Once upon a time speech-to-text programs were rudimentary and could rarely pump out a fully correct sentence. The same could be said of online language translators. We were warned not to use them in high school because their too literal translations of sentences yielded gibberish or poorly metered baby talk in the goal language. It was also cheating, but that’s neither here nor there.

However, these programs have come a long way, and while not perfect, they’ve left their predecessors in the dust. Google may be onto a plan that could break down speech barriers as we know them with their new eBook feature. This feature allows for instant translation of any body of text selected. Translation is, no doubt, not perfect, but much better than one would expect from a seemingly minor feature. The news comes with quite a bit of excitement because automatic translation is an ever-evolving technology. It would be no surprise if a few years down the line Google sported a near perfect translator, which could be applied beyond literature—socially.

The new tool options also come with an auto-definition option so that users don’t have to waste time searching for a troublesome word anywhere else. They don’t even have to turn from the page they’re reading. It also comes with a search function that allows portions of text to be searched for within the eBook or across the web. This is a real convenience for students searching for particular chapters or study topics or English students who need to find instances of particular phrases or text. The web reader also makes it possible for books to be read without downloading them.

To see more on Google’s new eBook tools, see their official blog.