Twitter has made translations of tweets available for awhile. But this has always been a manual process, requiring a click or tap. Now, it looks like the social media platform is currently testing automatic translations.
That being said, this test is currently only being conducted among a few users in Brazil. But with the test ongoing there, all tweets in any other language are being translated automatically to Portuguese. If it works the same way as the manual method, then you’ll be able to see which service was used for the translation, and from which language.
Precisando de legenda? Tá tudo resolvido!
A partir de hoje, estamos testando a tradução automática para Tweets em outros idiomas que aparecem na sua página inicial.
O teste é apenas no Brasil e vale para um grupo limitado de pessoas no iOS e Android. pic.twitter.com/e70SSbhXKc
— Brasil (@XBR) August 10, 2020
Having translations is almost always a good thing, especially if you’re only fluent in one. But more often than not, even the best translators don’t provide accurate translations. This can cause nuance to be lost, especially if you’re already fluent in multiple languages.
That being said, Twitter has not said when it will be expanding its test to outside of Brazil. It could potentially be a very long time before other markets get automatic translations. Which isn’t too big of a deal, since the manual translation option is still conveniently accessible.
