To a certain extent, native English speakers have it easy. The language is spoken by one in five people globally, making it easily understood anywhere from Athens to Zagreb. And for those of us who learned English as toddlers, the languages we picked up in high school or fine-tuned during study abroad make the world feel even more interconnected.
But sometimes that leg up still leaves us at a literal loss for words. When you’re trying to communicate with a taxi driver in Tokyo or pick the right cold medicine in France (how do you say non-drowsy, again?), there’s only so much that rudimentary language skills, or a helpful concierge, can do to help.
Enter Google Translate. Since 2006, the free app has been breaking the language barrier for travelers far and wide — and its algorithmic, machine-learning methods have only gotten better (and fluent in more languages) over time. Its technology is now available to developers all around the globe via a public API, which means more savvy translation tools than ever before. Some are specialized for particular languages or regions, some can listen to your voice in addition to reading text, and some can even auto-detect languages or use image recognition to supply the words you’re looking for.
Originally Posted - Bloomberg
But sometimes that leg up still leaves us at a literal loss for words. When you’re trying to communicate with a taxi driver in Tokyo or pick the right cold medicine in France (how do you say non-drowsy, again?), there’s only so much that rudimentary language skills, or a helpful concierge, can do to help.
Enter Google Translate. Since 2006, the free app has been breaking the language barrier for travelers far and wide — and its algorithmic, machine-learning methods have only gotten better (and fluent in more languages) over time. Its technology is now available to developers all around the globe via a public API, which means more savvy translation tools than ever before. Some are specialized for particular languages or regions, some can listen to your voice in addition to reading text, and some can even auto-detect languages or use image recognition to supply the words you’re looking for.
Originally Posted - Bloomberg
