The Skype Translator software, after getting a language update, now supports two new languages Italian and Mandarin. The software which automatically translates your voice calls initially supported only English and Spanish languages. The new language update also provides an improved volume control and allow users to mute the translations. Both the parties on call can now adjust the volume according to their own preferences.
Skype Translator
Talking about the Mandarin translation, Yasmin Khan from Microsoft says, “As you can imagine, Mandarin is a very challenging language to learn, even for Skype Translator. With approximately 10,000 characters and multiple tones, this is one of the most difficult languages for a native English speaker to master, along with Arabic, Japanese, and Korean.”
The first phase of the Skype Translator Preview program was launched back in December 2014 with two languages English and Spanish. As posted on the official Skype Blog, the research team and scientists at Microsoft China worked with their colleagues in the US to test Mandarin and build its recognition and translation models. The first demonstration of Mandarin speech translation system was revealed in 2012 and after a team work of years, the language is finally added in the translator software.
The real-time translator of Skype help user communicating without any language barriers. The team is still working on the software to improve the way it translated your calls. Skype also promises to add more languages in near future.
Here are some of the other key changes in this release:
- Text to speech translation
- Automatic volume control
- Mute option for translated voice.
While there is no official word about when the changes will start rolling out, you can still test it by joining the preview program.
