A new beta test of a document translation service called Google Translation Center is being launched this week. Users will be able to upload a document and request translations into over 40 languages. They can choose between professional or volunteer translators. If the translator accepts, a user will receive the translated document back once it is ready, at a price agreed independently of Google.


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To attract translators, Google is running the following appeal: "Passionate about bringing content into your language? Browse through Google Translation Center to find open translation requests into your language. Accept translation requests and use Google translation tools to provide quick, high-quality translations."

Seems that, even in The Cloud, humans still have a place.

Reacting to the news of the new service, Brian McConnell, founder of Der Mundo - a multilingual blogging service and translation community that combines human and machine translation - said: :If Google releases an API for the translation management system, it could establish a de facto standard for integrated machine translation and translation memory, creating a language platform around which projects like Der Mundo can build specialized applications and collect more training data."

"On the other hand," McConnell continues, "GTC could be bad news for translation service bureaus — especially those that use proprietary translation management systems as a way to hold customers and translators hostage. Most translation bureaus aren’t really technology companies and aren’t very competent at building quality software. Google Translation Center fills a void in the translation tools market that was created when the few independent companies, such as Trados, were acquired."