Despite proliferating global connectivity, most people the world over still cannot communicate in any language besides their own. Until now, that is. With recent developments of instantaneous translation technology, the language barrier may be falling. A new Google app allows someone to speak on a phone to a listener “hearing” in her own language, as does a new version of Skype, the Internet-based video calling service. Similar advances have been made for text. A recently designed phone camera, for example, can scan print and display it in a different language. Such developments, by facilitating communication and cooperation, bode well for an increasingly informed, engaged global citizenry.