Microsoft Translator Adds Support For Kiswahili African Language Text Translation

Microsoft Translator today announced that they are adding support for Kiswahili (also known as Swahili) text translation. This is the the first African language to be supported by the automatic translation service.

Kiswahili is spoken by up to 150 million people throughout eastern Africa including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With the new translation system, governments in the region will be able to make documents and information available at virtually no cost, non-governmental organizations will be able to quickly communicate with locals, and most importantly, people will be able to communicate back and forth across borders for both business and personal purposes.

As a result, Kiswahili speakers in East Africa and around the globe now have access to a wider range of information and culture, and can interact with speakers of 50 languages throughout the world.