Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today took to microblogging to thank Google for including Khasi in their list of supported languages.
Sangma hailed this recognition as a significant milestone that will empower locals and facilitate easier learning of the indigenous language from Meghalaya.
In his post on X, Sangma highlighted the importance of preserving and promoting regional languages, urging Google to extend support to include other languages like Garo as well.
“Thank @Google for recognising Khasi in their list of supported languages! This milestone will not only empower locals but also make it easier for anyone interested in learning our language from Meghalaya. We urge them to include other regional languages like Garo also,” Sangma posted on the microblogging site.
It may be noted that the Khasi language is among the 110 new languages of the world that have been added to Google Translate.
According to Google, this update will help improve communication for more than 614 million people, which is about 8 per cent of the world’s population.
Google also mentioned that some of the new languages are major world languages spoken by over 100 million people, while others are used by small indigenous communities.
Adding the Khasi language to Google Translate will make communication easier and would greatly help both national and international tourists visiting Meghalaya.
Despite English being widely spoken in Meghalaya, Google Translate’s addition of Khasi language will facilitate better communication and enhance the tourism experience, potentially boosting the local economy in Meghalaya.
This update marks Google Translate’s largest expansion to date, following the 2022 addition of 24 languages using Zero-Shot Machine Translation and the launch of the 1000 Languages Initiative.
