Google translate launches support for malayalam language translation

Google has launched support for malayalam in its ubiquitous translate feature. You can try Google translate malayalam here  – https://translate.google.co.in/ by choosing malayalam from the drop down of the languages.

This means that you can copy paste malayalam into the Google translate tool which is an in browser tool for chrome, firefox, safari etc , and you can then  translate the piece of text provided into a language of choice.

Obviously the most common usage for Malayalam translate would be to convert it into english.

Perhaps it might be useful in Technopark while communicating to clients ? 🙂

The reports coming in from those who tested the translate tool for malayalam was that it was not good. This is not surprising considering malayalam is a fairly complex language and im not sure how many malayalees were available to test it 🙂

If the translate tool for malayalam to english (or vice versa) is bad, then the feature may just lie around till google deadpools it later. The problem is that there isn’t enough business need for a malayalam to english translation. First of all the kerala market is not a hot one that international businesses are going after. Second is that most malayalees understand english too, so the translate option isn’t that much of a need like in German or French where the market is big and english is not understood.

Having said that, Google malayalam translation keyboard is quite often searched for , atleast according to some prompts shown by Google during searches related to these keywords. Perhaps those who are trying to enjoy literature, or want to get their word meanings down pat for any communication, would like to use a service like this.

There are already a plethora of jokes based on the malayalam translations that are spun out by the Google tool. Being malayalees, the first thing they would search for is Google translate malayalam jokes so that they can share it on Facebook or Twitter. It would not be long before a hashtag or facebook page around Google translate jokes takes effect. There are google translate jokes on Mammooty (a famous movie star in Kerala) and on Pinarayi Vijayan (A leader of the communist party in Kerala).

Inspite of the smaller size of the community with regard to Major indian languages, 38 million is still no joke when it comes to a community’s size on a global level. That is already bigger than the population of Canada, more than half of UK and more than 10% of the population of the US. So perhaps with a little more effort, the tool will meet our expectations.

The question would be why is the Google translate tool for malayalam having so many errors in translation and giving the wrong translation for the inputs provided?

The answer is that the tool was largely developed using dictionary words and crowdsourcing from those who know malayalam. So if we malayalees have not provided the right inputs during the crowdsourcing efforts, the tool will obviously come out short when it comes to translating the text.

Some malayalees (and perhaps a handful of foriegners) would be checking up whether this malayalam to english translate tool can be downloaded and installed on their computer so they can use the malayalam virtual keyboard on their system. Right now however, as with other Google translate languages supported, this is a purely online tool within the browser and cannot be downloaded as an installable software.

Lots of people also love to share jokes in malayalam on Whatsapp and facebook. Some malayalees who can’t read malayalam would love to translate these jokes to be able to enjoy it in english. It is still open to debate if the joke will be easy to understand when it is translated from malayalam to english.

While you can’t download the translator, it is still free to use online!

Have fun!