Microsoft wants to crowd-source its product translations

Overcoming language barriers is a tedious but essential part of being an international company, this is something that Microsoft, with its vast array of products, knows all too well. That’s why the company is working on a program that could take a significant chunk of the pain away from translating its services by crowd-sourcing the translations through volunteers from across the globe. 

Microsoft is looking for your help to help translate its innumerable learning and promotional material to new languages. The company distributes an enormous number of materials, both video and written, to its partners around the globe. Some of these are educational, some of them are promotional and some are simply end-products, destined to be used by thousands. As such, the company employs a plethora of translating options such as machine learning, professional translators and volunteers. It’s the last where you, and Microsoft’s new website, come in. Launched yesterday, the company’s new Engagement Portal, is a place where volunteers can sign-up and participate in the translation process. Microsoft will issue “projects”, such as articles, websites or video subtitles, and users can then translate them. They’ll also be responsible for comparing their version to the machine translation, as well as for editing other people’s work.