It is obvious that if a site can't interact with non-English speakers, then there are no chances for going international. However, if it is done with professional translators, then it can be pretty time-consuming and expensive.

Keeping the above two points in mind, Facebook introduced an application in January 2008 that allows users to translate the Facebook Web site themselves. The application was highly liked by the users, as the site translated into Spanish in just two weeks, after which it was translated in French in another 24 hours. Presently, Facebook is available in 65 languages, with all translations executed by members of the Facebook community, using the Translations application.

But as per the latest reports Facebook is now increasing some of those capabilities to the 15,000 sites that use Facebook Connect. The company launched Translations for Facebook Connect today at the Future of Web Apps conference in London.

Program manager Cat Lee, on the Facebook Developers blog, explained the usage of the application by citing an example. He said: "For example, with Translations for Facebook Connect, country tourist boards or travel sites that want to attract foreign visitors on holiday can use this framework to translate their sites and automatically present the content to users in their native language after they log in with Facebook Connect."

He added: "We believe services like this can serve as building blocks for a Web driven by people, where you can connect with anyone or anything you care about, anywhere you choose and now in many different languages."