Had enough of machine-based online translation services such as Babelfish or Google Translate?
Ackuna is a crowdsourced translation project, connecting individuals around the world with human translators who can give you just the right phrasing. The free-to-use site is a side project of Translation Services USA.
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"We're building a community of translators and people who need translations, where people can get together to break down the language barrier" Nick Smith, an Ackuna web producer, told Mashable.
"There will always be a place for professional translation services for big books and business communications, but this is more for causal translations and stuff that doesn't need to meet a deadline."
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Smith says Ackuna is perfect for someone who is traveling or preparing for a trip. There's a peer review process, to ensure that translation and grammar are correct. You can also vote on the accuracy of a translation and even earn badges for participation.
The site's still new, having been launched in late March. The project is the work of about five developers and graphic designers. So far, about 15 languages have been translated. Smith says there's potential to crowdsource translations for any number of languages.
"What we have over Google Translate is that it's a human doing the translation," Smith says. "Google Translate is a computer running an algorithm, which may or may not lead to natural language."
The search giant's translations branch, Google Translate, lures in 200 million users each month.
Would you try crowdsourcing translation projects rather than using Google Translate? Let us know in the comments.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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