If, unlike more than 100 other languages, you've ever been stumped by something written in Krio, Ewe, or Tigrinya, Google Translate was not going to help you out.
However, Google just announced the inclusion of 24 languages to this capability, including 10 spoken in Africa.
The following are the new African languages:
-Bambara - a Mali language
-Ewe - a Ghanaian and Togolese language
-Krio - Sierra Leonean dialect
-Lingala - is a central African language spoken in several parts of the continent, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo.
-Luganda - Ugandan and Rwandan languages
-Oromo - Ethiopian language
-Sepedi - a South African dialect
Eritrea and Ethiopia speak Tigrinya.
Tsonga is a South African language.
-Twi - a Ghanaian dialect
Several more African languages had already been discovered.
Previously, software that was used to translate and learn how to enhance interpretation was fed content that had previously been translated.
Many of the more widely spoken and used languages have a vast and rising amount of text, but this is not the case for many others.
According to Google, these new features are based on cutting-edge software that does not require previous instances.
According to Isaac Caswell, Google Translate's research scientist, this study is part of "extending coverage to many populations that were very much disregarded not just by Google but by other technologies in general."
Will the translations, however, be accurate? Many polyglots have already expressed dissatisfaction with the languages that are now available.
"The translation is not great for many supported languages, even the largest languages in Africa that we have supported, such as Yoruba and Igbo. Mr Caswell admitted, "It will undoubtedly get the concept across, but it will often lose much of the subtlety of the language."
It would be the same with the new languages, he said. However, those who contributed to the study said it was a good place to start.
"'Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good,' some Krio [speakers] said.
"At the end of the day, we have to make the decision." And I got the idea from other folks I spoke with that it was a very good thing for them."
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