Twitter users have been discussing the Winter Olympics in many different languages over the past week. Now there's an account that will let you tweet in 75 of them for free.
One Hour Translation, a professional translation company with headquarters in Israel, is offering its services for free to Twitter users during the games in Sochi.
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Users need only tweet at One Hour Translation's handle (@OHT) including an unfamiliar phrase and the language they want it translated into. They will receive a translated response "within moments," according to a company press release. (Users need not be in Sochi for the service to work.)
The service is scheduled to start during the U.S. airing of the opening ceremony Friday night. Mashable sent this vital tweet requesting One Hour Translation's services earlier in the day; here's what we got back.
где я могу купить пиво --> please translate into English? @OHT— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) February 7, 2014
@scottbudman looks like you beat us to it. @KurtWagner8 we start Friday evening. “Where can I buy beer.”— OneHourTranslation (@OHT) February 7, 2014
One Hour Translation has received investor attention in Israel, one of the world's up-and-coming tech hubs. The company raised a $10 million funding round in January, and uses a network of more than 15,000 certified translators (though few are full time employees).