You can prepare yourself to some extent by attending language classes and investing in phrase books. These will certainly allow you to get by in most situations, but what if you'd like to go beyond basic high school French, German, or Japanese; perhaps head off the beaten track, Lonely Planet style; maybe learn a few good pick up lines - or at least hold a decent conversation with the interesting people you meet on your travels?

Enter Sony's TalkMan. Touted as an interactive translator – which is a fairly accurate description of its function, TalkMan enables you to communicate directly with other people in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. An affable blue bird by the name of Max is your mentor and travelling companion. His role is to act as go-between when you are interacting with others, and to help you practise your pronunciation and listening skills.

Installing the USB microphone is a simple, two second operation, and its low profile means your PSP will still be able to squeeze into its rigid carry case. After jumping into Talk Mode and selecting the language you want to use – plus the gender of the person you are speaking to, you then choose from a list of 28 scenarios (at a restaurant, on a plane, in an emergency etc.). Finally, you select what you would like to say – either from a drop-down list of phrases or by speaking into the mic in your own language, which will prompt a list of possibilities. You can even add emotional emphasis to your sentences – both negative and positive. Once you're satisfied with your selection, a pre-recorded voice rattles off the translated phrase fluently, and the person you are dealing with can respond in similar fashion – by either choosing from a list or speaking into the mic.

In theory this all sounds wonderful – like a virtual Tower of Babel, but the reality is somewhat less idyllic. Our main gripe with TalkMan is that most of the time it doesn't understand what you are trying to say. Perhaps it was due to our "Noo Zillund" accent or maybe the speech recognition capabilities weren't up to snuff, after speaking into the mic the list of phrases we were presented with invariably had very little to do with what we actually said - even after many repetitions with variations in speed, inflection and pronunciation. In our opinion it is far quicker – and less embarrassing, to use the drop down lists from the outset.

Another issue is the lengthy load time between each screen. While TalkMan boasts some 3000 phrases – many of which can be used in social situations such as in nightclubs or just making new friends, the load times are not conducive to making real-time small talk with anyone you meet. Any conversations you do hold will be stilted and full of lengthy pauses, while you muck about with switching languages and scenarios, or hunt for the correct phrase.

In addition to its primary function as a translator, TalkMan sports a range of secondary features – some more useful than others. The unit converter is one such example. This nifty traveller's tool allows you to convert currency and other units such as length, weight, area, volume and temperature. Very handy when visiting countries that still use Imperial measurements.

Another neat feature is the Voice Memo, which allows you to record and playback messages. It ties in nicely with the Friend Map feature: a world map on which you can place flags to show where your friends live, perhaps getting them to record a short message for posterity.

The alarm, while useful for those early morning wake-up calls, is not what we'd call practical. Instead of a buzzer or a bell you can shut off with the push of a button, TalkMan's alarm spits out a foreign phrase, which it repeats incessantly until you manage to select the correct translation from a list. Not the easiest task when you've just woken up - possibly hampered by jet lag or a hangover (or both!).

For those who like a bit of entertainment with their education, there are a couple of mini-games included in the package; each designed to improve listening and pronunciation skills. The layout of both games is of a jigsaw puzzle-style picture, with each requiring 20 pieces to complete. Doing so will unlock bonus material, but this is easier said than done.

The listening game requires you listen to four different phrases, with the English translation displayed onscreen. One of the phrases is then repeated and you must select the correct translation from a multi-choice list. With four phrases per question and five correct answers required to score a single puzzle piece, you will need a fair chunk of time and patience to unlock those extras.

The pronunciation game involves using the mic and is a lot trickier. You are given a phrase to repeat in parrot fashion, and are scored on your accuracy (or lack of it), with 'A' being excellent and 'D' leaving plenty of room for improvement. As with the listening game, if you score highly enough you will score puzzle pieces and unlock bonus material. Unfortunately, this borders on impossible – even with unlimited retries. We only ever managed to score a handful of 'A's, with 'D' and 'C' being the most common result. To rub salt into the wound, Max was on hand with a cheeky comment after each failed attempt. This was the first - and hopefully only - time we'd ever felt seriously tempted to hurl the PSP across the room!

Graphics-wise, TalkMan is easy on the eyes and visually appealing. In Talk Mode, Max will appear against a backdrop corresponding to the scenario you have chosen, for example a sports stadium or a beach. Max has an extensive wardrobe of costumes and there are usually a couple of animated smaller birds in the background to provide more visual interest. Text is easy to read, and there's even a zoom feature for folks who may have left their reading glasses at home.

TalkMan is an excellent concept with loads of promise, which could have been another feather in Sony's cap. Unfortunately its flaws ultimately leave us feeling it has missed the mark. Having said that, if you already own a PSP and are planning to visit any of the countries included in the language pack, TalkMan is a perfectly good choice for practising your pronunciation, and for passing time on those long haul flights – provided of course that airport security allows you to bring it onboard...