I am interested in. The maps app automatically pinpoints my location on the street map, so I know which way to turn and how to get to my destination and it automatically pinpoints my destination so I don´t lose track of it as I scroll through alternate views.
I can listen to music, listen to the radio, read books newspapers and magazines, play movies, videos, card games.
I can take photos with the front facing camera or selfies with the rear facing camera, both very high quality.
I can make voice memos for myself, or typed memos. Typed memos can easily copy and paste to email or other messages.
Get instant weather reports for anywhere in the world. Use it as a flashlight, calendar, calculator, address book, currency conversions, voice search on the web, and so forth.
There are thousands of apps I could use for just about any theme I would be interested in.
I understand why you might be interested in a dedicated translator like the T-11, but I urge you to seriously consider a decent quality smartphone. Personally I favor the Samsung with 5 inch screen and 4g. Quite frankly, the smartphone has so many features and capabilities I am only using a fraction of them and there are so many more things I could use it for if I would just take the time to learn how.

[vikingo]

I didn't know there was a way to blow up the keyboard on a smartphone, maybe several different smartphones have that option, I will definetely look into it. Good information.

[AndyLee]

I didn't know there was a way to blow up the keyboard on a smartphone, maybe several different smartphones have that option, I will definetely look into it. Good information.

They all have it. In Phone Settings you can check the box for screen rotation then just turn the phone to landscape position and the screen changes to tablet view.

[robert angel]

They all have it. In Phone Settings you can check the box for screen rotation then just turn the phone to landscape position and the screen changes to tablet view.

Just goes to show--I have heard you can do this on the Android phones too--at least on the bigger, newer ones--the Samsung's for sure. They fixed it so you can make the writing letters and dialing numbers smaller and bottom left or right too--they know people rocking 5.7 and 6 inch screens will try and dial while driving. Besides, I guess if you had to use two hands to operate these huge new phones, the on-line porn sites would lose a lot of traffic.

Be it phone or portable translator or a million other things, if I know, I'll  tell people, "I'll show you several ways to do this--you decide on which works best for you and stick with it".

I have an old Samsung Galaxy S3, which after being dropped a thousand times (in the most protective Otterbox)--I finally managed to crack the screen in a punky little drop, but good. A month and half later, after using clear packing tape to seal the screen cracks and all, I'm still good to go.

But like Andy Lee, there's so much I don't know about even with my three y/o S3 phone. It's silly, but since the S6, I've been waiting for the 'next big thing'--lately the Samsung Note 5 or the soon to released Samsung Galaxy S7. Then in April. Looks like LG is really going to step it up head to head w/ SSung and Apple, with their LG G5. Again--silly to wait, as the merry go round never stops--they'll always have something new, highly hyped that typically underwhelms when it finally arrives. Like the new Motorola w/ everything, but yet no camera image stabilization--a deal breaker for me.

The Note 5 came out 9/1/15 and still seems top of the android heap.

I can only imagine how many newer features I'll never get around to using, but I know the images on the new phone's screens will really 'pop'. So stupid that they give you phones, cameras etc. w/o any instruction guides anymore. You either learn on-line, from someone else or incidentally.

[AndyLee]

I can only imagine how many newer features I'll never get around to using, but I know the images on the new phone's screens will really 'pop'. So stupid that they give you phones, cameras etc. w/o any instruction guides anymore. You either learn on-line, from someone else or incidentally.

I´m using the Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, with Android Lollipop and I´m really impressed with all the gizmos I don´t know how to use yet. The cameras are excellent and the processing speed is twice as fast as my old Alcatel One Touch Pop with 4.5 screen.
For all the smart phones you can download the users manual from the Internet which is useful to familiarize yourself with all the features and bells and whistles. But, when I run into a problem I don´t turn to the manual, I just type the problem into Google search and usually get more than enough answers right away.