There are translators that can translate from Kanji to English and back.

Does anyone know an easy way to translate from hiragana and katakana to English and back?

I do not speak or write Japanese but I can sometimes understand it when it's written. This would be an easy way to communicate with my father.

I have searched the web, Mac's widgets, and more. Is there a free program I can get or a website I can use?


Thank you.

Try this
JEDict http://jedict.com/
I know it is dictionary, but it can help

Thanks, I really appreciate that.

It's definitely a good start. If anyone knows of anything else please let me know.

try using google's language tools.
Or try to learn the language, thats what I'm doing.

If you can kinda understand it you want the kanji/kana in romaji? If I understand correctly you can't read kana/kanji but understand some romaji, correct?

http://j-talk.com/nihongo/

if you use firefox or other mozilla derivatives, you might want to try rikaichan or peraperakun addon. it shows you the furigana of the kanji and its meaning when you hover your mouse on it.

rikaichan https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2471

peraperakun https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3343