Yoruba is a language spoken in West Africa, mainly in the southwestern region of Nigeria. It is the native language of the ethnic Yoruba people. As of the time of writing this, the Yoruba language has 44.5 million native and 2 million second-language speakers. This article highlights the 5 best online tools to translate English to Yoruba.
What is the Yoruba language?
Yoruba is the official mode of communication for the Yoruba people, and it is one of the most spoken languages in Nigeria.
According to 2021 statistics, the Yoruba language has 44.5 million native and 2 million second-language speakers. This brings the figure close to 47 million.
Which countries speak the Yoruba language?
First of all, note that the native and major speakers of the Yoruba language are the Yoruba people. They’re mostly found in the southwestern region of Nigeria and some parts of Benin and Togo.
Yoruba is spoken as a pluricentric language in small migrated communities in Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.
TLDR: Here are the major countries that speak the Yoruba language:
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Sierra Leone
- The Gambia
- Nigeria
- Benin
5 Best online tools to translate English to Yoruba (and Yoruba to English)
Here to the best tools to translate Yoruba:
1. Google Translate
If you’re using an Android device, you can download and install the Google Translate app from the Google Play Store. If you’re using an iOS device, you can download and install Google Translate on the Apple App Store.
You can also use Google Translate on the web. Being among the best language translators on the internet, Google Translate recognizes and can translate into more than 109 languages. This includes English and the Yoruba language.
Google Translate works on both mobile and desktop devices. It can immediately convert words, documents, and even large web pages from English to Yoruba and vice versa.
Powered by Google, this English to Yoruba translator is the best you can find out there. It has quite a lot of features, even more than most search engine translators.
Handwritten translation
This feature is useful if your keyboard does not have the letters or symbols that you want to translate. It can translate the transcribed letters/symbols drawn on the phone screen without the assistance of a keyboard.
If you’re using a laptop with a touch screen, you can also use hand gestures to draw the Yoruba words/symbols on your screen and they will be translated.
Mobile application translation
Google Translate works with any other app on the mobile. It has a feature known as Tap to Convert. This feature allows for easy translation inside any app without exiting or changing it.
Website Translation
Google Translate can translate a whole webpage from English to Yoruba and vice-versa. All you need to do is download the browser extension from the Chrome web store.
Paper Translation
It converts the document submitted in English To Yoruba and vice-versa. It supports many document formats, including doc, Docx, Xls, xlsx, odf, pdf, ppt, pptx, ps, RTF and txt.
Speech Translation
Google Translate can also convert spoken English language into Yoruba if your device has a microphone. It is also helpful with hard enunciation.
Photo Translation
This feature will allow Google Translate to recognize and convert the text in a photo and translate it into the Yoruba language.
Offline translation
Whenever you download the Google Translate app and you’re launching for the first time, you will be prompted to download and install the language data.
There’s an option that allows you to tick mark the translate offline box. This feature will allow you to download the Yoruba and English languages onto your device.
That way, you can translate sentences and numerous paragraphs from English to Yoruba and vice versa, without an internet connection.
2. Microsoft Translator
If you’re using an Android device, you can download and install Microsoft Translator from the Google Play Store. If you’re using an iOS device, you can also download and install Microsoft Translator from the Apple App Store.
Microsoft Translator is a free, personal translation app for more than 70 languages. You can also use it to translate text, voice, conversations, camera photos, and screenshots from English to the Yoruba language, and vice versa.
Microsoft Translator has some pretty cool features, including but not limited to:
- Camera translation to translate text within photos and screenshots
- Voice translation to translate speech, and a split-screen mode for two participants having a bilingual conversation
- Searching alternate translations and meanings of a word to find the best translation to express yourself
- Download Yoruba and English language for offline and use without an internet connection
- Hear your translated phrase out loud to help you learn how to say the translation
- Using it with other apps. Translate text in other apps through context menu translation
- Pin and save your most frequent translations for later
3. English to Yoruba translation apps
Many mobile and desktop applications support translation from English to the Yoruba language and vice versa. You can find such apps on:
4. English to Yoruba translation websites
Many websites support translation from English to Yoruba without much stress. Most of them don’t even require you to create an account on their platform, as you can paste and convert your text quickly.
Here are some of them.
- Google Translate
- Microsoft Translator
- Gtranslate.io (Suitable for WordPress website translation)
- Translate.com
- Lingvanex
- Mate
- Online Translation Pro
- IM Translator
- Stars 21 Translator
- Translate King
5. Online human translators (on freelancing platforms)
While online translation tools are easy to use, they’re all products of Artificial Intelligence. They’re machines after all, and they’re still learning. This means they can never be 100% accurate.
If you’re translating from English to Yoruba for professional or business reasons, and you don’t mind spending a small amount of money, you will be better off hiring a real human to do the work for you.
Fiverr, Upwork, and many other freelancing and micro-tasking platforms have freelancers that offer language translations as a service. Some of them specialize in translating English to the Yoruba language and vice versa.
Most (if not all) of these freelancers are native speakers of the Yoruba language and are also fluent in the English language. You can hire on these platforms for as low as $5 per hour.
Note that your details won’t be made known to the freelancer performing the task for you unless you wish to.
Bonus: Dialects of the Yoruba language
The Yoruba language has many dialects peculiar to each town. The most common ones include Ekiti, Ife, Ijebu, Oworo, Ijesha, Akoko, Ikale, Okun, Oyo, Egba, Awori, Igbomina, Owo, Idanre, Egbado, Ilaje, Ketu, Ikale, Mokole, Ondo, Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun.
