Introducing langwidget, a novel approach to an ancient dilemma: how to scale the tedious task of translation.

In the beginning

First, there was human translation: notoriously slow and expensive. the age of machine translation brought us translations as fast and efficient as they were wrong. More recently, the hybrid of machine-assisted human translation has helped bridge the gap between the two, but still suffers from the shortcomings of both. langwidget attempts to tackle the same problem, but from the opposite tack: through human-assisted machine translation. In other words, since no one ever learned how to drive well from the passenger’s seat, langwidget puts the system front-and-center with the following features:

1. A real language model

Most conventional translation software is built around the sentence, using fuzzy matching (a fancy term for guessing) for anything more atomic. This may work for highly repetitive documents, but what about the other 90% of what translators have to deal with? This is where langwidget shines. By parsing text into semantic structures down to the character level, langwidget gives translators more control over their work, trading broad fuzziness for targeted precision.

2. A focus on community

langwidget turns the current translation software paradigm on its head. Instead of giving users proprietary translation memories and then charging them enterprise-level fees to share them, langwidget keeps all translation memory public by default. This creates a network effect that benefits all translators, since the system gets smarter as the number of users grows, which (ahem) translates into faster turnaround and increased productivity.

3. No muss, no fuss

Say goodbye to the operating system incompatibilities, DRM cripple-ware, and expensive fixed costs that are commonplace in the translation software industry. Since langwidget lives in your web browser, there’s no complicated software to install, configure, or manage. And a “freemium” business model means that translators can enjoy basic functionality for free, forever, and pay only for premium functionality such as SSL and other privacy-related features.

Stay tuned for launch

langwidget is still in development, with a private beta launch scheduled soon. Until then, happy translating!

Jed Schmidt
Founder and freelance translator