Google has updated it’s super useful Google Transliteration tool, which improves upon the already popular tool.  If you’ve never heard about the Google Transliteration tool, it is one of the many interesting tools found in Google Labs.  Google says it’s Transliteration tool allows users to type phonetically in many different languages, using your english keyboard.

So to be clear this is not a straight up language translation service.  If you’re looking for language translation, I recommend using www.freetranslation.com.  I use this service when ever I need to convert an article from english to spanish for example.  With Google Transliteration, you can currently type phonetically in 17 different languages using your english keyboard.   This includes Greek, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Serbian, Tamil, and Punjabi.

As you will see in the image below, you just type in english and every time you hit space or enter the words are automatically translated phonetically to the language you have chosen!  Pretty cool.  Have a look at this transliteration to Hindi:

As Google states, it can be cumbersome for people to type in their native language with the standard roman english keyboard, making a normally basic typing task a nightmare in many parts of the world.  For example english keyboards are the standard in India, yet many people there want to type in Hindi.  Google Transliteration makes this task super easy!

So next time you need to write a document in Hindi, Greek, or Russian, be sure to give translation a try with Google Transliteration!