Waygo, an augmented reality app that allows translation from Chinese and Japanese languages to English, has announced its support for translating Korean into English as well.

Foreigners would still need to pickup a phrasebook to speak the language when traveling to China, Japan or Korea, but Waygo comes in handy when travelers need to make sense of the foreign text around them.

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The way the app works is very simple. The user would start out by pointing their smartphone camera toward a certain word or set of words in Chinese, Japanese or Korean. The app then superimposes a computer-generated image of that word or set of words in the English language.

For example, an American traveling to China for the first time is sitting inside a restaurant wanting to order food, but it's in Mandarin. By simply centering the Chinese text 咕咾肉 in the app box using the phone camera, the app would then translate the text as "Sweet and Sour Chicken."

The app is best for translating signs, menus, or random text that people might come across during their travels in these three countries.

Waygo co-founder Ryan Rogwski mentioned that Korea has been experiencing a boom in travel growth, which is what led Waygo to add Korean as their newest language.

According to reports, the app is now capable of over 1.5 million translations across its three languages.

Waygo originally began as an app that only translated Chinese menus, but later gained $900,000 in funding from companies including Golden Gate Ventures, 500 Startups and AngelVest in an effort to expand into other languages and add more translation capabilities.

Travelers can gain access to this app for only $1.99 for a week of use, or a lifetime fee of $6.99. 

TagsWaygo app, translator, japanese, Korean, Translation technology