Gmail users can now automatically translate their messages into 41 languages, Google announced Tuesday.

If a message is sent in a different language then the new feature will show a link at the top of the message that asks you if you want to translate it to the language you have set your Gmail account to. You can also set it up to do the translation to any language of your choice.

The company aims to simplify communications among people who speak different languages by letting them compose messages in their native tongue.

Google admitted that its machine translation technology is not perfect and said that even if mistakes come out in the translated text, the recipient still be able to get the point of the message.

Individual Gmail users and those in the Apps Standard Edition can turn on this feature by going to the settings menu and clicking on the Labs tab, which is where Google places early release, experimental features that the company warns may change, break or disappear at any time.

Google Software