Nowadays, translators use a variety of tools to complete their work. These are often known as CAT tools (computer-assisted translation), and are designed to make a translator’s job much quicker and easier.

However, these CAT tools are often very expensive, making them inaccessible for students and, in some cases, for new translators. But, don’t worry, for every CAT tool on the market, there are just as many free online resources that can help you with your translations.

So, in this post, I’ll be sharing my list of the best free online tools for translators.

A word of warning before I get to the list though. While CAT tools are expensive, it is worth investing in them if you have the money. This is because many companies will require you to use one of the well-established CAT tools (usually either Trados Studio or MemoQ) if you want to work with them.

Anyway, back to the list.

Wordreference.com

A good online bilingual dictionary is essential for any translator, and my dictionary of choice is Wordreference.com.

I like Wordreference because it provides both a mini definition of each word and an example sentence in which it is used. This makes it easy to determine which translation is the correct one for your text.

Another great feature of Wordreference are the forums. Sometimes, a word or phrase may not appear in the general dictionary but, more often than not, someone else has been looking for the same word and has written a post on the forums about it. There, fellow polyglots and translators share their suggestions for the correct translation of that word.

Wordreference is simple but effective, making it the ideal bilingual dictionary for linguists and translators at all stages of their studies and/or career. I have been using it since college and, for me, it is the single most important tool in my translation arsenal.

Linguee

When dealing with complex vocabulary, a translator oftens needs more than just a definition to determine the correct translation for a word or phrase. And the best way to find a previous translation between the same languages that features that word or phrase. This is where Linguee comes in.

At first glance, Linguee appears to be just another online dictionary, but it is much more than that.

Linguee uses parallel texts (texts that are available in two languages i.e., previous translations) from across the Internet and divides them into different segments. When you type in a word or phrase in the search bar, the system will search its database to find all segments that contain that word or text, displaying this and its translation in the search results.

The one issue with Linguee is that the parallel texts are not verified for accuracy but, as a general rule, if the same or a very similar translation appears over and over again, it is likely that this is a good option for use in your text too.

I find Linguee most useful when trying to find translations for set phrases such as idioms, whose translation is not immediately obvious unless you’ve already come across the phrase before.

Wikipedia

This is a controversial one, I know, but, when used in the right way, Wikipedia is a great tool for translators.

I first discovered how useful Wikipedia can be when translating a tourism text that listed several rare species of plants native to the Southwest of France. This was such a niche subject area that most of the plants in the text did not have translations on either Wordreference or Linguee. However, most of them did have entries on Wikipedia.

So, I found the French page for each plant, then switched the language of the page on Wikipedia back to English, providing me with the accepted name of the plant in English.

Of course, it is important to check that these names are used in other sources, but Wikipedia is a great way to get a quick translation for niche nouns.

Google Images

Google Images is another great tool for identifying unknown nouns. Sometimes, a visual representation of an object makes it immediately apparent what the translation should be.

You can also use Google Images to find text-based translations. If you type in the name of the object in your source language, download one of the images that appear in the search results, and then conduct an image search. Usually, if you click on the images, one of the results that appears will provide the translation of the word or phrase.

So, Google Images is an unexpected but very effective translation tool in certain cases.

Translator Forums

Perhaps the most useful tool on this list, especially for new translators, is to use translator forums.

Translator forums are a great resource for finding the answer to niche translation-related questions. This is because you’ll be connecting with translators who specialise in the same subject area as you and, especially at the beginning, are likely to have already come across the word or phrase you are struggling with.

Some of the best forums to sign up to are:

• Proz.com forums
• Translators Cafe forums

Proz.com and Translators Cafe are two of the most popular translator marketplaces on the Internet, so you’ll be interacting with professional translators. This not only makes it a great translation resource, but also a great way to network when just starting out.

Plus, it’s a great way to show your skills if there’s a question that you can help someone else out with.

CAT Tools

As I mentioned at the start of this post, CAT tools are a big part of the translation industry. While all of the tools in the post are great for getting you started, you’ll almost certainly need to use CAT tools on some of your projects.

Most of these CAT tools are translation memories. In other words, they store your previous translations (and, in some cases, the translations of other translators who submit their work to the tool’s database) so that, if the same phrase appears in your work in the future, it automatically inserts your original translation into the text.

This saves you a lot of time, especially if you work in a very niche subject area where the same phrases pop up over and over again.

Of course, CAT tools are quite expensive, but you are likely to get more work if you know how to use them and if you have them available to use via a personal subscription.

If you’re looking to invest in CAT tools, the two most commonly requested by agencies are:

• Trados Studio
• MemoQ

So, that’s it for today’s post. As you can see, while CAT tools are an integral part of working as a translator, there are also plenty of free resources available online to help you with your work when you’re just starting out as a translation student or as a newbie freelance translator.

If you’re a translator and have any more suggestions for useful free online tools, leave them in the comments section below. I’d love to hear about them.

If you’re a new translator and have any questions, leave them in the comments too and I’ll get back to you.

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Thanks for reading, and see you next time.