Google keeps on introducing new features in its apps. These features are not are not only exciting but also very useful. Earlier this week, Google Docs has introduced two new functions to Google spreadsheets to add translation and language detection capabilities.

Have a look at the following two functions

GoogleTranslate("Hola, ¿cómo estás?","es","en") gives "Hi, how are you"
DetectLanguage("Hola, ¿cómo estás?") gives "es"



Lets look at what the above two functions mean. First function GoogleTranslate("Hola, ¿cómo estás?","es","en") translates the text from one language to another. Lets break down this function; the first field is the text that you want to translate, in this case its "Hola, ¿cómo estás?". The second field is the two letter language code, "es" is the language code for Spanish. Third field is naturally the language code of the language in which you want you text to be translated, "en" is the code for Engilsh. So, at the end "Hola, ¿cómo estás?", which is in Spanish is translated into English, and the translation is "Hi, how are you?" If the last field is left empty, the text will be translated into the language of the spreadsheet.

The second function DetectLanguage("Hola, ¿cómo estás?") outputs the two letter language code of the text.



These functions are exciting and very useful if you want to translate; For example, comments on your blog or website etc.

If you hover over a cell with translated text, the original text is displayed.




So, use these features for your benefit and enjoy!