For inbound tourists! The latest method for creating free multilingual audio guides and the benefits explained

I want to create an audio guide in multiple languages...what are the methods?

Audio guides have now become commonplace in museums, art galleries, and cultural facilities.

However, isn't it often the case that only Japanese is available, or the only foreign language available is English?

The rapidly increasing number of inbound tourists is in fact not just made up of people whose native language is English.

By providing audio guides in languages other than English, such as Korean, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese , you can satisfy even more inbound tourists.

In addition to increasing the number of visitors to museums, art galleries, and cultural facilities, multilingual audio guides will also help to accurately convey Japanese culture to more foreigners, helping them to feel more familiar with Japan .

In this article, we will explain how audio guides at cultural facilities, including museums, art galleries, shrines and temples, can be made multilingual for free !

Anyone can easily create multilingual audio guides for free .

Why not use the latest AI to welcome inbound tourists?

[Free and inbound compatible] Recommended AI tools for multilingual audio guides

There is an AI tool we recommend for those who want to create multilingual audio guides .

That's "Ondoku" .

"Ondoku" is an AI reading service that uses the latest AI to read foreign languages for free .

In addition to Japanese,

• English
• Chinese (both Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin)
• Cantonese
• Korean
• Thai
• Malaysian
• Indonesian
• Vietnamese

We support all languages commonly used by inbound tourists to Japan , such as:

The latest AI can read out loud with native pronunciation , making it possible to provide inbound tourists with audio that is easy to understand.

What's more, you can have up to 5,000 characters read out for free , so you can start creating multilingual audio guides for free right now.

If you want to provide an inbound audio guide in multiple languages, why not try "Ondoku" ?

Multilingual audio guides are a must for museums, art galleries, and cultural facilities!

Audio guides are becoming increasingly common in cultural facilities such as museums, art galleries, shrines, and temples.

However, in many cases, only Japanese and English are available.

In fact, we recommend that future audio guides be multilingual!

Multilingual audio guides are recommended for inbound tourists

Have you ever noticed that the number of inbound tourists has increased recently ?

That's no surprise, as the number of inbound tourists is actually increasing rapidly.

According to statistics from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) , the number of tourists visiting Japan in October 2024 was 3.312 million , exceeding the number in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the future, tourist destinations and cultural facilities such as museums, art galleries, shrines and temples will need to be able to accommodate inbound tourists.

But do you think that English alone is enough for inbound tourism?

According to the same statistics , the countries and regions from which inbound tourists will visit in October 2024 are:

1. South Korea: Approximately 730,000
2. China (Mainland of the People's Republic of China): Approximately 580,000 people
3. Taiwan: Approximately 480,000 people
4. United States: Approximately 280,000
5. Hong Kong: Approximately 200,000
6. Thailand: Approximately 130,000 people

(countries/regions with more than 100,000 visitors).

Yes, there are a lot of inbound tourists whose native language is Korean or Chinese .

This is where multilingual support becomes necessary.

By providing audio guides and notices in multiple languages, including Korean, Chinese, and Thai in addition to English, we can attract more inbound tourists and help them become more familiar with Japanese culture.

Reference: Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese are also recommended

• Malaysia (approximately 50,000 people)
• Indonesia (approx. 40,000 people)
• Vietnam (approximately 50,000 people)

It is also a country with a large number of inbound tourists.

If audio guides and signs were made available in Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese, inbound tourists could be guided even more easily.

Three benefits of multilingual audio guides

There are many benefits to introducing multilingual audio guides to museums, art galleries, and cultural facilities.

Not only can you increase visitor numbers and profits by entertaining inbound tourists in multiple languages, but you can also prevent overtourism and reduce the burden on facility staff.

1. Hospitality with multilingual explanations of the exhibit contents

Exhibit explanations at museums and art galleries are often only available in Japanese and English.

It would be very difficult to add Korean, Chinese, and Thai to the captions for all the exhibits.

Therefore, we recommend that you start by providing multilingual support with audio guides .

By providing audio explanations of Japanese culture to inbound tourists, you can help them love Japan even more when they return to their home countries.

When creating audio, we also recommend printing out and posting multilingual translations of the text.

2. Prevent trouble by communicating the rules for viewing and worshiping

In museums and art galleries,

• Do not approach the exhibit any further.
• Don't take photos
• Do not use a flash when taking photos
• Eating and drinking prohibited

There are rules such as:

Additionally, shrines and temples also have their own rules for visiting in order to protect valuable cultural assets and tranquil environments.

With the increase in inbound tourists, unexpected problems can occur at cultural facilities, shrines, temples, and other tourist destinations.

A major cause of trouble is a failure to communicate manners and rules properly.

By providing information in multiple languages, including not only English but also Korean, Chinese, and Thai, we can prevent problems from occurring .

It is often difficult to communicate rules other than obvious ones such as "no photography" and "no eating or drinking."

Information that can be difficult to convey to people from different cultures, such as how to visit and worship at shrines and temples, can be conveyed smoothly and clearly with a multilingual audio guide.

3. Reduce the workload of your staff

As labor shortages continue, museums, art galleries, and cultural facilities are seeing an increase in staff workload.

In such circumstances, it is very difficult to deal with inbound tourists.

It must be extremely difficult to hire staff who can speak foreign languages.

By providing guidance around facilities using multilingual audio guides created with the latest AI , questions from inbound tourists are reduced, allowing them to focus on other tasks.

As you can see, multilingual audio guides have many benefits for inbound tourists as well as staff at museums, art galleries, shrines, temples, and cultural facilities.

To create better tourist spots, prevent trouble, and improve working conditions, why not create a multilingual audio guide using the latest AI?

Recommended languages for multilingual audio guides for inbound tourists

So, in what languages should we create audio guides?

In countries and regions with a large number of inbound tourists visiting Japan, languages other than English are primarily spoken.

We will explain the recommended languages for multilingualizing audio guides and notices .

We recommend the languages of countries and regions with many inbound tourists.

The following languages are widely used in countries and regions with many inbound tourists .

• Korea: Korean
• China (Mainland People's Republic of China): Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified characters)
• Taiwan: Chinese (Taiwanese Chinese, Traditional)
• United States: English
• Hong Kong: Cantonese (Traditional)
• Thailand: Thai
• Malaysia: Malaysian, Chinese (Chinese)
• Indonesia: Indonesian
• Vietnam: Vietnamese

For this reason, if you want to make the audio guide multilingual,

• Korean
• Chinese (it is best to post in both simplified and traditional Chinese)
• Cantonese
• Thai
• Malaysian
• Indonesian
• Vietnamese

It is recommended to create audio.

If you can't afford to make everything, start by

• Korean
• Chinese

It would be a good idea to create one at least.

By creating Chinese audio, audio guides can also be used by inbound tourists in places with large Chinese populations, such as Singapore and Malaysia .

*Although Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong can often also understand Chinese (Mandarin, the standard Chinese language), it would be helpful to create Cantonese audio as well if possible .

[Multilingual support] Recommended AI services for inbound tourist guides

"Ondoku" is an AI reading service recommended for creating multilingual audio guides .

It's very easy to use.

Simply paste the AI-translated foreign language and press the "Read aloud" button to create a foreign language voice with native pronunciation in just 10 seconds!

Supported languages are 48.

• English
• Chinese (both Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin)
• Cantonese
• Korean
• Thai
• Malaysian
• Indonesian
• Vietnamese

It covers all the languages used by inbound tourists.

What's more, Ondoku is free to use!

You can read and download up to 5,000 characters for free, so you can start creating your own multilingual audio guide right away.

If you want to create a multilingual audio guide for inbound tourists, why not try using "Ondoku" ?

How to create a multilingual audio guide

How do you write sentences in Korean or Chinese? Is it difficult?

Are you okay!

By utilizing AI tools, anyone can create text and audio that sounds just like a native speaker!

Here we will explain how to create a multilingual audio guide using Korean and Chinese as examples.

1. Translate a sentence

First, we translate Japanese text into multiple languages .

Here is an example:

"Thank you for using the audio guide. First, here are some things to keep in mind when visiting the museum. Please do not touch the exhibits. Do not use a flash when taking photos."

I will translate the sentence:

Translation method 1: Use a translation site

The easiest way to translate is to use a translation site .

For Korean and Chinese, we recommend using Korean or Chinese services rather than American services like DeepL.

• Korean: Papago
• Chinese: Baidu Translation

is a standard service.

If you enter the example sentence into a translation site, it will look like this.

■ Korean example

``I want to know what I'm saying.'' ``I want to know what I want.''

■Chinese example

"Guidelines for the use of English. The first thing to note is the precautions to be taken when using the museum. An exhibition item to be read and touched. A light lamp for use at certain times."

It was translated like this.

However, if there is no one on staff who can speak Korean or Chinese, you won't know whether the content is correct or incorrect.

So, let's input the translated sentence and try translating it back into Japanese .

■ Korean retranslation

"Thank you for using the audio guide. First, here are some things to keep in mind when using the museum. Do not touch the exhibits. Do not use a flash when taking photos."

■ Chinese retranslation

"Thank you for using the audio guide. First, here are some things to keep in mind when visiting the museum. Do not touch the exhibits. Do not use a flash when taking photos."

So it turns out there wasn't much wrong with it.

However, depending on the content, it may be mistranslated.

If you come across a mistranslation, here's how to fix it:

• Use simpler language: Replace "please refrain" with simpler phrases such as "it's prohibited" or "please stop."
• Put quotation marks around proper nouns: AI translation sites will determine that a word is a proper noun if you put quotation marks around it, like "proper noun."

Translation method 2: Using an AI service

In fact, there is an easier way to achieve native pronunciation.

That means using AI services like ChatGPT or Claude to translate .

For example, by instructing the AI to "translate the following sentence into Korean/Chinese with native pronunciation. Please also explain the content in Japanese," it is possible to create sentences that sound more natural than those produced by translation sites.

The image shows an example sentence translated by the AI service "Claude."

This is how it was translated.

■ Korean example

"I want to know what I'm saying." "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

■Chinese example

"Thank you for your understanding. Please take note when visiting the museum. Don't hesitate to touch the exhibits. Don't forget to use the light when you visit."

The Korean expression has been changed from "voice guide" to "audio guide," which is a transliteration of the Hangul term, and the Chinese has been updated to include the subject "We come to introduce ourselves," making the expressions more natural .

Until now, when trying to create multilingual text using a translation service, the text often ended up sounding like a literal translation.

AI services can solve that problem!

The free plan is sufficient for translating audio guide texts, but if you want to create more natural multilingual texts, we recommend using an AI chat service.

*Even if you use an AI chat service to translate, we recommend that you retranslate to check the translation.

2. Read aloud

Once the translation text is ready, the rest is easy.

Open the Ondoku homepage and listen to the audio guide read out in multiple languages.

Paste some text on the top page (we have pasted a Korean example here).

Select your language.

Select the audio.

*You can listen to an audio sample of "Ondoku" here.

• Korean
• Chinese

Press "Read aloud."

Reading will begin.

Reading is completed quickly (even long audio can be generated in about 10 seconds).

Once the reading is complete, the display will change and you will be able to listen to the audio.

If you are happy with the content, press the download button to save the MP3 file .

This completes the process of creating a multilingual audio guide using "Ondoku."

Using the same method, you can create voices for various languages, including Cantonese, Thai, French and Spanish!

Why not use "Ondoku" to create a multilingual audio guide for inbound tourists?

■ AI voice synthesis software "Ondoku"

"Ondoku" is an online text-to-speech tool that can be used with no initial costs.

• Supports approximately 50 languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, and German
• Available from both PC and smartphone
• Suitable for business, education, entertainment, etc.
• No installation required, can be used immediately from your browser
• Supports reading from images

To use it, simply enter text or upload a file on the site. A natural-sounding audio file will be generated within seconds. You can use voice synthesis up to 5,000 characters for free, so please give it a try.

Text-to-speech software "Ondoku" can read out 5000 characters every month with AI voice for free. You can easily download MP3s and commercial use is also possible. If you sign up for free, you can convert up to 5,000 characters per month for free from text to speech. Try Ondoku now.

HP: ondoku3.com
Email: ondoku3.com@gmail.com