Google says it has added 24 new languages to Google Translate, including two more official South African languages, Sepedi and Tsonga.
The update brings the number of languages available to 133, with seven of them Die 11 official languages of SA are represented.
The announcement, made during Google’s annual developer conference, will allow millions of people around the world to use the free service to search words, phrases and Instantly translate webpages into their preferred language.
Google said more than 300 million people speak these newly added languages, including Mizo, spoken by about 800,000 people in far northeast India, and Bhojpuri, the spoken by about 50 million people in northern India. Nepal and Fiji.
Google said that the 24 languages added to Translate now support a total of 133 languages used worldwide.
As part of this update, it said Indigenous languages of the Americas (Quechua, Guarani, and Aymara) and an English dialect (Sierra Leonean Krio) have an lso added to Translate for the first time.
“For years, Google Translate has helped break down language barriers and build communities to connect all over the world. And we want to make that possible for even more people — especially those whose languages aren’t represented in most technologies,” said Isaac Caswell, senior software engineer for Google Translate.
Google said that Sepedi of about 14-million people in South Africa, while Tsonga was used by about 7 million people in Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Other African languages that have been added are:
- Lingala, used by about 45 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Angola and the Republic of South Sudan;
- Rambara, used by about 14 million people in Mali;< /li>
- Ewe, used by about 7 million people in Ghana and Togo;
- Luganda, used by about 20 million people in Uganda and Rwanda;
- Oromo, used by used by about 37 million people in Ethiopia and Kenya; and
- Twi, used by approximately 11 million people in Ghana.
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