How to recognise languages in word translation games
Quick answer: Match the non-Latin scripts first, then use special letters such as ñ, ç and ß, and leave similar languages until the end.
What Lost in Translation is
Lost in Translation shows one word of the day in 20 languages. You match each translation to the flag of a country that speaks it.
What you learn
Playing regularly teaches you to recognise alphabets and spot words that languages share.
How the game works
Each day one English word is shown in 20 languages. Your job is to match every translation to the flag of a country where that language is spoken.
Clues hidden in the spelling
Alphabets and letters give most answers away:
| Clue | Likely language |
|---|---|
| Arabic script | Arabic |
| Cyrillic letters | Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian |
| Greek letters | Greek |
| Hangul syllable blocks | Korean |
| Characters with no spaces | Chinese or Japanese |
| ñ | Spanish |
| ç and ã | Portuguese |
| ß | German |
| ø or å | Norwegian, Danish or Swedish |
Start with the certain ones
Match the scripts first, then the Latin-alphabet languages with special letters, and leave look-alikes such as Spanish and Portuguese or Swedish and Norwegian until the end. Many words are shared between neighbouring languages, which is part of the fun.
Frequently asked questions
How many languages are in Lost in Translation?
20 each day.
How can I tell Spanish from Portuguese?
Portuguese often uses ã, õ and ç; Spanish uses ñ.