Translate Korean, with no signal at all.
Typed Korean translation and the camera both run on your iPhone, so a menu or a sign in Korean can be read in flight mode. Below are two real ones, printed, photographed and translated by the app, and left unedited.
Typing works with no signal
Download the Korean pack once, over hotel wifi, and typed translation runs on the phone from then on — as it does in all 58 languages.
The camera reads it on the phone
Your iPhone reads Korean from a photograph itself. Nothing is sent anywhere, and it works with the phone in flight mode.
Speech depends on your iPhone
Spoken translation uses Apple's own speech packs, which cover about half of these languages and differ from phone to phone — so the app tells you if it cannot hear Korean rather than failing while someone waits. How speech works.
Two real ones, printed and photographed
Both went through the app on an iPhone from pages we had printed, so the Korean is known rather than guessed. What came back is below it, unedited.
Printed on it
- 오늘의 메뉴
- 빵과 야채 수프
- 감자를 곁들인 구운 닭고기
- 오늘의 신선한 생선
- 초콜릿 케이크
- 커피와 차 포함
What the app gave back
- Today's menu
- Bread and vegetable soup
- Baked chicken with potatoes
- Today's fresh fish
- Chocolate cake
- Coffee and cars include
Read and translated on an iPhone, 1 September 2026, from a page we had printed — so the original is known rather than guessed. Nothing here is tidied up.
Five lines of six right, and the sixth is a famous trap: 차 means both tea and car, and "커피와 차 포함" came back as "Coffee and cars include". The dishes, which are what you need, are all correct.
Printed on it
- 중앙역
- 3번 승강장
- 공항행 열차
- 탑승 전에 표를 구입하세요
- 출구는 오른쪽입니다
What the app gave back
- Central station
- 3 times
- Airport Train
- Buy a table before boarding
- The exit is right
Read and translated on an iPhone, 1 September 2026, from a page we had printed — so the original is known rather than guessed. Nothing here is tidied up.
This one went wrong in two places. "3번 승강장" — platform 3 — came back as "3 times", and 표, a ticket, became "a table". "Central station", "Airport Train" and "The exit is right" are fine.
Questions
Does Korean camera translation work offline?
Yes. Your iPhone reads Korean from a photograph itself, so a scan works in flight mode and nothing is sent anywhere.
Does typed Korean translation work offline?
Yes. Download the Korean pack once, over wifi, and typing runs entirely on the phone from then on. That is true of all 58 languages.
How good is the Korean translation?
Good enough for menus, signs and tickets, and not for anything that matters legally or medically. The two examples on this page are unedited, mistakes included, so you can judge it yourself before you pay anything.
Can SofiLingo hear spoken Korean?
It depends on your iPhone. Spoken translation uses Apple’s own speech packs, which cover about half of the 58 languages and differ from phone to phone, so the app tells you before you start if it cannot hear Korean.
Take it with you
The first 15 translations are free, with ads and no card. Download the Korean pack before you go and the phone can do the rest on its own.
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