For those who professionally translate from foreign languages, there is Abbyy Lingvo. Those who constantly encounter foreign language texts that need to be quickly processed and generally understood use Promt machine translation systems. And if you need to turn to a translator only from time to time to get an interpretation of an unfamiliar word in the text or to roughly understand what is being said on a Chinese website, then contextual translators are irreplaceable. These small programs are convenient because they are always at hand and are ready to provide translation upon request.
Contextual translators did not appear yesterday or the day before. But with the penetration of the Internet into the masses, they have completely changed. Previously, these were applications consisting of a software module and dictionaries. Some dictionaries were supplied with the program; additional ones often had to be downloaded separately. An overview of such applications - “Polyglot prompters or something about contextual translators" - can be found in the archive of our website for 2007. But if you try to follow the links provided in the article, you will see that almost all the programs over these five years have ceased to exist or have been abandoned.
When broadband Internet appeared in every home, it became much more convenient to use online translation services, and with them new contextual translators appeared. They no longer store dictionaries on your hard drive, and you don't need to download anything other than a software shell to run them. As soon as the user makes a request, the application searches for a translation on one of the popular web services and displays the result in its window. Of course, this approach requires a constant connection to the Internet, but who doesn’t have one now?
⇡ Client for Google Translate 6.0
- Developer: TranslateClient
- Operating system: Windows
- Distribution: free (paid version available)
- Russian interface: yes
For several years, this program has been for many the best solution for quickly translating words and texts. Instead of opening translate.google.com in your browser, you could use this extremely simple utility. It could be insert text for translation directly into its window or, alternatively, copy the characters and click on the Client for Google Translate icon in the tray. In the latter case, the translation was displayed in the cursor area, so there was no need to even switch between windows.
In mid-2011, Google changed the terms of provision of the API of its Google Translate service - developers who use the service engine in their products were asked to purchase a license costing $20 per million characters. After this innovation, the Microsoft Bing engine was added to the free version of the program, and translation using Google Translate began to be offered in the Pro version (along with the ability to connect dictionaries and some other functions). However, in November last year, this shop also closed. Changes to the Bing API policy provide for free use of the service only within 4 million characters per month. To expand the limit, you need to pay $10 per million characters.
From the moment the restriction was introduced by Microsoft, the development of the program slowed down. Client for Google Translate now only works during the first days of the month until users of the program reach the limit from Microsoft (a quota of 4 million characters is provided for everyone). After this, instead of translation, you can see the bleak message Microsoft Translator is over the quota. Try again later or switch to Google Translate. It’s clear that you can buy the Pro version, but compared to free alternative applications, the once very popular Client for Google Translate seems like a dead project.
⇡ QTranslate 4.1
- Developer: QuestSoft
- Operating system: Windows
- Distribution: free
- Russian interface: yes
It is completely unclear how the developers of QTranslate managed to do this, but this free program works with translation via Google, Bing, and several other popular services: Yandex, Promt, Babylon, SDL. If desired, any of the services and supported translation languages can be disabled.
The program's interface is minimalist, but at the same time it has everything you need for quick translation: neat tabs with service names are located at the bottom, there are two fields for text, as well as a panel using which you can select the direction of translation, quickly change languages, clear fields. Clicking on the headphones in the text input fields turns on the text.
In order to quickly translate a word or a couple of sentences, you don’t even have to be distracted by switching to the program window. Simply copy the text to your clipboard and a QTranslate icon will appear next to your cursor. Clicking on it will display a pop-up window with the completed translation. Despite its tiny size, it also contains several useful commands. So, with one click you can try to translate a fragment using any other supported translation system, replace the source text with the resulting translation, listen to how it should be pronounced, and copy it to the clipboard.
QTranslate can also be used to search for unfamiliar terms in dictionaries. If you select not a quick translation in the pop-up window, but open a dictionary window, you can find out what Wikipedia, Definr, ImTranslator, Google search and other services know about the searched word.
To access web resources, you can configure the use of a proxy server, as well as set a timeout time.
By the way, if a quick translation is not needed, the program icon can be easily disabled in the settings. Conversely, it is possible to quickly display the translation immediately when selecting text. In general, whatever you like. In addition, the program can display translation tools in the cursor area when you press predefined key combinations (default is Ctrl+Q). In the settings, exceptions are specified - applications in which QTranslate will not work. You can also enable translation of interface elements: just move the cursor to the desired inscription, press CTRL+Q - and the translation will appear in a pop-up window.
The program remembers the translation history and allows you to save it as an HTML file. In addition to the basic functions, QTranslate also offers a virtual keyboard with support for about thirty languages.
⇡ Dicter 3.32
- Developer: Dicter
- Operating system: Windows
- Distribution: free
- Russian interface: yes
Dicter is one of the simplest programs for translating texts. There are practically no settings in it; you can only change the hot keys for calling up the translator window, the font size and autorun settings with Windows. Contextual translation is performed using a keyboard shortcut (by default, pressing the left CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously), or you can select the text and click on the Dicter icon in the system tray. By default, the program window appears in a simplified mode, when only the translation is shown, it is possible to change its direction, listen to the finished text, edit it and copy it to the clipboard. If you switch to the extended window mode, a field with the original will also appear.
To receive a translation, Dicter uses the Google Translate service, but there are no restrictions on translation in the program. Perhaps developers cover their costs for purchasing the right to use the API due to the fact that the installer with default settings installs an advertising module for services from Yandex (be careful when installing and do not forget to uncheck all the boxes!).
⇡ Google Translate Desktop 2.1
- Developer: AthTek Software
- Operating system: Windows
- Distribution: free (ads included)
- Russian interface: no
As you can guess from the name, Google Translate Desktop also uses the Google Translate engine to work. The program is free, but supported by advertising - be prepared for the constant flickering of the flash banner at the top of the window. However, if Flash Player from Adobe is not yet installed on your system, instead of a banner you will see just an empty window. The program does not require installation and is ready to work immediately after running the ggtranslate.exe file.
Google Translate Desktop does not support translation using hotkeys, but it monitors the contents of the clipboard. That is, as soon as you press CTRL+C or copy text to the clipboard in another way, it immediately appears in the translator window.
The original language is detected automatically, but you can also hardcode it in the settings. The translation language is also specified in the settings, and here the program lacks flexibility. If, for example, the user wants to make a translation not in the usual direction (for example, Russian → English), but in the opposite direction (English → Russian), it will not be possible to receive it automatically, since the program will try to translate from English to English and will get stuck at this point. The button for quickly changing the direction of translation will not always help - if the source language is detected automatically, the button is inactive. You have to manually select a language from a long list.
The program window also has buttons for speaking text (translated only), copying results to the clipboard, and clearing the window of text. The results can be saved as a text file. It is also worth paying attention to the input line at the top of the page. By entering the site address here, you can quickly get a translation of the web page (it opens in the browser).
⇡ Lingoes 2.8.1
- Developer: Lingoes Project
- Operating system: Windows
- Distribution: free
- Russian interface: yes
It’s not easy to break through the advertising blocks on the Lingoes website, which instead of a translator slip installers of completely different programs. But when you do succeed, you will be rewarded. Lingoes is one of the most functional free systems for quick translation, and in the program itself, unlike the website, there are no advertisements.
The program supports thirteen (!) translation services, including the ubiquitous Google Translate, Yahoo, SYSTRAN, Microsoft Translator and others. Translation can be performed either in the program window (to do this, just go to the “Text Translation” section) or in a pop-up window.
Depending on your preferences, you can choose to have a pop-up window appear when you copy text to the clipboard, when you highlight it, or when you hover over a word. At the same time, the program’s reaction is easily customizable: when translation of selected text is enabled, you can set exceptions, and when translation is active by hovering over a word, you can specify what additional actions need to be performed for the program to translate it (for example, right-clicking the mouse and pressing the Ctrl key). By default, this function is enabled to ignore numbers, but you can also ask the utility to ignore Latin, Cyrillic or other characters.
Hot keys are also fully supported - with their help you can not only open the translation window, but also, for example, read out the text. In the program settings, you can select the translation service that will be used by default, set the first and second target languages (the second will be used if the source language matches the target language).
Lingoes has built-in not only translation using online services, but also an incredible number of different capabilities. Because of them, the program interface looks overloaded, but if you need a calculator, currency converter, periodic table, unit converter, international telephone codes, a list of irregular English verbs or information about the current time in different countries, know that Lingoes has it all .
⇡ Conclusion
For a translator, especially one that is positioned as a solution for quick translation, the most important things are speed, an uncluttered interface, and ease of call. In all three respects, it seems to us, QTranslate has no equal. Despite the fact that, for example, Lingoes has many more settings that describe the appearance of a translation window, there is no such convenient option as in QTranslate. An unobtrusive icon that appears when text is selected and automatically disappears if the user does not access it, this is much more convenient than a translation pop-up window constantly appearing on the screen. However, it all depends on how intensively you use the translator. Both Lingoes and Dicter also seemed to us to be very worthy programs.
