Admirers laud Google’s move to add Konkani to its translate section

Mangaluru: Speakers of Konkani, and admirers of the language, are chuffed with the addition of the language to Google’s translate section. Konkani is predominantly spoken along the Western Coast of the country, while in Karnataka, it is spoken by people across Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. One also finds Konkani speakers in pockets across Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Hassan, while Bengaluru also boasts a fair size of Konkani-speaking population.
In addition to Konkani speakers in India, a large number of people currently residing abroad continue to maintain their ties with the language of their ancestors. “Adding Konkani to the translation section is a good move by Google, which had added Kannada to the section long ago. The move will ensure the language gets more visibility across the world, and help those interested to learn the language. But we must work to improve the accuracy of the translation,” said Henry Mendonca, popularly known as HM Pernal.
Lauding Google’s move, chairman of Manipal Global Education, TV Mohandas Pai said, “The language is spoken by more than two-and-a-half million people across the world, and is one of the languages included in the eighth schedule of the Constitution. All Konkani speakers and admirers of the language are happy about this,” Pai said. The development will help the growth of Konkani, says Nandagopal Shenoy, president of World Konkani Centre, Mangaluru.
“It will help many people to learn Konkani and also to those Konkani speakers, who are spread across the globe and have forgotten their mother tongue. The development will have a positive impact in many ways.”