Google Translate.
Google Translate now supports more languages than before —- another 110, to be precise.
Google recently announced that it added 110 more languages to its free translation service, in addition to the 24 included back in late 2022. This addition was possible with the help of Google’s PaLM 2 large language model, which was pre-trained on multilingual text and linguistic nuance.
The AI was able to decode and translate languages spoken by small communities and even languages with almost no native speakers left. One-quarter of the new languages come from Africa (including Fon, Kikongo, Luo, Ga, Swati, Venda and Wolof).
Of all the updates to Google Translate, the bolstering of 110 more languages is the service’s largest addition ever. Adding so many languages in one sitting also brought Google closer to its original goal: the 1,000 Language Initiative, where an AI model can support the 1,000 most spoken languages.
Google Translate demonstrated its near-flawless translation accuracy to the newly added Cantonese dialect/language. Warning: Do not read aloud when in polite or formal company, Not Safe For Work.
Out of all the new languages added, Google said that Cantonese was one of the most requested add-ons and one of the trickiest to train. The company said that many Cantonese words overlap with the more common Mandarin language (simplified and traditional Chinese), which adds to the difficulty of finding data and training its AI model to translate accordingly.
Other interesting additions include Tok Pisin, an English-based creole from Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, a quick search on Google Translate showed that it has yet to add Singapore’s pidgin-to-creole language, Singlish.
Google Translate celebrated its 18th birthday in 2023, and supported up to 100 languages then.
Source: Google (blog)
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