Help and FAQ

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FreeTranslation.com Help and FAQ


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Using the free text translator

Using the free web translator

Frequently Asked Questions

Using the free text translator

Note: the instructions below may vary between operating systems and/or internet browsers. In these cases, please refer to the documentation that was supplied with your software.

Translating text

Using the free text translator is easy.

  1. Select the language combination that you require from the dropdown.
  2. Click inside the box that says "Type or paste text here".
  3. Type or paste the text that you wish to translate. (A maximum of 10000 characters is allowed.)
  4. Click the "FREE Translation" button and wait for your translation.

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Copying and pasting text into the free text translator

Select the text that you wish to translate and copy it to your clipboard.

Paste the text into the text translator using one of the following methods:

  • Click the paste icon (Paste) to the right of the language dropdown; or

  • Click inside the box that says "Type or paste text here" then either:

    • go to your browser's "Edit" menu and click "Paste"; or
    • right click inside the box and click "Paste" (PC users only); or
    • hold down the "Ctrl" key on your keyboard (or "Command" key for Mac users) and press the "V" key.

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Entering accented characters

There are several ways to do this. Below are just two examples; one for PC users and one for Mac users.

PC Users: Typing special characters using the Windows® "Alt" key:

  1. If the "Num Lock" light is not already on, turn it on by pressing the "Num Lock" key on your keyboard.

  2. Hold down the "Alt" key on your keyboard and type the four digit code (including the zero) for the character you want using the number pad on your keyboard.

    à = 0224

    á = 0225

    â = 0226

    ä = 0228

    ã = 0227

    å = 0229

    À = 0192

    Á = 0193

    Â = 0194

    Ä = 0196

    Ã = 0195

    Å = 0197

    è = 0232

    é = 0233

    ê = 0234

    ë = 0235

    È = 0200

    É = 0201

    Ê = 0202

    Ë = 0203

    ì = 0236

    í = 0237

    î = 0238

    ï = 0239

    Ì = 0204

    Í = 0205

    Î = 0206

    Ï = 0207

    ò = 0242

    ó = 0243

    ô = 0244

    ö = 0246

    õ = 0245

    Ò = 0210

    Ó = 0211

    Ô = 0212

    Ö = 0214

    Õ = 0213

    ù = 0249

    ú = 0250

    û = 0251

    ü = 0252

    Ù = 0217

    Ú = 0218

    Û = 0219

    Ü = 0220

    ç = 0231

    Ç = 0199

    ñ = 0241

    Ñ = 0209

    ß = 0223

    ¿ = 0191

    ¡ = 0161

Mac Users: Entering special characters using "Key Caps" on a Mac:

  1. Choose "Key Caps" for the "Apple" menu. You will see a map of the keyboard, showing ordinary letters.

  2. In the "Key Caps" menu, choose the font you want to work with. (Not all fonts can display all international characters.)

  3. Hold down the "Alt" key. The keyboard map will change to show various international characters and accent marks.

  4. Some characters, such as ß or ç, appear directly on the keyboard map when you hold down the "Alt" key. If you are looking for one of those characters, hold down the "Alt" key and choose one of the following methods:

    • use your mouse to click on the letter you want on the keyboard map on the screen
    • press the key on your keyboard that corresponds to the letter you want - for example, s for ß or c for ç

    The character you choose will appear in the text field at the top of the keyboard map.

  5. Other accents appear on keys with a border around them. There are five such accents - an acute accent ( ´ ), a grave accent ( ` ), a circumflex ( ^ ), a tilde ( ~ ) and an umlaut/dieresis ( ¨ ). If you want a letter combined with one of these accents, follow these steps:

    • While holding down the "Alt" key, either use your mouse to click on the accent you want from the keyboard map on the screen, or press the corresponding key on your keyboard.
    • Release the "Alt" key and the keyboard map will revert back to normal letters. (The keys for letters which can appear under your chosen accent will have a thick black border.)
    • Use your mouse to click on the letter you want from the keyboard map on the screen, or press the corresponding key on your keyboard. The character you choose will appear in the text field at the top of the keyboard map.
    • Select the character(s) you want in the text field at the top of the keyboard map and copy them to your clipboard.
    • Paste the characters into the text translator by following the Copying and pasting text into the free text translator instructions above.

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Copying and pasting your translation results

Use your cursor to highlight your translation results that you wish to copy, then use one of the following methods:

  • Click the copy icon (Copy) to the right of where it says the number of words translated; or

  • Select the translation results by highlighting all the text, then either:

    • go to your browser's "Edit" menu and click "Copy"; or
    • right click inside the box and click "Copy" (PC users only); or
    • hold down the "Ctrl" key on your keyboard (or "Command" key for Mac users) and press the "C" key.

Start up the application where you want to paste your translation results into and paste them using one of the following methods:

  • Click where you want the text to appear then either:

    • go to your application's "Edit" menu and click "Paste"; or
    • right click where you want the text to appear and click "Paste" (PC users only); or
    • click the paste icon (Paste) on your application's toolbar; or
    • hold down the "Ctrl" key on your keyboard (or "Command" key for Mac users) and press the "V" key.

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Printing your translation results

To print your translation results without any graphics, follow these instructions:

  1. Click the print icon (Print) to the right of where it says the number of words translated.
  2. The print dialog box should pop up after a few seconds.
  3. Click the "Close Window" button once you have finished.

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Improving your translation results

  • Keep sentences as short as possible. Simple sentences and bullet lists are easier for machine translation software to translate. Long and complex sentences are difficult for computer translation software to analyze and may not translate well.

  • End all sentences with a period (.) so that our translation servers can recognize where your sentences end.

  • Always use correct punctuation and provide grammatically correct input. Using grammar and spell checking software can help to produce better results. If a word is misspelt it may get translated incorrectly, or it may not be translated at all.

  • Please ensure that the source text is accurate. Be sure to type all accents and other special characters required in the language you are typing, even on capital letters. (See the Entering accented characters instructions above for more information.)

  • Avoid ambiguous words. English words ending in "ing" are ambiguous. For example, the word "swimming" can be a noun or a verb, and may have different translation depending on its part of speech. Whenever possible, choose alternatives to "ing" forms.

  • If your text has words or names that you don't want translating, place an "x" at the beginning and end of the word or phrase. For example: "SDL" would become "xSDLx" as it is a company name and doesn't require translation.

  • To get the most accurate translation results, we suggest using one of the "Click2Translate Express" services offered on the translation results page. For a reasonable fee, a human translator will either edit the free translation to improve its quality, or professionally translate your original text from scratch so you get the best translation possible. Simply select the service that's best for your needs.

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Using the free web translator

Note: the instructions below may vary between operating systems and/or internet browsers. In these cases, please refer to the documentation that was supplied with your software.

Translating web pages

Using the free web translator is easy.

  1. Select the language combination that you require from the dropdown.
  2. Click inside the box that says "Type or paste website address here".
  3. Type or paste the full website address of the page that you wish to translate.
  4. Click the "FREE Translation" button and wait for your translation.

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Copying and pasting a website address into the free text translator

Select the website address of the page you wish to translate and copy it to your clipboard.

Paste the website address into the web translator using one of the following methods:

  • Click the paste icon (Paste) to the right of the language dropdown; or

  • Click inside the box that says "Type or paste website address here" then either:

    • go to your browser's "Edit" menu and click "Paste"; or
    • right click inside the box and click "Paste" (PC users only); or
    • hold down the "Ctrl" key on your keyboard (or "Command" key for Mac users) and press the "V" key.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Machine Translation (MT)?

"Machine Translation" is automatically generated by a computer.

Most programs that claim to provide "Machine Translation" are really just performing a word-by-word dictionary lookup and replacement. However, world class Machine Translation, as seen on FreeTranslation.com is different. These sophisticated systems don't simply translate text word-by-word, they actually analyze sentences based on the grammar rules of the language and translate the words and phrases in the context of the original document.

Since computers don't yet possess "life knowledge", machine translations are not perfect. For example, a computer doesn't know that "dusting" a field means putting dust on it, while "dusting" a table means taking dust off of it. In a language other than English, the translation for "drive" is probably different depending on whether one is driving a golf ball or a car, and a computer can easily get it wrong.

Although not perfect, the Machine Translation returned by FreeTranslation.com offers a high level of accuracy and reader comprehension - and has the added benefit of being completely free.

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What should Machine Translation be used for?

Machine Translation is instant and is therefore ideal for many purposes where human translation is simply not an option.

Machine Translation is ideal for rapid, draft-quality translations that provide individuals and professionals with the "gist" of foreign language documents such as email, web pages and correspondence. A "gisted" translation allows readers to understand the meaning of the original document and determine its relevance to themselves or their business.

When speed and cost are important factors, Machine Translation is ideal. However, Human Translation - or a Human-Edited translation service - is often more desirable for its accuracy and quality.

If you need a higher level of accuracy, please visit Click2Translate for a range of fast turnaround, high-quality human translation services.

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What is used to generate the translations?

All translations are generated by SDL's Enterprise Translation Server, a proprietary, world-class machine translation system. Enterprise Translation Server is designed to provide fast, high-quality, cost-effective Machine Translation for cross-language communication for business use. FreeTranslation.com is powered by SDL's Enterprise Translation Server and can easily handle over one million typical translation requests per day.

Please visit the Enterprise Translation Server section of SDL's corporate website for more information.

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Why is FreeTranslation.com free?

We want to showcase our Enterprise Translation Server (ETS) technology, which we sell as a commercial product. ETS powers the free text and web translators on FreeTranslation.

We want to be the place for translation on the web. Getting the best price, turnaround and quality in translation has been a difficult and time-consuming task, until now. We want people who need translation services to know about SDL, our translation services and products. We identify people's needs and offer them exactly the right translation service depending on their accuracy, time and budget requirements. Offering world-class Machine Translation for free is a statement of our commitment to providing what the customer needs whilst introducing people to the world of professional translation products and services.

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When is FreeTranslation.com not suitable and what are the alternatives?

FreeTranslation.com is for obtaining an instant, basic translation. Only professional human translators can consistently produce high quality translations. If you need a perfect translation, a qualified translator should be used. We have incorporated professional translation into the main FreeTranslation.com website by adding Click2Translate Express, SDL's online translation service. There are two levels of translation, both competitively priced. Whether you require an improved version of the free translation or a human translation Click2Translate can provide an instant quote based on the document you have for translation. Click2Translate is the easiest way to order professional translation on the web.

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Why does the translation not make sense if I translate my text into another language and then back again?

When you translate the text into another language, some words can be translated in a number of ways. Using grammar rules and context analysis, FreeTranslation.com works-out which one is most likely to be correct and uses this. Consequently when the text is translated back into the original language these words may be translated differently.

As described above, Machine Translation is not perfect and computers don't yet possess "life knowledge". (Please read What is Machine Translation (MT)? for more details.)

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Why is my recent translation different to one I got a while ago?

SDL's Enterprise Translation Server (the Machine Translation engine that powers FreeTranslation) is constantly being developed and improved, as are the dictionaries used by FreeTranslation, to ensure that visitors are provided with the best possible results.

If a recent translation is different to a previous translation of exactly the same text, the latest translation is likely to be more accurate.

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