Japanese is one of the hardest languages for Westerners to learn. Many claim that it is one of the hardest languages to learn period, and true to the word, even Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google has not been able to crack it.  However, the tech giant has seen some progress in cracking the tough language. It has made Japanese one of the languages that can be used in Word Lens.

The feature, which will be available in the Google Translate app will allow people to interact with an instant translator from their phones. It is particularly useful for travelers hence it will come in handy for the 20 million tourists who visit Japan annually. Apparently, it will not ask for Internet or data connectivity.

On its blog post, Google wrote, “With Word Lens now available in Japanese, you’ll never have to worry about taking a wrong turn on a busy Shibuya street or ordering something you wouldn’t normally eat.”

The Word Lens allows instant translation via the camera

All translations are performed on the mobile device and through the camera, which is able to recognize text overlaid in its live view say by another selected by the user. Initially, the app was only able to translate Japanese to English but on first taking a photograph and highlighting text areas that require translation. Thus this must be a significant milestone for Google, which is being fulfilled two years after the introduction of the feature.  Notably, within the two years, it has added no less than 27 languages including Lithuanian, Finnish, and Thai.

But the feature is meant for brief phrases and words

Word Lens, which was originally its own standalone app before being acquired by Google through its developer Quest Visual will not work well with long sentences or phrases. A long passage of text translation will not have accuracy. Hence the use of brief phrases and words is highly recommended.  It has so far been promoted in an ad for the iPhone 5.

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