Automatic translation is not going to produce quality translations for the foreseeable future except in very specific circumstances*, but nowadays most translators want to be able to add automatic translation to their toolkit, along with online translation memories and glossaries.
Which tools are currently available for little or no cost?
In OmegaT (https://www.omegat.org, open source):
- Microsoft Translator – free for fewer than 2 million characters per month
- Google Translate – $20 for 1 million characters or a proportional of this, depending on use
- Apertium – free
In Wordfast Pro (https://www.wordfast.com, demo version has a translation memory limit):
- Microsoft Translator – free for fewer than 2 million characters per month
- Google Translate – $20 for 1 million characters or a proportional of this, depending on use
- WorldLingo – free
In Wordfast Anywhere (https://www.freetm.com, free):
- Microsoft Translator – use it free (up to an undocumented limit)
- Google Translate – use it free (up to an undocumented limit)
In Google Translator Toolkit (https://translate.google.com/toolkit, free with a Google account):
- Google Translate – use it free (unlimited)
Want some details on how to set up these services?
- ¿Cómo configurar OmegaT para utilizar el traductor automático de Microsoft? (UOC blog)
- Using Google Translate in OmegaT (OmegaT documentation)
* Such as for a close language pair or when using trained automatic translation engines based on specialised analysis of very large focused translation memories.
I will be grateful to receive comments if I have left out relevant material in this article.
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