Abstract: Methods and apparatus for performing translation between different language are provided. The present invention includes a translation system that performs translation having increased accuracy by providing a three-dimensional topical dual-language database. The topical database includes a set of source-to-target language translations for each topic that the database is being used for. In one embodiment, a user first selects the topic of conversation, then words spoken into a telephone are translated and produced as synthesized voice signals from another telephone so that a near real-time conversation may be had between two people speaking different languages. An additional feature of the present invention is the addition of a computer terminal that displays the input and output phrases so that either user may edit the input phrases, or indicate that the translation was ambiguous and request a rephrasing of the material.