Google competes with Duolingo with new language learning features

Nova funkcija učenja jezika je zasnovana tako za začetnike, ki se šele spoznavajo z osnovami, kot za napredne uporabnike, ki želijo izpopolniti besedišče. Uporabnik lahko v aplikaciji izbere možnost “practice/vadi”, nastavi svoj nivo znanja in cilje, nato pa mu Google Translate ustvari prilagojene vaje poslušanja in govora. Te se prilagajajo glede na napredek posameznika in dnevno beležijo rezultate.

By including these options, Google is directly competing with the popular Duolingo app, which has been using gamification to learn more than 40 languages for years. The beta version is available on the Android and iOS app, and will initially be available for English speakers to practice Spanish and French, and for Spanish, French and Portuguese speakers to practice English.

Live translation

Google Translate bo odslej omogočal tudi bolj tekoče dvosmerne pogovore z zvočnimi in zaslonskimi prevodi v več kot 70 jezikih, med drugim v arabščini, francoščini, hindijščini, korejščini, španščini in tamilščini. Funkcija “Live translate” omogoča, da uporabnik enostavno govori v svojem jeziku, aplikacija pa samodejno prevaja in prikazuje besedilo v obeh jezikih ter ga bere na glas.

What makes this feature special is that it recognizes pauses, accents, and intonation, creating a more natural conversation. It uses Google's advanced speech recognition models, which can isolate sounds even in noisy environments like restaurants or airports.

For now, live translation is available to users in the US, India and Mexico, with expansion to other markets expected later. Google explains that these upgrades are possible due to advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. By incorporating its Gemini models into Translate, they have improved the quality and speed of translations, and added multimodal translation capabilities and advanced speech synthesis.

Google estimates that people translate about 1 trillion words every day through its Translate, Search, Lens, and Circle to Search services. With the new features, the company hopes to further reduce language barriers and enable better cross-cultural connections.