Google Confirms: We Really Need Translators!

Recently, the search engine introduced a new feature for the Google Translate service meant to make the product more human related and provide better translations by allowing users and readers to suggest their own translations for certain phrases. Although the company didn't present it, the function was accessible by translating an entire website and choosing the "Suggest a Translation" feature displayed every time you move your cursor over a translated word.

Today, the company presented the update included in Google Translate, sustaining they are looking to make the product more efficient by improving the human side. The "Suggest a Translation" link is available only for the beta languages currently included in the Google Translate product such as English to/from Arabic, English to/from Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), English to/from Russian and Chinese (Simplified) to/from Chinese (Traditional).

"We have a system that can learn to translate better if we know where the problems are. In the past, there was no way to tell us about problem translations. Now there is. Next time you see a sentence that makes you go "hmmm," just hover over it to display the original text tooltip and click the "Suggest a better translation" link. Tell us what it should have said, and we'll use your suggestion to improve translation quality in future updates to our service," Jeff Chin, International Product Manager, sustained in a blog post.

Let's have a quick test of the future and see how it works. The first step, visit the official page of the product. Then, you should write down the page you want to translate, let's say Baidu.com. Choose Chinese to English BETA and press Translate. As you can see, the translation is not quite accurate so let's suggest a better translation. Move your cursor over the "network" term and wait a little. A Google popup should open and ask you for your suggestion. The procedure is quite simple so I guess many volunteers will join the project and help Google translate the entire virtual world.