I created TalkAssist to make real travel conversations easier when you don’t speak the local language

Hi everyone! I’m Nasir, a Berlin-based software engineer and the creator of TalkAssist.

I started building TalkAssist around a problem that sounds simple but can become really frustrating while travelling: translation apps work well for translating a sentence, but real conversations don’t stop after one sentence.

Imagine getting into a taxi in a country where you don’t speak the language. You translate where you want to go, and then the driver asks something back. Maybe it’s about the route, payment, traffic, or a different drop-off point. Now you translate again, reply, wait for another answer, and repeat the whole process.

The same thing happens at hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, shops, and many other places while travelling.

That made me think: instead of making the traveller manage every translation, what if AI could help manage the conversation itself?

That’s what I’m trying to do with TalkAssist.

You choose the situation you’re in and give context to TalkAssist what you’re trying to achieve. It can then listen and speak with the other person, keep track of the context, and involve you when your decision is actually needed.

For example, if a hotel receptionist offers a paid room upgrade, TalkAssist shouldn’t decide for you. It comes back to you, gets your choice, and then continues the conversation.

It also keeps important details from the conversation and gives you a summary afterwards - useful when someone has just explained things like check-out time, breakfast hours, a deposit, directions, or other information that’s easy to forget after a long day of travelling.

TalkAssist currently covers situations such as taxis, hotels, restaurants, shopping, pharmacies and other everyday conversations, with support for around 25 languages.

I’m still improving it and trying to understand where this approach is genuinely useful compared with simply translating one sentence at a time.

I’d especially love to hear from people here who travel frequently:

1. What was the last situation where not speaking the local language made a conversation difficult for you?
2. Taxi, hotel, restaurant, pharmacy or something I haven’t thought about yet?

That kind of feedback would be really valuable as I continue building TalkAssist.

The conversation summaries might actually be one of TalkAssist’s strongest features! Being able to check what was agreed about a taxi fare, hotel deposit, or checkout time could be just as useful as the live translation itself. One thing I’d prioritize is making sure the assistant always asks for confirmation before agreeing to any additional charges or changes on the traveler’s behalf. Getting that balance between automation and user control right could really set it apart from regular translation apps. 👏