Google Docs is a fabulous product from Google which I use on a daily basis for most of my documents related work. I urge those who have not used it or have used it sparingly, to give it a full-fledged try for at least a week or two, and I guarantee that it would turn out to be a wonderful revelation.
Google has added Google Translate’s technology to Google Docs which means that any user can create a document in Google Docs and then share it with other users across the world, in as many as 42 different languages! It’s an amazing development. It would be especially useful to people who regularly interact with speakers of different languages for business or personal purposes.
Typical of Google’s other products, this functionality is as simple to use as it could get. Google Docs’ menu now has a “Translate Document” option from where you can choose the language and click to get your document translation. Moreover, the layout and formatting of the original document is maintained in the translated version. Google Docs also provides the option of saving the translated version separately, or replacing it with the original document. Do check it out and let me know what you think about it.
It’s now well known that Facebook wants to patent its translation application with the help of which it has been able to create many (60+) localized versions in just a few months. With a global company like Facebook whose user base at 250 million (and counting) is bigger than the population of some countries; and a significant majority (over 70%) is based outside US, such an application is a vital tool for reaching out to more users in the shortest possible time.
The fact is that Facebook relies upon crowdsourcing for localization. This technique has already been used by social networking sites like Meebo and Hi5. So is it justified for Facebook to apply for a patent, as they are just using one of the many methods of crowdsourcing which has been used for quite some time by other services.
Language translation providers make for one group which stands in the way of getting directly affected by developments in crowdsourced translations. At Tomedes, we have been taking great interest in this and don’t see it as a potential rival. It’s a brilliant concept which can be used for breaking down linguistic barriers across the world much more rapidly and effectively. So we hope and pray that no single company has total or even significant power over it and that we can all work towards making quality crowd sourced translations a part of our daily life.
The practice of language translation is becoming increasingly popular as more companies discover the benefits of reaching out to potential customers in their native languages. But many companies find it difficult to locate a language translation service which is most suited to their needs. This is because we don’t have any tool yet which would help us measure or get an idea about the effectiveness of their services beforehand. However one can certainly employ specific strategies based upon language translation requirements.
It is important to get a clear idea about one’s own language translation requirements; this would include the volume of required translation, frequency of translation and the number of languages. If your translation requirements are less, in the sense, you need it for only one language pair and the frequency is low, then you can try out a reputed single language translation service provider. You can check them out by getting a translation test of a few hundred words and getting it proofread by another translator.
Complications arise when one is looking for more in terms of language pairs, amount of work and frequency of requirements. In such cases it is important to take stock of the language translation provider’s abilities to scale up production according to requirement, the existence of documented repeatable processes that would ensure consistent delivery of high quality work and the technological tools used by the vendor.
Of course all this requires some basic knowledge about the processes involved in language translation. Some time spent on the Internet would help one achieve that and anyway it’s a small effort considering the stakes involved especially in the case of high volume and critical translation projects.
More from Google as it works tirelessly continuing to provide improved services as well as new options to its users. This time around it has added support for a number of new languages to its automatic translation tool – Google Translate. To be specific Google has added nine new languages including Yiddish, Icelandic, Afrikaans, Irish, Belarusian, Macedonian, Swahili, Malay and Welsh bringing up the total number of languages its supports to 51.
The languages supported by Google now include all the 23 official EU languages. However Google has cautioned users that there might be some glitches relating to the quality of translation which will nevertheless be ironed out in the near future.
Though it does not render perfect translations, there is no doubt that Google Translate is an immensely useful tool for translating single words, phrases or web site content. Adding more languages to its repertoire is going to prove to be of great help to numerous people all over the world.
I have news for all you windows mobile users who thought that I was focusing a lot on iPhone applications. Its about an excellent new translation application that has been released for Windows Mobile 6.x touch screen phones.
The WCI Translator can produce translations for all language pairs that can be formed between English, French, German and Spanish. Users can enter free form sentences and expect good quality translation as the application analyzes the sentence structure and then translates according to the rules of each language. One can translate up to 250 characters at one go.
The application has other nifty features like the ability to save/recall translated text, copy/paste functions, options for setting preferred languages and font sizes. WCI translator supports a vast and comprehensive vocabulary and is probably the only mobile translator that does not rely upon an Internet connection for translating complete sentences. It requires about 25 MB of storage space which is hardly a lot for today’s phones that come with several GBs of memory.
