Getting started

You are probably setting Loquela up for someone else — a parent, most likely. It takes about five minutes, and they never have to do any of it themselves.

Loquela gives a voice to someone who cannot speak right now. They read what other people say, in their own language. They type or tap, and the phone or tablet says it out loud — in their language at home, in the local language at an appointment.

Think of someone who speaks Spanish, living in an English-speaking country. At home the family speaks Spanish. At the surgery, the doctor speaks English. Loquela carries both directions.

Setting it up

The app asks five short questions the first time it opens. One tap each, no account, nothing to pay.

The first two are the languages.

The moment you choose their language, the whole app switches to it — everything they will ever see is in their own words, not yours. Then you choose the language spoken around them: at a doctor's appointment in the UK, that is English.

The next three are about them, not the app.

• "Can you hear what people say?" If not, Loquela writes down everything said to them, in every conversation, so nothing is missed.
• "Is it easy to read from the screen?" If not, the device also reads aloud what other people say, instead of only showing it.
• "If someone picks up this device" — you can lock it, the way you lock a phone. Later is a real answer here, not a nag.

None of these are permanent. All of them are in Settings afterwards.

Then hand it over. The home screen simply asks "Where are you now?"

Try it yourself first

Before you give it to them, use it out loud for a minute. Tap a phrase and hear it spoken.

When they see you using it as an ordinary thing, it becomes an ordinary thing. That matters more than any setting on this page.

The voice, and the size of the words

In Settings you can choose the voice for each language and hear it before deciding. Do this together if you can — it is their voice now, and people have strong feelings about being spoken for in a voice they dislike.

The text size slider changes text everywhere in the app, with a live preview as you drag it.

Scenarios: the right words, ready

A scenario is a situation — at home, at the doctor, at the pharmacy. Each one brings the phrases that belong to it forward, so nobody starts from an empty screen.

• Open All scenarios from the home screen and star the ones that fit their life.
• Starred scenarios become large cards under "Where are you now?". One tap and they are ready to talk.
• Phrases live in their own boards, opened from inside a conversation. You can add your own — you write it once, in your own language, and Loquela produces the other side when it is used.

Before an appointment

The evening before, sit down together for ten minutes.

1. On the home screen, tap Prepare, then Prepare a discussion.
2. Choose At the doctor and name it — Dr Bennett, or just the date.
3. Add what they want to say or ask. The new tablets make me dizzy. Can I have the results in writing?
4. On the day, tap that discussion — or open At the doctor as usual, and the line above the keyboard offers it: "You prepared: Dr Bennett".

Those ten minutes change the whole appointment. Questions thought through calmly at the kitchen table do not get lost in the room.

Two things worth knowing for the visit itself:

• The original stays on screen. What the doctor says appears in English with the translation underneath, so anyone in the room who speaks both can check it.
• Loquela does not replace an interpreter. In many public health systems a professional interpreter is free and it is their right — ask for one. Loquela helps with everything around and in between.

What works without a connection

Most of Loquela works with no internet at all — in a hospital basement, on a plane, during an outage.

Only two things need a connection: translating what the other person says, and the suggested replies. Everything else — typing and having it spoken aloud, all the phrases and scenarios, preparing for a visit, changing settings — works with no signal at all.

If the connection drops in the middle of a conversation, nothing breaks. What the doctor says still appears on screen, and the translations fill themselves in as soon as the signal returns.

If you get stuck

Write to us at helpdesk@loquela.co.nz and a person will answer. Tell us the device, the two languages you chose, and what happened — a photo of the screen helps.