Google Translate is Google’s free online service that instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages in more than 100 languages, including English.
Google Translate is the world’s most famous free machine translation tool. This was made possible thanks to Google’s huge array of data and statistical methods.
How Google Translate works
Whether it’s for a language assignment at school or for ordering food during a tourist trip abroad, you’ve probably heard and used Google Translate at least once before.
Although it is notorious for not being the highest quality translation tool in the game, it has become a popular source of translations on the internet over the years. There is no denying that it will come in handy from time to time.
A saviour for some and a constant joke for others, have you ever wondered how Google Translate actually works?
Google Translate
Google Translate is a free tool developed by Google that allows you to translate sentences, documents, and even websites from one language to another in a matter of seconds. Google Translate offers translations into 109 languages as of April 2021 and translates a total of more than 100 billion words daily.
Contrary to popular belief, Google Translate does not actually provide direct translations from one language to another.
It usually translates the source text into English and then into the target language. Given that the largest number of documents are available in English online, this definitely makes the whole process easier.
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How does it work?
First, you need to select a language pair, copy and paste or write your source, and the translation will instantly appear in another field.
It sounds pretty simple. Despite the fact that this looks like a simple process, there is a complex machine learning network behind it.
Follow us as we explain how to do it!
Google Translate works based on a complex machine learning system called “neural network learning.” Simply put, it is a complex learning system that allows the machine to compare countless texts from different sources simultaneously, and this ensures that the whole context is taken into account and not translated in isolation.
When translating, Google Translate usually works with an intermediate language– most likely English.
For instance, you want to translate a document from French to Arabic. Google Translate compares translations from French to English with translations from Arabic to English and determines the relationships between them for your translation from French to Arabic.
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Because Google Translate does this a couple of million times a day, it better recognizes different patterns between different language pairs. It becomes more accurate in its translations every day.
For a novice in the translation industry, Google Translate seemed to represent a big leap in translation quality when it was first introduced. However, there are Google Translate Alternatives that millions of people prefer.
Google Translate Alternatives
Here are the top 5 free Google Translate alternatives you can use to instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages.
- Microsoft Translator (Bing Translator)
Microsoft Translator, now Bing Translator as an alternative to Google Translator
Microsoft Translator offers both business and personal versions, an intelligent translation application available for Windows, iOS, and Android. It helps you translate images, screenshots, texts, and voice translations into more than 60 languages.
For your information, all this can also be downloaded for offline use.
Users can enter the text they want to translate, say it out loud, or take a picture containing the text. Microsoft Translator offers integration with other Microsoft applications, such as MS Office and Skype. It is also available as a smartwatch app.
To make the most of the features of Microsoft Translator, you can save and pin the latest search results to use them later. Microsoft Translator works on platforms including iOS, Windows, and Android.
Cost: Free of charge – $ 15
- SonicoMobile’s iTranslate
SonicoMobile’s iTranslate app will help you translate text, websites, or search words with meanings and even verb conjugations in more than 100 languages.
SonicoMobile’s iTranslate app is designed for all types of systems, such as Windows, iOS, Mac, Google Play, and Kindle Fire. It supports gesture-based controls and can translate Chinese characters into readable words for a more straightforward translation.
This is a simple software, and it can translate anything just by typing text or voice speech.
Cost: Free of charge
- Babylon Translator
The Babylon Translator is considered to be one of the leading translation and dictionary programs in the world. It contains a set of 1700 glossaries and dictionaries in several languages.
This translator works in the game with more than 19 years of experience and provides accurate results in a thesaurus or dictionaries.
Unlike any other translation software, Babylon translates office documents without losing their original format.
You don’t need to go through the process of copying and pasting text, opening new screens, or exiting applications. Babylon allows you to translate everything in one click.
Babylon Translator supports the translation of an unlimited number of terms in more than 77 languages, including English and Dutch.
Babylon Translator works on Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS.
Cost: Free of charge
- Yandex Translate
Yandex Translate is similar to Google Translate; Yandex Translate is considered to be one of the best and most accurate translation sites in Russia.
Yandex Translate also has the same characteristics and functions as other translators. Translation of words or sentences from one language to another.
The appearance of the Yandex translation also looks simple with shades of yellow. You can access Yandex Translate in two ways: the website translate.yandex.com and an application that can be downloaded through the Play Store or the App Store.
I use Yandex Translate a lot.
Yandex Translate works on Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS
Cost: Free of charge
- Linguee Translator
Linguee is a web service launched in 2009 that helps you translate individual words or sentences instead of paragraphs and supports more than 25 dialects.
Like any other language translator, you can also use it offline during periods of poor Internet connection.
Linguee shows you a variety of bilingual pairs of sentences that are used in online publications. This way, you can really know how a single word or expression can be used in different contexts.
This software is used in large European law firms because of its basic functionality in Spanish, French, German, and Dutch. Linguee Translator works on Windows, iOS, and Android.
Cost: Free of charge
Conclusion
Today, Google translation is still the best choice for many Internet users worldwide as a translation tool, both as a website or as a mobile application.
However, it is a fact that Google Translate is not the only translation tool. In addition to Google Translate, the five (5) alternative translation apps and sites mentioned above can be your alternative for Google translate.
But Google Translate is also always trying to update features to improve the quality of its service.
I hope the Google Translate Alternatives in this post will help make your translation task a hassle-free task.
Thanks!
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Rindx Team
Owolabi Meshach
