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Twanslate does on the fly tweet translation

Tired of finding non-English tweets in your Twitter stream? You can always unfollow these people. Or you can download this simple Firefox extension, which translates them in a snap.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Josh Lowensohn
Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET

If you're the type of crazy that follows just about anyone on Twitter, your stream is likely filled with all manner of languages. A very easy solution is to unfollow these folks. But in the spirit of making things work, you can also just download new Firefox extension Twanslate.

Just like the translate functionality in Brizzly, and this translation Greasemonkey script, Twanslate adds a simple button underneath any tweet that's in another language. You then click it anytime you want to convert it into English. The option to do this sits right below Twitter's star-shaped favorite button and works in your Twitter stream as well as an individual user's profile page.

The two places where the translate option cannot be found are in Twitter's search result pages, as well as on individual tweets. This can be a bit of a downer, but is an easy fix if you're willing to click through to a user's profile.

The technology behind it is Google's translate service, which means you'll get a mix of very good, and sometimes comical, results. In any case, it's a nice site-specific add-on that you won't see or be bothered by until you need it.