{"slug": "exploring-the-world-s-languages-with-language-explorer", "title": "Exploring the world's languages with Language Explorer", "summary": "Google DeepMind and Google Research launched Language Explorer, an interactive web platform that visualizes data across thousands of languages, built on Google's open-source LinguaMeta dataset as part of its 1,000 Languages Initiative. The tool is featured as an interactive installation in the Museum of Communication Berlin's new exhibition \"Real Talk! Language. Power. World.\", which runs through February 2028 and also appears at the Museum of Communication Frankfurt. Google says its language work now covers nearly 250 languages in Translate with around a trillion words translated monthly, and 900+ language varieties in Gboard, supported by grassroots data efforts Project Vaani in India and Project Waxal in Africa.", "body_md": "November 9, 2026\n\nDaan van Esch, Senior Technical Program Manager, Google DeepMind and Uche Okonkwo, Senior Program Manager, Google Research\n\nLanguage Explorer, featured in an exhibition at the Museum of Communication in Berlin, Germany, lets you explore the world's linguistic diversity online through visualizations and data.\n\nOur world has a fascinating wealth of languages, and for over two decades, Google [has been building language technologies](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/ai/ai-for-every-language) that cover as many languages as possible. In 2006, we started a small experiment with Google Translate, supporting just [two languages](https://research.google/blog/statistical-machine-translation-live/) (English and Arabic) at the time. Fast forward to today: nearly 250 languages are supported, with around [a trillion words translated every month](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/translate/fun-facts-google-translate-20-years/). Our commitment to linguistic diversity runs across products, all in service of our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Building products that reflect the world's linguistic diversity takes far more than software engineering; it requires close collaboration with the communities we aim to serve, building in a way that's deeply aligned and respectful of local communities, heritage, history, values and context. This is why we've been working on grassroots initiatives like [Project Vaani](https://sites.research.google/languages/#india) in India and [Project Waxal](https://research.google/blog/waxal-a-large-scale-open-resource-for-african-language-speech-technology/) in Africa, partnering with local organizations to collect thousands of hours of open speech data across underserved languages.\n\nBut gathering this data is only one part of the journey. Preserving language vitality requires working closely with native speakers, academic institutions, and cultural organizations. Partnerships, such as our coalition with the [Gates Foundation](https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/progress/ai-for-good/language-commitment), ensure that modern digital tools reflect the nuances and authentic voices of their communities. Expanding language coverage responsibly also requires deeply understanding linguistic diversity on a global scale. This approach enables products like [Gboard](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin), our Android keyboard, to support 900+ language varieties.\n\nTo better appreciate the breadth and complexity of this speech diversity, we've been working on a tool to help visualize the world's linguistic diversity, inspired by earlier visualization initiatives like [Google Earth](https://earth.google.com/static/multi-threaded/versions/20261015_1200_RC02/index.html?#data=MkEKPwo9CiExZWkzcmQwd0lBbmx2d1h1WlFOVHZ6OWZJNERBWjJpZncSFgoUMDcxMzE0NTg1RDJCOUNFNUVCNTIgAUICCABKCAiG2aCQBhAB). The [Language Explorer](https://sites.research.google/languages/language-explorer) is an interactive web platform designed to let researchers, educators, and language enthusiasts discover and visualize linguistic diversity around the world. Developed as part of our [1,000 Languages Initiative](https://sites.research.google/languages/), the Language Explorer brings together data across thousands of languages, building on our [open-source LinguaMeta dataset](https://github.com/google-research/url-nlp/tree/main/linguameta).\n\nThis week marks the opening of a new major exhibition at the Museum of Communication Berlin, [*Real Talk! Language. Power. World.*](https://www.mfk-berlin.de/exhibition-real-talk/) (*Real Talk! Sprache. Macht. Welt.*) featuring the Language Explorer as an interactive installation. The exhibition explores how language shapes identity, society, and technology across a multi-year run in Berlin (through February 2028) and at the [Museum of Communication Frankfurt](https://www.mfk-frankfurt.de/english/) (through September 2029). The Language Explorer installation reflects our broader work to build AI and language technologies that serve everyone, regardless of what language they speak, read, or [sign](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/devices/pixel/american-sign-language-sign-to-text-pixel-11/).\n\nIf you can't make it to the exhibition in person, you can explore the museum's themes via an [online companion](https://www.digitales-museum-fuer-kommunikation.de/expotizer-real-talk/) starting November 6th, or dive directly into the world's rich linguistic diversity online with the [Language Explorer](https://sites.research.google/languages/language-explorer).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-the-world-s-languages-with-language-explorer", "canonical_source": "https://research.google/blog/exploring-the-worlds-languages-with-language-explorer/", "published_at": "2026-11-09 20:29:39+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-11-09 20:52:30.391618+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["natural-language-processing", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Google DeepMind", "Google Research", "Language Explorer", "LinguaMeta", "1,000 Languages Initiative", "Museum of Communication Berlin", "Project Vaani", "Project Waxal"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-the-world-s-languages-with-language-explorer", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-the-world-s-languages-with-language-explorer.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-the-world-s-languages-with-language-explorer.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-the-world-s-languages-with-language-explorer.jsonld"}}