United States Peace Corps volunteers together with Zambian software developers have developed a mobile application that is planned to translate English words and phrases into any of the seven major languages spoken in Zambia.

The app titled "Bantu Babel" is available for Android-compatible devices in the Google Play store, the Peace Corps have said.

The Peace Corps said the app has two parts: a dictionary for translating individual words and a survival phrase book that contains helpful terms for accommodation, shopping, food and emergencies, among other things.

Tony Tseng, a third year volunteer, said the app, which can be used as a training tool for government and aid workers or as a supplement to formal language training runs offline therefore eliminating the need for an internet connection.

"Peace Corps has a phenomenal language-training programme, and to be able to share it is both exciting and inspiring, and to be able to realise a solution in collaboration with host-country nationals truly embodies the spirit of Peace Corps," Tseng said.

Three Peace Corps volunteers are said to have worked with developers from BongoHive, a Lusaka-based technology and innovation hub, to develop the app.

BongoHive provides a place for Zambia’s local tech community to meet, swap experiences, and attend training, networking and hackathon events.

"It is my belief that Zambia, like many other developing countries, is in a great position to leapfrog over traditional technology infrastructures. Almost all Zambians own a cellphone, and the market for mobile applications is growing,” Tseng said.

He added, “To be able to utilise the mobile phones already in use is a new approach to development that has proven to be successful in other countries across Africa."

The framework for the programme was developed during a two-day "hackathon" in December 2012 in the capital Lusaka, as part of the Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) global hackathon, which included participants in 32 cities and 16 countries.

RHoK's mission is to create a self-sustaining global community of innovators building practical open technology for a better world and to ensure that their work creates impact in society.