Google Search now automatically translates (some) foreign words into English

By Lulu Chang May 3, 2016

Google User — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Typing in a foreign language? Google Search now assumes you’re looking for a translation.

As of this month, Google’s Operating System Blog notes, “If you search for a word in a foreign language, Google now automatically shows the translation.” This saves you a bit of time by eliminating the need to type “translate” before entering a word in another language — as Google says, “For example, you can search for [amanecer] to get the English translation of the Spanish word, instead of typing [translate amanecer] or [translate amanecer to english].”

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We should note that this trick doesn’t work across the board — only some words are immediately recognized as needing translation, and if you’re typing in a whole phrase, forget about it. You’ll still have to enter “translate” into the search field to get longer queries out the door.

It’s still unclear as to whether or not Google plans to expand this functionality to allow for automatic translation of more words or phrases, but with the significant leaps and bounds Translate has made over the last ten years, it seems that we can expect further developments on the language front.

Already, Google Translate has logged an impressive list of achievements — the service now supports over 100 languages, can translate words in photos, and has a growing community of contributors that continues to make the Translate tool stronger than ever.

Interestingly enough, 92 percent of Google Translate’s 500 million users are located outside of the U.S., though most words are translated into English. Brazilians, however, seem to be the most fond of the tool, contributing most to the total of 100 billion words translated by Google each and every day. So if you’re looking to expand your foreign language vocabulary, all you need to do is Google it.

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