For those of us whose language schooling extended no further than a couple of Je m’appelles under the supervision of a terrified 22-year-old supply teacher, Skype can often be a frustrating missed opportunity. All those millions of Skypers, chatting in languages rich, strange and no more familiar to me than Klingon. Good old British edukashun.

So I was intrigued to read on the Skype forum about the catchily-named Universal Language Real-Time Message Translator, known fondly to its creator as “ULRTMT”. Good job he didn’t go for some obscure, geeky name like Skype Translator, isn’t it?

This simple web-based tool translates Skype instant messages in real time, as you might have guessed from the name. Given the vast melting pot of lingo being Skyped across the globe as we speak, this could be the most useful invention since, say, voice-over IP.

The ULRTMT is the work of US-based Skyper extraordinaire ZOverLord, who’s been hosting a companion how-to thread on the forum. When the thread began a couple of months ago, the ULRTMT (pronounced “ullertumpt”, perhaps?) could only translate your messaging history. Now it’s tackling real-time chat, even allowing several Skypers all using different languages to take part in one conversation.

It’s very simple to use. Make sure Skype is running on your computer, go to the ULRTMT web page, and type a message in the left-hand Send window. Then select the language to translate it to, and your recipient will instantly receive the message in their language. Several languages are supported, including the usual European suspects plus Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Korean.

ZOverlord is quick to point out that this, like any other web-based translation tool, is “far from perfect”. You can generate some hilarious results using Babelfish, for example. Type in a simple phrase and, before you can ask “Do you have a lessance for your minkey?”, you’re off on a trail of linguistic Chinese whispers.

Unintentional comedy aside, ZOverLord looks like he’s onto a winner.