Google announced today that it has added 285 languages to the Google Translator Toolkit. It now has a total of 345, and Google says it can translate between 10,664 language pairs. The interface itself is availalbe in 35 languages.
“At Google, we’re focusing on how Translator Toolkit can help preserve and revitalize small and minority languages,” Google says. “Minority languages, also called regional, indigenous, heritage or threatened languages, are languages spoken by the minority people in one locale in a sovereign state or country. Were these endangered languages to become extinct, it would mean an immeasurable loss of knowledge, culture and way of life to minority people worldwide.”
Google worked with Dr. Te Taka Keegan on the project. Keegan is a M?ori language activist and senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Waikato who spent much of his career on how technology can assist in minority language revitalization. Read about the ways Keegan believes Google’s Translator Toolkit can help minority languages here.
“Languages provide identity, pride, a sense of belonging and spiritual guidance to minority language communities,” says Google. “We hope that by giving both majority and minority language speakers around the world the tools to make online content accessible in their language, we will enable more people to share their culture and knowledge with others worldwide.”
About a month and a half ago, Google announced that it was translating 9 new languages. Earlier this year, the company claimed to be translating 98% of the Internet’s languages.
