Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced TalkMan, the translation software for PSP, will be hitting our shores at some point in May of this year.

The UMD will ship with a rather fantastic USB microphone that uses voice recognition to find your way through the minefield of foreign travel. It comes complete with a list of selectable phrases for those uneasy with talking to a machine about lamb chops while sat alone on a business trip in some boring European city where it's probably raining.

The software will feature 28 themes, such as meeting people, eating out, going skiing and so on, all designed to help you find what you need in the shortest possible time. Here at SPOnG we also like the slightly strange roots of TalkMan. As SCE producer Yoshi Yamamoto explained earler this year, his approaches to women in Italy were hampered when a common language couldn't be established. So he went away and developed TalkMan - you have to wonder...

We'll send our man Adam out on the pull around the language colleges of East London as soon as our review copy arrives and let you know how he fares.