Google Translate has become a powerful tool for breaking down language barriers. It helps millions of people communicate across different languages every day. As of October 2024, Google Translate supports 244 languages for text translation.
This wide range of languages covers many regions and dialects around the world. Google recently added 110 new languages to its translation service. These additions include Cantonese, NKo, and Tamazight. The new languages represent over 614 million speakers globally.
Google Translate offers various ways to use its service. People can access it through a website, mobile apps for Android and iOS, and an API for developers. The API allows creation of browser extensions and software that use Google’s translation technology.
List Of All Languages Supported
- Abkhaz
- Acehnese
- Acholi
- Afar
- Afrikaans
- Albanian
- Alur
- Amharic
- Arabic
- Armenian
- Assamese
- Avar
- Awadhi
- Aymara
- Azerbaijani
- Balinese
- Baluchi
- Bambara
- Baoulé
- Bashkir
- Basque
- Batak Karo
- Batak Simalungun
- Batak Toba
- Belarusian
- Bemba
- Bengali
- Betawi
- Bhojpuri
- Bikol
- Bosnian
- Breton
- Bulgarian
- Buryat
- Cantonese
- Catalan
- Cebuano
- Chamorro
- Chechen
- Chichewa
- Chinese (Simplified)
- Chinese (Traditional)
- Chuukese
- Chuvash
- Corsican
- Crimean Tatar (Cyrillic)
- Crimean Tatar (Latin)
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dari
- Dhivehi
- Dinka
- Dogri
- Dombe
- Dutch
- Dyula
- Dzongkha
- English
- Esperanto
- Estonian
- Ewe
- Faroese
- Fijian
- Filipino
- Finnish
- Fon
- French
- Friulian
- Fulani
- Ga
- Galician
- Ganda
- Georgian
- German
- Greek
- Guarani
- Gujarati
- Hakha Chin
- Hausa
- Hawaiian
- Hebrew
- Hiligaynon
- Hindi
- Hmong
- Hungarian
- Hunsrik
- Iban
- Icelandic
- Igbo
- Ilocano
- Indonesian
- Irish
- Italian
- Jamaican Patois
- Japanese
- Javanese
- Jingpo
- Kannada
- Kalaallisut
- Kanuri
- Kapampangan
- Kashmiri
- Kazakh
- Khasi
- Khmer
- Kiga
- Kikongo
- Kinyarwanda
- Kirghiz
- Kituba
- Kokborok
- Komi
- Kongo
- Korean
- Kurdish (Kurmanji)
- Kurdish (Sorani)
- Lao
- Latin
- Latgalian
- Latvian
- Lingala
- Lithuanian
- Ligurian
- Limburgish
- Lombard
- Luo
- Luxembourgish
- Macedonian
- Madurese
- Makassar
- Malagasy
- Malay
- Malay (Jawi)
- Malayalam
- Maltese
- Manx
- Maori
- Marathi
- Marshallese
- Marwadi
- Mauritian Creole
- Meadow Mari
- Mizo
- Mongolian
- Montenegrin
- Mossi
- Myanmar (Burmese)
- Nahuatl (Eastern Huasteca)
- Ndau
- Ndebele (South)
- Neapolitan
- Nepalbhasa (Newari)
- NKo
- Norwegian
- Nuer
- Nyankole
- Occitan
- Odia (Oriya)
- Oromo
- Ossetian
- Pashto
- Pangasinan
- Papiamento
- Persian
- Polish
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Punjabi (Gurmukhi)
- Punjabi (Shahmukhi)
- Q’eqchi’
- Romanian
- Romani
- Rundi
- Russian
- Sami (Northern)
- Samoan
- Sango
- Sanskrit
- Santali
- Sardinian
- Scots Gaelic
- Sepedi
- Serbian (Cyrillic)
- Serbian (Latin)
- Sesotho
- Seychellois Creole
- Shan
- Shona
- Sicilian
- Silesian
- Sindhi
- Sinhala
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Somali
- Sotho (Southern)
- Spanish
- Sundanese
- Susu
- Swahili
- Swati
- Swedish
- Tagalog (Filipino)
- Tahitian
- Tajik
- Tamil
- Tatar
- Telugu
- Tetum
- Thai
- Tibetan
- Tigrinya
- Tiv
- Tok Pisin
- Tongan
- Tsonga
- Tswana
- Tulu
- Turkish
- Turkmen
- Tumbuka
- Tuvan
- Ukrainian
- Udmurt
- Urdu
- Uyghur
- Uzbek
- Venda
- Venetian
- Vietnamese
- Volapük
- Walloon
- Waray
- Welsh
- Western Frisian
- Wolof
- Xhosa
- Yakut
- Yiddish
- Yoruba
- Yucatec Maya
- Zapotec
- Zulu
Key Takeaways
- Google Translate now supports 244 languages for text translation
- Recent additions include 110 new languages representing 614 million speakers
- Users can access Google Translate via website, mobile apps, and developer API
Google Translate Overview
Google Translate is a free online service that lets users translate text and websites between many languages. It has grown to include more languages and improved its accuracy over time.
Service Functionality
Google Translate changes words, phrases, and web pages from one language to another. Users can type or paste text, upload documents, or enter website URLs to translate. The service works on computers and phones through apps and websites.
Voice translation lets users speak and hear translations out loud. This helps with pronunciation and real-time conversations. Google Translate can also use phone cameras to translate signs and menus in real time.
The service supports over 100 languages. This includes widely spoken ones like Spanish and Chinese, as well as less common languages like Mizo and Lingala.
Technological Framework
Google Translate uses neural machine translation to produce more natural-sounding results. This AI system learns from millions of examples to understand language context and nuances.
The technology allows Google Translate to handle full sentences rather than just word-for-word translations. This leads to more accurate and fluent outputs.
Google offers an API for developers to add translation features to their own apps and websites. This allows the service to reach more users through third-party tools.
Evolution of Language Support
Google Translate started with just a few languages but has grown rapidly. In 2022, it added 24 new languages, bringing the total to 133 at that time.
A major update in 2024 added 110 more languages. This was the largest expansion ever, helping over 600 million more people access translations.
The service now covers languages from many regions. New additions include Cantonese, Punjabi, and Tok Pisin. Google uses AI to learn new languages efficiently, even those with limited online resources.
Supported Languages and Varieties
Google Translate has greatly expanded its language offerings. The service now supports 243 languages, including many lesser-known tongues from around the world. This growth allows more people to communicate across language barriers.
African Languages
Google Translate covers many African languages. It includes widely spoken languages like Swahili and Yoruba. The service also supports less common tongues such as Wolof from Senegal and Venda from South Africa.
Fon, spoken in Benin, is now available. So is Kikongo, used in parts of Central Africa. Luo, found in Kenya and Tanzania, joins the list too. Google added Afar, spoken in parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The service now handles Swati, an official language of Eswatini. It also covers Nko, a writing system used for Manding languages in West Africa.
Asian Languages
Google Translate supports major Asian languages like Mandarin and Hindi. It now includes more regional varieties. Cantonese, widely used in southern China and Hong Kong, is available.
The service added Awadhi and Marwadi, both spoken in parts of India. It covers Qʼeqchiʼ, a Mayan language from Guatemala and Belize.
Google Translate now handles Amazigh languages. These are spoken by Berber peoples across North Africa. The service includes both standard Tamazight and regional forms.
Pacific Languages
Google expanded its coverage of Pacific languages. It now supports Tok Pisin, a creole language that’s widely used in Papua New Guinea.
The service handles languages from small island nations too. It covers Gilbertese, spoken in Kiribati. Fijian and Samoan are also available.
Google Translate added support for some endangered Pacific languages. This helps preserve these tongues and allows speakers to share their culture more easily.
Creoles and Pidgins
Google Translate now covers more creole and pidgin languages. These are mixed languages that developed from contact between different groups.
The service added Seychellois Creole, used in the Seychelles islands. It also supports Mauritian Creole, spoken in Mauritius.
Haitian Creole, one of Haiti’s official languages, is available. The service handles Jamaican Patois too. These additions help millions of creole speakers communicate more easily online.
Integrating Google Translate
Google Translate can be added to websites and apps to make content accessible in many languages. This helps reach more people and improve user experience.
Utilizing the Translate API
The Google Translate API lets developers add translation features to their projects. To use it, you need a Google Cloud account and an API key. The API offers two main ways to translate:
- Text translation: Convert words or phrases between languages
- Document translation: Translate entire files while keeping formatting
The API supports over 100 languages. It can detect the source language automatically. Developers can set a target language or let users pick from a list.
Code libraries are available for popular programming languages like Python, Java, and JavaScript. These make it easier to send translation requests and handle responses.
Applications in Multilingual Content
Google Translate integration has many uses for websites and apps:
• Automatic webpage translation
• User-generated content translation (comments, reviews)
• Chat and messaging translation
• Product descriptions in multiple languages
• Multilingual customer support
E-commerce sites can use it to reach global customers. News sites can quickly translate articles into different languages. Travel apps can help users communicate in foreign countries.
Some companies combine Google Translate with human editors. This gives faster results while still ensuring quality for important content.
Challenges and Considerations
While Google Translate is helpful, it’s not perfect. Here are some things to keep in mind:
• Accuracy: Translations may have errors, especially for complex topics
• Context: The system doesn’t always understand context, leading to mistakes
• Privacy: Be careful with sensitive data, as translations go through Google’s servers
• Cost: Heavy API use can get expensive for large-scale projects
• Alternatives: Consider other translation services for comparison
It’s important to test translations and get feedback from native speakers. For critical content, human translators are still often needed.
Using Google Translate thoughtfully can greatly expand a website or app’s reach. But it works best as part of a larger language strategy.
