( CNN ) -- One of the Internet 's great promises is that it 's the ultimate democratizer . It 's open to everyone and allows all people to communicate . Facebook and Google have added new translation tools , but they take different approaches . But , so far , there have been several hitches in that plan . Not everyone has access to a computer and a broadband connection . Some governments still censor the Internet . And of course , we do n't all speak the same language . For the World Wide Web to be truly global , should n't Chinese speakers be able to chat online with people who only speak Spanish ? And why should an English speaker be barred from reading blogs written in Malagasy or Zulu ? Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. are two Web companies trying particularly hard to make this happen , and they 've released a number of updates to their translation services in recent weeks . The two online giants are going about the process in different ways . Facebook aims to translate the Web using an army of volunteers and some hired professional translators . Meanwhile , Google plans to let computers do most of the work . Which method will ultimately prevail remains to be seen . But for now , here 's a look at the latest language features from both companies , and some background on how their translation services work . ( Feel free to add your own Internet translation tips -- and fun translation bloopers -- in the comments section at the bottom of the story ) : . Facebook 's human translation . Many tech bloggers think Facebook 's method of human translation seems promising . After all , the American-born social networking site introduced non-English languages for the first time only in January 2008 . Now about 70 percent of Facebook 's 300 million users are outside of the United States . How it works : Real people are at the heart of Facebook translation plan . They suggest translated phrases and vote on translations that others have submitted . These crowd-sourced edits -- which work kind of like Wikipedia -- make Facebook 's translation service smarter over time . Go to Facebook 's translation page to check it out or to participate . Size : More than 65 languages function on Facebook now , according to Facebook 's statistics . At least another 30 languages are in the works , meaning Facebook needs help working out the kinks on those languages before they 're put to use . What 's new ? Facebook announced in a blog post on September 30 that the social network has made its crowd-sourced translation technology available to other sites on the Web . The update allows sites to install a translation gadget on their sites through Facebook Connect , a service that lets Facebook users sign in on other Web pages . Facebook also added some new languages , including Latin and `` Pirate , '' which translates the Facebooky word `` share '' as `` blabber t'yer mates ! '' Pros and cons : People are good at knowing idioms and slang , so Facebook tends to get these right , but there are limited numbers of multi-lingual volunteers who want to spend time helping Facebook translate things . Also , Facebook 's site is available in many languages , but its human translators do n't touch wall posts , photo comments and other user-submitted items , which is a big con if you want to have friends who do n't share a common language with you . People who use Facebook Connect to translate their sites can choose which text they want users to help translate , according to Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich . Craig Ulliott , founder of whereivebeen.com , said he 's excited about Facebook 's translation application , but it would be too much to ask his site 's users to translate user-submitted material . Google 's 'mechanical ' translation . Google uses mathematical equations to try to translate the Web 's content . This fits in line with the company 's mission , which is to organize the world 's information and make it useful and accessible to all . How it works : Google 's computers learn how to be translators by examining text that 's already on the Web , and from professional Web translations posted online , said Franz Och , a principal scientist at Google . The more text is out there , the more Google learns and the better its translations become . The search-engine company currently translates documents , search results and full Web pages . Size : Google claims to be the largest free language translation service online . It covers 51 languages and more than 2,500 language pairs . The site 's interface has been translated , with the help of Google users , into 130 languages . What 's new ? : Google recently created a widget that any Web developer can put on his or her page to offer up Google translations . So , say you 're a blogger who writes about music . You might get some Brazilian readers if you offered up a button to translate your site into Portuguese . Google also recently unveiled a translation service for Google Docs , which lets anyone upload a document to the Web and have it translated into a number of languages for free . And there 's a new Firefox add-on from Google to help people translate the Web more quickly . Och said real-time translation of Internet chats is on the horizon , as are more languages and increased quality as Google 's computers get smarter . Pros and cons : Google 's computerized approach means it can translate tons of content -- and fast . But computers are n't quite up to speed with ever-evolving modern speech , so reports of translation errors are fairly common . On the plus side , the service has been vastly improved in the last five years , Och said . Also , Google lets people spot translation errors , suggest new wordings and translate its interface into languages Google 's computers do n't speak just yet .
Facebook and Google are finding new ways to translate the Web . Facebook favors human translation ; Google leans on its computers . Google claims to be the largest translation service online , with 51 languages . Facebook announces a new service to let Internet users help translate sites .