1. A method in a portable device for transliterating text, the method comprising: generating an image of the text using a camera function in the portable device; sending the image with an identification of a source language and a target language to a transliteration service using a wireless communications link; receiving a response from the transliteration service, wherein the response contains a transliteration of the text in the target language and wherein the transliteration contains a phonetic pronunciation of the text in the source language; and presenting the transliteration.