Translator’s Nombre Es Mud

Regarding the “On the Move” column on hand-held translators (“Hand-Held Translation Devices Are Improving, Getting Cheaper,” Aug. 24): The accompanying photo [in which the device was translating “My name is . . . “ as ‘Mi nombre es . . . “] was particularly telling about the shortcomings of translating devices built on logic.

Any schoolchild learns on the first day of a Spanish class that the correct way to say “my name is” is “me llamo” (“I call myself”).

Why pay all that money to get laughed at by the natives over a basic phrase?

DONN TATUM

Ojai