Google Translate is getting a couple of upgrades that give it a serious functional boost. The mobile app now enables back-and-forth chats in real time with voice and on-screen text translations. The new Live Translate feature supports 70 languages, and it’s now available for users in the US via the Android and iPhone apps.
What’s the secret sauce?
The more notable upgrade to Google Translate, however, focuses on language learning, just the way you would head to a platform like Duolingo. To that end, the Google Translate app is rolling out a new language practice feature that can be tailored for beginners as well as experts honing their advanced skills.
In the practice section of the app, users can set their goals and specify their skill level. Once there, the app will create a customized learning environment where they can listen to conversations while being able to tap the specific words and learn more about them in the moment.
The Google Translate app will also offer speaking practice sessions where hints will be shown on the screen if you run into hurdles. Google says these lessons have been created based on language learning research and teaching methods.
What’s the outlook?
The personalized conversation practice and language learning system in the Google Translate app will track the daily progress of users and will accordingly adjust their lessons for scenarios like travel, academic, or casual conversations.
At the moment, it’s a beta experience and available within the Google Translate app for iOS and Android. As far as language support goes, it covers:
- English speakers learning Spanish and French.
- Spanish, French, and Portuguese speakers learning English.
As far as regional availability goes, it will be available in over fifty countries. Rollout has already begun, and it will expand later this week. Earlier this year, Google also launched what it calls Little Language Lessons powered by Gemini in the Google Labs section.
