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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Voices of Africa, part of the Guardian Africa Network

Google Translate adds African languages

Nikki Amuka-Bird as Interpreter
Nikki Amuka-Bird as an interpreter in The Trial of Ubu at the Hampstead Theatre last year. Let Google Translate do the job for you. Photograph: Neil Libbert

Google is planning to add Somali, Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and Zulu to its list of language options on Google Translate, the search engine giant's free automatic translation service.

A post published yesterday on the Google Africa page on Google+ called on users to evaluate the translation quality of the five languages. After assessing passages that are translated into English and vice versa, users can rate them as Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor.

Google Translate already supports 71 languages but the possible inclusion of Somali, Zulu and other African ones has been met with wide approval and excitement. However, users have already pointed out that there are some tweaks needed. Here's the system's take on Igbo to English translation.

If you'd like to rate the translations, visit the Google Africa page.

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