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how to write a unique article using google translate

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How to Use Google Translate for Text, Images, and Real-time Conversations

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  • Translate Text With Google Translate
  • Translate Images
  • Translate Words and Speech
  • Translate Real-Time Conversations

How Many Languages Does Google Translate Support?

  • Get Google Translate

What to Know

  • For text: Select a language > Tap to enter text > begin typing > Enter .
  • For spoken word: Select a language > tap the mic > begin speaking at the beep. Tap the Speaker icon to hear the translation.
  • For conversations: Select a language > tap Conversation > begin speaking. Watch the screen for the translation.

This article explains how to use Google's Translate tool, which can handle text, images, speech, and even real-time conversations.

How to Translate Text With Google Translate

Translating text is the easiest and most well-supported function of Google Translate. Here's how to translate any text you come across.

Select the name of the source language you want to translate from in the top-left of the screen. In this example, we're using English .

Then select the name of the destination language you want to translate to in the screen's top-right. In this example, we're using Spanish .

Select the field that says Tap to enter text and either type or copy and paste (press and hold) the text you want to translate into this field.

You can also use the predictive text function to help write what you want to translate quicker.

The Google Translate app will continually translate what you're writing in the field underneath. At any time during this translation process, you can tap the Speaker icon to hear what it sounds like in your chosen translation language.

When you're finished typing you can use the right arrow or Enter key to return to the previous screen, then if you want to copy the translation, tap the three-dot menu icon and select Share .

How to Translate Images

Translating a foreign language from an image or picture using your camera or previous images is super handy when you're out and about. In our example, we'll use a food menu.

Select the source language and the translation language at the top of the screen. In this example, we are using Chinese to English .

Select the Camera icon.

Align what you want to translate in your camera window and select Instant .

If you want to translate an image you already have, select the Import button and then locate and select the image on your device. Then skip to Step 4 .

Google will translate the image on your device. It may take a moment for the translation to complete, but once it does, you'll be able to select individual words in the image to highlight their translation.

Some languages offer live translation, but others require a saved image. To scan and save a selection for translation, select the Scan button.

How to Translate Words and Speech

Translating what you say into a different language is one of the most useful features of Google Translate when traveling or just trying to learn a new language . Here's how to do it.

Select the source language and the translate to language at the top of the screen.

Tap the microphone icon and when prompted with a beep, begin speaking. Google will automatically translate your voice into text form.

Select the Speaker icon to hear the translation spoken back to you.

If you want to dictate what you say into a different language instead, select the Transcribe icon. Then begin speaking as before, and what you say will be translated into your destination language on screen.

Transcribing is different than dictating. When you're dictating, you're just using your voice instead of a keyboard or stylus to input data to be translated. When you're transcribing, you're creating a written output of your voice. Transcribing is especially useful if you need to send a message or write an email.

Tap the microphone and then begin speaking as before..

What you say will be translated into your destination language on screen. When you're finished speaking, tap the microphone again to end the transcription.

How to Translate Real-Time Conversations

You can also use Google Translate to facilitate a live conversation between you and someone who speaks a language you don't understand.

Select the source and destination languages at the top of the screen.

Select the Conversation icon. 

You can manually select the speaker's language at any one time to force the app to use that as the source or select the Auto button to allow the app to determine who is speaking at any one time.

Begin speaking. The translation of what you're saying will appear on screen, as will a translation for any replies from the person you are speaking to. This lets you both see what's being said in real-time.

Google Translate can translate about 103 different languages for text translation. Although not all of them are as natural as each other, and 59 are supported offline, it covers much of the world and its most populous languages.

New languages can often be added, so you can check out the complete list of languages supported on the Google site.

Real-time speech conversations support 43 distinct languages, while camera image translation is available in up to 88 languages. You might think handwriting is more challenging, but it supports 95 different languages.

How to Get Google Translate

To make the most of Google Translate, you'll need to download and install the app on your compatible Android or iOS device . Before beginning any of the instructions below, make sure the app is open and functioning.

Download for:

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Pocket-lint

How to use google translate in various useful ways.

Google Translate is a great tool for quickly understanding someone else's words in a language you don't speak.

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What is google translate, what can google translate do, how good is google translate, how to use google translate in google chrome, how to use google translate in google search, translate with your camera, how to use google translate offline, how to translate with google assistant, how to translate with your headphones, translating hieroglyphs.

Google Translate is a great tool for quickly understanding someone else's words in a language you don't speak or read. There are lots of ways you can use Google Translate on the web, on your phone and even with your smartphone camera.

So if you're looking to quickly translate text so you can understand it or so you can have a conversation who doesn't speak your mother tongue, then this is a great free tool to use.

Keep reading to find out all the different ways you can use Google Translate and how it can help you out.

At its core Google Translate is a tool that you can use to use to translate all sorts of things in your daily life. You can access it via a dedicated website , a smartphone app , browser extensions, via Google Assistant , directly through Google Search results and more besides.

Google Translate can be used to translate a multitude of different languages. In 2022, Google announced that it was able to handle 133 different languages using its translation service. You can even download them in some instances so you can translate offline as well.

One of the biggest highlights for us is Google Translate's ability to automatically recognise languages, so if you're not even sure what it is you're trying to read you don't need to worry as Google will know.

Google Translate has been getting better and better over the years. The system is now able to handle the translations of many different languages in all sorts of different ways:

  • Basic text translation - obviously you can use Google Translate on blocks of text. If you have a sentence, paragraph or even a lot more text you can just copy and paste it into Google Translate and use the system to translate that text into your own language. It can also be used to translate entire web pages if the site you're reading doesn't offer an option in your native language already.
  • Real-time camera translation - Google Translate is able to do live translations of whatever the camera is pointing at using Google Lens . This means that you can use it to do things like quickly translate a menu at a restaurant or the street signs in a foreign country that you're visiting.
  • Real-time interpreting - Google Translate also works via Google Assistant to offer you a live interpretation of speech . If you have a Google Assistant-capable pair of earphones (like Google Buds ) you can use this to understand foreign speech.
  • Photo translation - via the app you can also translate the text in images and screenshots. So you can take a photo and then get the app to translate the text for you.
  • Handwriting - Google is also able to translate handwritten text, though the success here will depend on how neat the writing is.

Google Translate has improved a lot over the last few years, though it's still not perfect. You won't be convincing native speakers that you're suddenly fluent in their language.

That said it doesn't necessarily use a word-for-word literal translation of the text and instead uses machine learning to provide a reasonably accurate translation of whatever you've asked it to look at.

Sometimes you'll find it hit-and-miss, other times it's brilliant. It is free to use though, so you can't complain too much whatever the results!

Google Translate in Google Chrome-1

Since it's a Google product you'll be unsurprised to learn that Google Translate is available to use easily in Google Chrome . If you're on a page that's in a different language and you want to learn what the text is about simply highlight the particular text and then right-click with your mouse. On the menu that appears you can then select either Google Translate or "Translate selection to..." (your language).

Google is also clever enough to recognise when you're looking at content that's in a different language and gives you the option to translate everything that's on the page.

translate button in Chrome

At the top of the browser in the address bar, you should find a little black-and-white Google Translate icon. Click on that and it will pop up with the option to switch the language to your native language (or other chosen language). The entire page will then be displayed in the other language in the blink of an eye.

Google Translate in Google Search

If your browser is set to default to Google as its homepage then good news as you can quickly use Google Translate directly from Google's results.

This is useful if you have some text from elsewhere that you need to translate. If it's in an email, a document or just elsewhere and you can copy and paste it then this is a quick way to do it.

Simply search for "Translate" in Google and you'll then be presented with a dialogue box to enter the text. Paste it into the left-hand box and then select the language from the drop-down and the language you want to translate to in the right drop-down.

You can then swap these around if you want to translate the other way around.

This tool is handy because you can also see both a microphone and speaker buttons in the translation boxes. If you click the mic then you can use your voice (or someone else's) to capture the language and then translate it. While the speaker button will then make Google read the translation out to you. This will give you an idea of how it sounds in the translated language and how to say it if you need to converse with someone.

What Is Google Lens And How Do You Use It image 9

Google Translate is also integrated into Google Lens . This means you can use this app to get a live translation of whatever your smartphone camera is pointing at. In order to do this simply:

  • Install the Google Lens app on your phone
  • Open the app
  • Click on the translate option
  • Point your camera at the text you're trying to translate
  • Watch as it translates into your native language

If you find this isn't working for some reason you can click at the top of the screen to change the language options. As standard it's set to automatically detect the language, but this might mean an error occurs with similar languages so you can click to change to the specific one you're trying to translate.

Another option is to take a photo with Google Lens and then translate the photo instead. This can be more accurate than the live translation, especially if you don't have a particularly steady hand.

Google Translate offline

If you are worried about data usage or if you're going to be travelling to a foreign country where roaming plans are going to be costly then you might have thought about offline translations. The good news is Google makes it easy to use its app without using data if you plan ahead. You can choose to download languages to the Google Translate app so you can use them later without much fuss. To do this:

  • Open the Google Translate app on your phone
  • Click on the language button at the bottom of the screen
  • On the next page select the download button next to the language you want to translate from
  • You'll then see a warning about data usage for that download (do it over Wi-Fi if necessary)
  • Click to download and wait for the download to happen

If you're doing this we'd also recommend downloading Google Maps data so you can use that for offline directions as well. There's nothing quite like being prepared.

Google photo 2

Everyone's favourite assistant (bar ChatGPT of course) is able to work as a translation tool too. With Google Assistant you can turn on interpreter mode and translate back-and-forth conversations on the fly.

Google Assistant's translation capabilities are available on Android and iOS phones as well as various different Google Assistant devices . So whether you're out and about and in need of translations or have someone in your home who you need to speak to Google is there to help.

This live interpreter translation system doesn't support as many languages as Google Translate on the web but it's still a useful tool.

To use Google Assistant to translate like this say:

  • Hey Google, be my Spanish interpreter
  • Ok Google, be my Italian interpreter
  • Hey Google turn on interpreter mode

pixel buds pro review photo 2

As well as using Google Assistant to translate it's also possible to use your headphones assuming they're Google Assistant capable. The most obvious choice here is the Google Pixel Buds but other earphones will work too. Obviously, this requires a mic in the headphones so Google Assistant can hear you talk and the other speaker as well.

To do this:

  • Pop your headphones in and make sure they're connected and turned on
  • Launch Google Assistant via the command
  • Then say "help me interpret French" (or a similar command relevant to the language you're translating)
  • Start talking

You may also have controls to simply press and hold the headphones to activate conversation mode. You'll then need to tap the other language button when you're ready to listen to the language and have it translated. Watch the video above to see an example of this in action.

translate hieroglyphs

Ok, this one isn't technically via Google Translate (yet) but Google has made it possible to use a tool to translate ancient hieroglyphs .

Fabricius , as it is known, is a tool that's been trained by machine learning to recognise the ancient Egyptian language and can translate it into English. It's not perfect, but it's a great demo of how technology can help us access other languages, even long-forgotten ones.

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Easy Ways to Use Google Translate on Desktop and Mobile

Last Updated: April 26, 2023 Fact Checked

Using the Google Translate App

Using the google chrome app, using a desktop browser.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly . Rain Kengly is a wikiHow Technology Writer. As a storytelling enthusiast with a penchant for technology, they hope to create long-lasting connections with readers from all around the globe. Rain graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Cinema. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 388,782 times. Learn more...

Did you come across a language you don't understand? Whether you're learning something new or want quick information, you can use Google Translate to translate text into a language you know. You can translate pages in a document, a block of text, handwriting, or even audio on the desktop website. The Translate app has similar but different features, so be sure to use the proper device. You can also the Chrome app to translate websites. This wikiHow will show you how to use Google Translate on your computer, iPhone, Android device.

Things You Should Know

  • Go to https://translate.google.com/ . Copy and paste text into the left box. View your translation in the right box.
  • In the Translate app, copy and paste a block of text to translate. You can also tap "Conversation" to translate two spoken languages at once.
  • In Google Chrome, tap ••• → "Translate" to translate a webpage. Tap the cog icon to change the output language.

Step 1 Open the Google Translate app.

  • Google Translate is available for iOS in the App Store and for Android in the Google Play Store .
  • If you're using the app for the first time, you'll be asked to log in to save your translation history. If you don't want to sign in, tap Use Translate without an account .

Step 3 Translate a block of text.

  • Tap the highlighted text, then tap Copy . Tap the field and tap Paste to paste your text. You can also tap the Paste button on Translate.
  • Google Translate will detect the language automatically and translate it to English.
  • If you think there is an error in the detected language, you can change it by tapping the language and selecting from the list.
  • To change the translated language, click the language at the top-right corner and select another language.

Step 4 Translate a picture.

  • If this is your first time using Google Lens, tap Continue to agree to the terms, then tap OK .
  • Point your device camera at the text. This could be a flyer, document, or note.
  • Google Translate will translate the visible words as you hover the camera over them.
  • Tap the camera button at the bottom to take a photo.
  • If you think there is an error in the detected language or output language, you can change it by tapping the language and selecting from the list.
  • You can also tap the photo icon in the bottom-left corner to select an existing photo from your camera roll or gallery.

Step 5 Translate a conversation.

  • Set your language and the other person's language. For example, you can set English on the bottom-left and Spanish on the bottom-right.
  • Tap the microphone next to your language, then speak after the Speak now prompt. Your words will be entered on the screen with the translation below or on top. The position depends on which language you assigned to each side.
  • Tap the microphone next to your partner's language, then let them speak after the Speak now prompt. Their words will be entered on the screen with the translation.
  • You can play the translation's recording by tapping the speaker icon to the left of the translation.

Step 6 Translate a short, spoken phrase.

  • Speak into the microphone. Your phrase will be typed as you speak.
  • Tap the microphone icon when you're finished, or wait until Translate redirects you.
  • Your translated phrase will be below the field.

Step 7 Transcribe lengthy audio.

  • Tap Got it . You can begin speaking immediately.
  • Google Translate will translate your words continuously as you speak them.
  • If you need to change the input language, tap the language at the top and select from the list.
  • Tap the cog icon in the bottom-left corner to adjust the text size or show original text (untranslated).

Step 8 Translate handwriting.

  • Tap the input language and set it as Detect language .
  • Tap the pen icon in the top-right corner of the box. A pop-up will open at the bottom of your screen.
  • Use your finger to draw the character or phrase. As you draw, a list of options will appear on top of the window.
  • Tap the detected character or phrase to add them into the box. You can repeat this step until you add your entire phrase.
  • The translation will appear below the box.

Step 9 Use Tap to Translate (Android only).

  • In the Google Translate app, tap Menu → Settings → Tap to Translate → Enable .
  • Open an app with text you can copy. Highlight the text to translate, then tap Copy .
  • Tap Google Translate , then select the translated language.

Step 1 Open the Google Chrome app.

  • Google Chrome is available for iOS and Android. [3] X Research source
  • You'll be able to translate websites when browsing with the Google Chrome app.

Step 2 Navigate to a website.

  • For Android, this will be at the top-right corner.
  • A menu will open.

Step 4 Tap Translate.

  • Google Chrome will translate the website into the specified language.

Step 1 Go to https://translate.google.com/...

  • You don't need a Google account to use Google Translate, but you'll be able to view your translation history and keep "Saved" translations if you sign in .
  • Because languages are complex, Google Translate should be used as a guide to get the basic concepts of a piece, not as an accurate translation.

Step 2 Translate a block of text.

  • Press CTRL + C (Windows) or CMD + C (Mac) to copy, then press CTRL + V (Windows) or CMD + V (Mac) to paste.
  • If you think there is an error in the detected language, you can change it by clicking the down-arrow and selecting a language manually.
  • To change the translated language, click the down-arrow and select another language.

Step 3 Translate documents.

  • Click the Documents tab in the top header, then click Browse your computer . You'll need to select the document you want to translate, then click Open .
  • Click Translate to begin translating your document. Depending on the number of pages you're uploading, this may take a few minutes.
  • Click Download translation when it's finished.
  • Open your file. It will be translated to the best of Google Translate's ability.

Step 4 Translate a website.

  • Click the Websites tab in the top header.
  • Copy the URL of the website with CTRL + C (Windows) or CMD + C (Mac).
  • Paste it into the Website field with CTRL + V (Windows) or CMD + V (Mac).
  • Click the blue arrow to submit.
  • You'll be redirected to the translated website in a new tab.

Step 5 Translate handwriting.

  • Click the pencil icon in the bottom-right corner of the left box. A pop-up window will open.
  • Use your mouse to draw the character or phrase. As you draw, a list of options will appear before the pop-up window.
  • Click the detected character or phrase to add them into the left box. You can repeat this step until you add your entire phrase.
  • The translation will appear in the right box.

Step 6 Translate audio.

  • Click the down-arrow on the left box and select your spoken language.
  • Click the microphone icon in the bottom-left corner of the left box. You may need to allow permissions to use your computer's microphone.
  • Press the "stop" icon to end the feature.

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • Google Translate is not a perfect translator. Oftentimes the structure of the sentence will not translate properly, making it odd or incorrect in the other language. This is due to the complexity of language. However, this is a great starting point to learning a new language. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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  • ↑ https://support.google.com/translate/answer/2534559?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&oco=1
  • ↑ https://support.google.com/translate/answer/6350658?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid
  • ↑ https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/173424?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&oco=1
  • ↑ https://support.google.com/translate/answer/2534559?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&oco=1

About This Article

Rain Kengly

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Exploring Google Translate-friendly strategies for optimizing the quality of Google Translate in academic writing contexts

Yu-chih sun.

Institute of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Rd., Hsin-chu, 300 Taiwan

Fang-Ying Yang

Hsin-ju liu, associated data.

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

The present study explored the types of errors found in Google Translate (GT) Chinese-to-English translations and, based on those error types, proposes strategies for optimizing the performance of GT. Seven abstracts written in both Chinese and English from seven articles published in English Teaching and Learning in 2017 were selected as the materials. The researchers compared the GT translations to the English abstracts written by the original author(s) and analyzed the problems in the translations. The problematic translations consisted of grammatical errors (35%) and lexical errors (65%). Relatedly, we propose nine specific strategies to employ when writing Chinese abstracts to be translated into English using GT. According to the strategies, we suggest that users (1) avoid native language-specific expressions, (2) maintain the use of original English terminologies in composing Chinese abstracts, and (3) enhance logical relations and expressions for the discipline-specific discourse community. Further analyses revealed that 99% of the 69 identified problems in the GT translations of the seven abstracts could be avoided by using the proposed strategies. A conceptual framework for the collaboration between GT and GT users is proposed and pedagogical implications are discussed.

Introduction

The United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serves as a guideline “for peace and prosperity for people and the planet” (Department Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, History section 2022 ). The current 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined in the agenda stressed the importance of global partnerships, which require all countries to work together to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Department Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations 2022 ). At the heart of the global partnerships lies effective intercultural communication in which language is one of the major means. Learning a new language, however, is a time-consuming process and is often constrained by a number of factors (van Lieshout and Cardoso 2022 ). With the rapid development of technology, a variety of tools have been adopted by learners to facilitate the process of language learning. An understanding of the affordances of these tools can guide the language learners to make evidence-based decisions in selecting and using the tools. The present study focuses on one of the commonly used technological tools by language learners and users, Google Translate (GT). The purpose of the study is to explore GT’s affordances in English academic abstract writing by first analyzing the translation problems by GT, and based on which, proposing nine GT-friendly writing strategies for language learners to employ when they use GT to support their English abstract writing.

Advantages of machine translation technologies

With recent development of artificial intelligence (AI), the neural machine translation system utilized by machine translation (MT) tools such as Google Translate (GT) has greatly improved the translation accuracy and quality. This improvement has led to better translations of longer texts (Ducar and Schocket 2018 ). Studies have indicated that GT can be a useful learning aid for college students in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL)/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) contexts (Nila and Susanto 2017 ; Tsai 2019 ). Recent research shows that GT is a promising tool for learning second language (L2) vocabulary and pronunciation in self-directed settings (van Lieshout and Cardoso 2022 ). MT has recently taken on increasing importance in scholarly fields such as L2 academic writing and publishing. Previous research shows that MT helped L2 writers improved the quality (Stapleton and Kin 2019 ) and quantity of their L2 writing (Chon and Shin 2020 ). Groves and Mundt ( 2015 ) explored GT’s effectiveness in providing writing instruction in an English for academic purposes (EAP) context. They asked students to write short essays in their first language, and then they translated the essays to English with GT. The results showed that despite the fact that they still contained ungrammatical words and sentences, GT’s translations were considered comprehensible; the results even met the minimum admission standards for most academic institutions in Malaysia. In addition to improving L2 learners’ writing outcomes, MT also offers affective supports to L2 learners in the process of L2 writing by lowering their anxiety levels and enhances motivation and confidence (Lee 2020 ).

Challenges of machine translation technologies

Despite MT’s positive effects, studies (e.g., Alhaisoni and Alhaysony’s 2017 ) found that students expressed a paradoxical view toward its use in class. Teachers often have divided opinions regarding MT’s role in language learning. Jolley and Maimone ( 2015 ) reported that both students and their teachers have positive outlooks with regard to the in-class integration of MT; they also suggested that, in the future, teachers should provide guidance during the learning process in order to facilitate more appropriate use of the tool. On the other hand, some instructors still hold conservative, even antagonistic, views regarding the use of MT in class (Stapleton and Kin 2019 ). Chandra and Yuyun ( 2018 ) suggested that it is important for instructors to cover both the benefits and the limitations of using MT in class so that students can engage in productive and meaningful translation activity and language practice. In summary, specific guidelines of effective and appropriate MT use are called for. The present study responds to the call by offering MT-friendly writing strategies based on empirical evidence.

Evaluation and measurement of machine translation quality

Lee ( 2021 ) systematically reviewed and conducted meta-analysis on MT studies related to foreign language education published between 2000 and 2019. Based on the review of the studies that examined MT translation quality, Lee ( 2021 ) found that overall the most common error types produced by MT were syntactic and grammatical errors, and the translation quality was particularly poor with translation of longer texts. However, closer examinations of more recent studies reveal that the application of the neural machine translation system in MT has greatly improved the translation quality of longer texts.

Lee ( 2021 ) also indicates that, unlike the evaluation of MT outcomes in translation-related studies, the purpose of evaluating the MT translation quality in L2 learning and teaching mainly focuses on examining MT’s technological affordances for L2 learning and teaching rather than evaluating the translation quality per se. As a result, most studies evaluate students’ writing after students used MT as a supporting tool rather than directly evaluating the quality of machine translation output. For example, Tsai ( 2019 ) used two online computational writing assessment tools to assess L2 students’ MT-supported English writing. In this study, writing quality was evaluated in terms of the number of spelling and grammatical errors, the probability of errors, and lexical features (i.e., the number of words at different frequency bands and lexical density). In another study, Stapleton and Kin ( 2019 ) recruited English teachers to evaluate the quality of English essays, which were originally composed by students in their L1 (Chinese) and later translated by GT into English. A rubric on a four-point scale covering three dimensions (i.e., grammar, vocabulary, and comprehensibility) was developed to guide the teachers to evaluate the translated English text.

Previous studies show that GT has frequently been integrated into English writing classes and used as a support tool by language learners. Given the fact that GT has advanced to become a more reliable tool, and will continue to advance further, its application in the field of language learning and teaching deserves our attention. The present study, therefore, sought to explore the affordances of GT in language learning and teaching and based on which to propose strategies for enhancing its affordances by addressing the following three research questions:

  • What types of errors in English translation can be identified when GT is used to translate Chinese academic abstracts?
  • What Chinese abstract writing strategies can be used to optimize the quality of GT English translations?
  • To what extent can the proposed Chinese abstract writing strategies enhance the quality of GT English translations?

Seven abstracts (containing a total of 51 Chinese sentences and 2129 Chinese characters) written in both Chinese and English from seven articles published in English Teaching and Learning ( ETL ) in 2017 were selected as the materials for data analysis. ETL was chosen because the journal’s corresponding English abstracts allowed the researchers to check the accuracy of terminologies translated by GT. Also, the topics of studies published in ETL match the researchers’ field of expertise. The researchers’ familiarity with the content knowledge of the abstracts, thus, allowed for the accurate and reliable justification of the GT translations.

Data analysis

To answer Research Question 1, the researchers first used GT to translate the seven Chinese abstracts into English. The English translations generated by GT were then compared to the English abstracts written by the studies’ author(s). Differences between each Google translated English abstract and the corresponding original English abstract were identified, with those differences used to identify and code errors in the translation. Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss   1999 ) was employed as an analytical approach. The process of data analysis was inductive, iterative, and data driven. A research assistant, who had a master’s degree in the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL), coded the errors and developed an initial coding system. The final coding system was developed through several rounds of data examination and discussion with the first author, who had a Ph.D. degree in TESOL.

To answer Research Question 2, the researchers examined each error in the English translations and identified the source(s) of the errors, before then using that information to modify the corresponding portion of the Chinese abstract written by the author(s). The modification strategies were coded and analyzed inductively following the same approach described in the previous paragraph.

To answer Research Question 3, the researchers used GT to translate the modified Chinese abstracts into English. Each entry of the English output was rated by the researchers to evaluate the translation outcome. More specifically, the evaluation focused on whether the use of a given modification strategy successfully resolved the errors in the English translations. A total of 69 problems in the GT translations were evaluated. A check of interrater reliability regarding all 69 entries was conducted, and it was found that the interrater reliability was 100%.

Types of errors in the GT English translations

Sixty-nine problems in the GT translations were identified (Table ​ (Table1). 1 ). Approximately 34.8% of those errors were categorized as grammatical errors, while 65.22% were categorized as lexical errors. The most common grammatical errors were instances of mispunctuation, null-subject sentences, and the misuse of conjunctions. The most common lexical errors were instances of academically inappropriate word choices; non-contextual, literal translations of Chinese texts; and untranslated or redundant/unnecessary words.

Types of errors in the GT translations

N  = 69

Optimization strategies for Chinese abstract writing

Nine optimization strategies for Chinese abstract writing were identified based on inductive analyses of the GT translation errors. The nine strategies (Table ​ (Table2) 2 ) can be divided into three types of actions: (1) avoidance actions: Strategies 1–3 (2) maintenance actions: Strategy 4, and (3) enhancement actions: Strategies 5–9. Each strategy is illustrated as follows:

Optimization strategies

Strategy 1: avoid using Chinese big words or set phrases, use modern Chinese

Our analyses showed that GT currently cannot appropriately process Chinese big words and ancient literary Chinese. As shown in Table ​ Table3, 3 , one author used the Chinese word 服膺 (fú yīng; obey ) to indicate that the students in the study identified with the core value of their textbooks. Nevertheless, Google translated the Chinese word 服膺 to clothing , an uncontextual translation which totally deviated from the Chinese word’s actual meaning. The researchers then replaced 服膺 with a more modern word, 認同 (rèn tóng ; identify ). The modified Chinese text, thus, generated a contextually appropriate GT English translation—“… most children agree with the value and content of textbooks.” Of the 69 translation errors, three (4.3%) could be resolved using this strategy.

Strategy 2: avoid writing null-subject sentences

Writing a sentence without a subject is common in Chinese. The data analyses of the present study showed that GT assigned contextually inappropriate subject(s) to null-subject sentences. The associated proposed strategy recommends that the writing of null-subject sentences in Chinese, especially long, complex sentences, be avoided. As shown in Table ​ Table4, 4 , the original Chinese text consisted of a null-subject sentence. GT assigned a contextually inappropriate subject, you , to the sentence. To avoid this problem, we added a contextually appropriate subject 研究者 (yán jiùzhě; the researchers ) to the sentence. The resulting GT output was, thus, acceptable. Of the 69 translation errors, seven (9.4%) could be resolved using this strategy.

Strategy 3: avoid using Chinese-specific punctuations

The analyses showed that GT followed the original Chinese punctuations, which generated incorrect uses of punctuation in the English translations, especially in cases of listing. As can be seen in Table ​ Table5, 5 , we used a conjunctive coordinator, 及 (jí; and ), and a Chinese-specific punctuation mark that indicates a short pause (、) to separate three nouns in the original Chinese sentence. GT then simply used a comma to replace the Chinese-specific punctuation (、) without placing a conjunctive coordinator, and , before the last listed item. The researcher modified the Chinese text by following the English punctuation rule for listing and using commas instead of the Chinese-specific one. The modified GT English translation outcome was, thus, correctly punctuated. Four of the 69 (4.3%) translation problems were resolved using this strategy.

Strategy 4: use English terminologies directly

Strategy 4 suggests the use of English terminologies instead of Chinese terminologies when writing Chinese that is to be translated into English using GT. As shown in Table ​ Table6, 6 , Google translated 修辭言步 (xiū cíyánbù) as rhetoric step and translated 介紹本研究 (jiè shàoběnyán jiù) as introducing this study. Although the translation output was still comprehensible, it deviated from the standard usage of the terms in this field of study. In this case, the English terms rhetorical move and occupying the niche can be used directly in Chinese abstract writing to avoid nonstandard GT translations of the terminologies. Approximately 30% of the English translation errors could be addressed using this skillful bilingual writing strategy.

Strategy 5: add the structural particle “的” ( de ) after compound-complex adjectives/adjectival phrases to distinguish the modifier from the modified noun

In Chinese, it is common to attach the attributes of a noun by directly adding complex adjectives or complex adjectival nouns before it. The analyses showed that GT was not able to distinguish the complex adjectival nouns from the nouns that they were intended to modify. Table ​ Table7 7 illustrates the use of Strategy 5, inserting the structural particle 的 ( de ) between the modifier from the modified noun, to overcome this problem. As shown in Table ​ Table7, 7 , 學習成效 (xué xíchéng xiào; learning effectiveness ) was modified by adjectival nouns, 跨文化溝通能力 (kuàwén huàgōu tōngnéng lì; cross-cultural communication skills ). GT translated the entire phrase into cross-cultural communication skills learning effectiveness without identifying that 學習成效 (xué xíchéng xiào; learning effectiveness ) was the noun to be modified. We inserted the structural particle 的 ( de ) between the complex adjectival nouns and the modified noun. GT, thus, successfully identified that 學習成效 (xué xíchéng xiào; learning effectiveness ) was the modified noun and generated an appropriate translation for the phrase— learning effectiveness of cross-cultural communication skills. The analyses showed that Strategy 5 could be applied to four of the 69 (5.8%) translation errors.

Strategy 6: use circumposition such as “在…中” (zài…zhōng) to mark the abstract context where an event takes place

Circumposition combines the usage of a preposition (e.g., on the floor) and a postposition (e.g., 4 hours ago ) to create a phrase specifying the place where an action takes place. In other words, circumposition refers to the use of two prepositions in a prepositional phrase: one at the beginning of the phrase, and one at the end. In Chinese, it is common to use circumposition to surround a complement to indicate that an event takes place in abstract locations or contexts. Our data analyses showed that using Chinese circumposition to specify abstract contexts can enhance the clarity of GT English translations. As shown in Table ​ Table8, 8 , the context identified in the sentence was an abstract context, 學術寫作 (xué shùxiě zuò; academic writing ). In the original Chinese text, the author only used a preposition, 在 (zài; in ), to indicate the context. The GT placed the resulting prepositional phrase, 在學術寫作 in academic writing , at the end of the sentence, which resulted in an ambiguous sentence; the elements which form the object of the sentence were separated into two: the relationship between the presentation and coherence and in academic writing. The structure of circumposition, 在學術寫作中 in academic writing , was added to the modified Chinese text. Although the English translations of 在學術寫作 ( in academic writing ) and 在學術寫作中 ( in academic writing ) were the same, the use of circumposition in the Chinese text generated a much clearer English sentence in which the elements which formed the object of the sentence were more consolidated.

Strategy 7: use a coordinating conjunction such as “並(且)/而(且)” (bìngqiě/érqiě) to introduce additional ideas

Explicitly marking relations between phrases or clauses can enhance the clarity of GT output. As shown in Table ​ Table9, 9 , the original Chinese text included three verb phrases without linking them with any coordinating conjunctions. The logical relations of the three verb phrases were not explicitly specified. GT, thus, translated the second verb phrase into two separate verb phrases, which deviated from the meaning of the original text. In the modified Chinese text, a coordinating conjunction, 並 ( and ), was added to introduce the third verb phrase. The addition of the coordinating conjunction resulted in an accurate translation of the three verb phrases.

s subject, vp verb phrase, c conjunction

Strategy 8: use an infinitive phrase such as “以/來”(yi/lai; in order to) to suggest that the latter clause marks the purpose of the former clause

Like Strategy 7, Strategy 8 can also be used to explicitly mark the logical relations between clauses. Table ​ Table10 10 illustrates an example of using an infinitive phrase, 以 or 來 ( in order to ), to introduce a purpose clause. In the original Chinese text, the author used a coordinating conjunction, 並 ( and ), to introduce a clause that was supposed to indicate a purpose. GT was unable to precisely translate this rhetorical move. An infinitive phrase, 以 ( in order to ) was used to replace 並 ( and ) in the modified Chinese text. The modified GT English translation, thus, produced a to-infinitive clause that properly introduced a purpose.

Strategy 9: use academically appropriate vocabulary and phrases instead of colloquial expressions

As shown in Table ​ Table11, 11 , in the original Chinese text, the author chose the Chinese word 訪問 (fǎng wèn) to indicate interview ; however, the word 訪問 carries other general, colloquial meanings such as visit . Such a word choice resulted in an unprofessional GT translation in this context— visit . According to the proposed strategy, the word 訪問 was replaced by 訪談 (fǎng tán), a more specific one meaning interview in Chinese academic writing. The modified Chinese text, thus, generated an accurate GT English translation. The inductive analysis showed that a total of 11 (15.9%) of the GT translation errors could be avoided by using this strategy.

Evaluation of the Chinese optimization strategies

Each portion of the modified English output was evaluated. The evaluation focused on whether the use of the given modification strategy successfully avoided the problematic English translation output. Among the 69 identified problems in the GT translations, 68 were avoided using the proposed strategies. This finding indicates that the proposed optimization strategies can be used to resolve approximately 99% of the problems in GT English translations.

Discussion and conclusion

The present study explored the types of errors found in English translations produced by GT and proposes the use of various strategies to enhance the quality of GT translations. The results showed that using the nine GT strategies introduced in the study to modify the Chinese input into GT can correct approximately 99% of the errors in the original English translations. In other words, the findings of the study revealed that by understanding the capabilities and limitations of GT and understanding their own capabilities and limitations, GT users can utilize strategies that effectively compensate for both types of limitations and optimize the performance of GT.

In Fig.  1 , Zone 1 is the area in which both the user and GT can perform well. Zone 1 can be enlarged either through the user’s development of proficiency in the target language or through the advancement of the technology employed by GT. Zone 2 is the area in which GT still does not perform well but the user’s capability in the language can compensate for the limitations of GT. Zone 3 is the area in which the user can employ various strategies to enhance the quality of GT’s performance and therefore exceed his or her own limitations. This zone has been identified in previous studies; for example, GT was shown to outperform EFL users in terms of the use of precise vocabulary (Stapleton and Kin  2019 ; Chandra and Yuyun 2018 ). By using the nine strategies developed in this study, users can maximize the capability of Zone 3 and generate satisfactory translations. Finally, Zone 4 is an area that shows the limitations of GT. This zone can be reduced by growing Zones 1, 2, and 3. That is, the development of language proficiency, the skillful use of strategies to enhance the performance of GT, and the advancement of GT itself can lessen the size of Zone 4.

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Conceptual framework of cooperation between users and Google Translate

Function-oriented language learning and teaching

As presented in Zone 3 in Fig.  1 , from a function-oriented perspective, the proposed strategies do not require fully proficient language skills. With partial, general knowledge of the target language, users can better utilize GT to reach the goal of effective communication, unlike traditional language teaching pedagogy where teachers take time to guide students in a step-by-step manner to develop academic writing skills. This requires a long developmental process for a learner to reach the proper level of communicative competence in order to participate in the discourse community of academic writing. With the help of GT, it is possible for learners who have only limited language proficiency in the target language but strong research ability, profound discipline-specific knowledge, and knowledge of the relevant terminologies in the target language to be empowered and given the access necessary to contribute their research findings to the field, thereby speeding up the creation and dissemination of knowledge.

New lingua franca

This vision of skillful user collaboration with GT to achieve effective communication may redefine the concept of a lingua franca in the future. With the swift development of GT, the term lingua franca might no longer refer to any particular language; instead, lingua franca could actually refer to the use of one’s first language along with appropriate GT strategies. That is, the new definition of lingua franca should be applicable to any language as long as it is written in a form that can effectively be translated into any other language through machine translation. In other words, the new lingua franca could be any language as long as it is written in a form with high machine readability.

Pedagogical implications

The concept of collaborating with GT using appropriate strategies may further transform the role of language learners into that of functional language users who could carry out real-life communication by skillfully drawing from their knowledge of their first language and the target language. This advancement may fundamentally change our beliefs about language teaching and learning. The collaboration between GT and language users is not meant to override the need for L2 learning or eradicate current practices of English academic writing. Instead, a shift of instructional focuses would become the priority. For example, English academic writing classes could potentially reduce the levels of laborious skill practice and training currently employed to teach some linguistic functions which GT can handle better, such as the use of tenses and definite/indefinite articles. More training could focus instead on aspects of language that GT currently cannot handle well, such as logical connections between ideas. Also, as the present GT technology is still far from being able to generate error-free translations (Ducar and Schocket 2018 ), L2 learners who use GT to support their writing still need to be competent in identifying and correcting problematic translations. In other words, users still need to learn the target language to be able to effectively evaluate the GT output. However, learners may no longer need to master a language before they can produce academic text with high readability if they assume an active, not a passive, role as a GT user through the use of the nine strategies proposed in the study.

Limitations and future research

The present study has several limitations which could be used to inform the objectives of future research. First, the GT strategies proposed by the study were proposed based on the analyses of problematic GT translations. Further empirical data are needed to examine the effectiveness of the proposed strategies. Second, it is still unclear how the strategies will be used by language learners. Future studies could employ qualitative research methods such as using think-aloud protocols to gain insights into learners’ use of the strategies and to examine the effectiveness of the strategies. The findings of such research could shed new light on the integration of these strategies into future curriculum and lesson designs of EAP courses. Also, as previous studies have shown that learners with different levels of language proficiency can take advantage of GT to various extents, it is important to explore how individual differences in factors such as language proficiency and attitudes toward GT-assisted writing influence the effective use of the proposed GT strategies. Moreover, the translation data used in the present study and the proposed strategies were limited to English academic writing. Future studies could explore specific GT strategies for different writing genres. Finally, to realize the vision of using one’s own language as a lingua franca, the collaboration between GT and users will have to be explored in more language pairs in the future, as the present study was limited to English-Chinese translation alone.

This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan [Grant No. 108-2410-H-009-018].

Data availability

Declarations.

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Contributor Information

Yu-Chih Sun, Email: wt.ude.ucyn@cynus .

Fang-Ying Yang, Email: wt.ude.ucyn@gnayf .

Hsin-Ju Liu, Email: moc.liamg@5274480v .

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How-To Geek

10 google translate features you should be using.

Are you getting the most out of Google Translate?

Quick Links

Translate conversations in real time, translate text in the real world, handwriting translation, translate full web pages, translate single words and sentences on web pages, translate emails in gmail, translate as you type with gboard, tap to quickly translate text anywhere, download languages for offline, save frequent phrases for easy access.

Google has a large catalog of products, but one of the most practical tools is Google Translate. Using an app to communicate between different languages feels like the future, and there's more to Translate that you might not know about.

how to start interpreter mode

Google Translate powers Google Assistant's " Interpreter Mode " feature, which allows you to have real-time conversations with someone who speaks a language you don't understand. It gives you a simple interface to use, and repeats what it hears back in the desired language. You can use it on phones and smart speakers/displays.

Related: How to Use Google Assistant's Interpreter Mode

Google Translate on Android phone.

Translating text found in the real world can be much harder to do than with text online. Thankfully, Google Translate solves this problem. You can point your camera at text and see it translated before your eyes . It doesn't simply show you the translation in plain text, either. The text is displayed over the top and it attempts to match the color and font.

Related: How to Scan and Translate a Picture in Google Translate

Google Translate handwriting.

You don't have to only enter text or use your voice in the Google Translate app for iPhone and Android devices. It's also possible to translate handwriting. Simply tap the "Enter Text" field and then select the pen icon in the top right corner. Now you can write in the bottom area and see it translated to your desired language.

Click the Translate button in Chrome's address bar.

Google Chrome, unsurprisingly, incorporates a lot of Google services. Translate is one of them, and it can translate full web pages both on Chrome for desktop and mobile apps. When you visit a page in a language you can't read, look for the Translate icon in the address bar on desktop, or the bottom bar on mobile. Select it and you'll see options for languages.

Related: How to Translate a Web Page in Chrome

Translating words on the web.

Don't need to translate a full web page? You can also easily translate single words or chunks of text on a page. On both desktop and mobile versions of Chrome, you can highlight text and choose "Translate" from the menu. Google Translate will appear on the screen with language options for you to choose from, or take you to the Translate website with the text auto-filled.

Languages and Translate Message link in Gmail

Another Google service that works with Google Translate is Gmail. When you get an email in a language that doesn't match your primary language, Gmail automatically gives you the option to translate it. Simply click "Translate Message" from under the sender's name or the three-dot menu. Check out our full guide for some additional translation options in Gmail .

Related: How to Translate Emails You Receive in Gmail

Gboard Google Translate integration.

Google's Gboard keyboard has plenty of Google-y features built in, both on Android and iPhone . It can translate text for you with the Google Translate integration. On Android, tap the three-dot icon in the top bar of the keyboard and choose "Translate." On iPhone, tap the Google "G" logo to see the "Translate" option. This also works with Samsung's default keyboard .

Related: 10 Samsung Keyboard Features You Should Be Using on a Galaxy

Tap to translate.

If you find yourself using Google Translate on your Android device a lot, you may want to enable the floating button for quick access. It allows you to quickly bring up the Google Translate interface from anywhere, or automatically translate the copied text. To use this, open Translate for Android and go to Settings > Tap the Translate, and toggle it on.

Google Translate download for offline.

Downloading languages for offline use will ensure that you're always able to use Google Translate regardless of internet connection. To download a language, open Translate on your phone and select one of the languages at the bottom of the screen. Now you can scroll through the language list and tap the download icon next to any one you'd like to have for offline use.

Save phrases in Google Translate.

If you have certain phrases that need to be translated often, such as greetings when visiting a foreign country, you might want to save them for quick access. When you do a translation in the Google Translate mobile app, simply tap the star icon to save it to your "Phrasebook." In the future, tap the star icon on the Translate home screen to see your saved phrases.

When Google Translate works well, it can feel like magic. With a click of a button, you have full web pages translated to your languages. Text in the real world is overlayed with translations on your phone screen. Conversations happen in real time between two people who speak different languages. It's very cool, so take advantage of it.

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9 Useful Tips How To Use Google Translate

Communicate better in another language

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Google Translate is an extremely useful tool to translate words and sentences from one language to another. It supports a number of languages from around the world and you can use this translation service on your iPhone, iPad, Android, and other devices.

If you’ve used the app, it’s likely you’ve only used it for voice translations. It can actually do much more than that and you need to learn some of these tips on how to use Google Translate effectively. 

9 Useful Tips How To Use Google Translate image

Download Translations For Offline Use

You can use Google Translate to download various languages to your device so you can translate offline as well. This is a really handy feature as it helps you translate languages even when you don’t have an Internet connection.

This feature helps the app to function even in countries where it’s blocked for some reason .

  • Launch the Google Translate app on your device.
  • Tap on the hamburger icon at the top-left corner.

Download Translations For Offline Use image

  • Select the option that says Offline translation .

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  • On the following screen, you’ll see a list of languages that you can download to your device for offline use. Tap on the download icon next to the language you want to download.

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  • You can now perform translations in your downloaded languages without the Internet.

Use Conversation Mode To Translate Without Hassle

The Conversation mode lets you translate voice inputs without having to tap on any options. When you open this mode, you and the other party just need to talk as you normally would and Google Translate will translate your conversations in real time.

  • Open the Google Translate app.
  • Tap on the Conversation option.

Use Conversation Mode To Translate Without Hassle image

  • Tap on Auto in the middle and Google Translate will automatically identify the languages being spoken.

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  • You and your partner can both start talking and you’ll see the real time translations on your screen.

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  • You can turn the translations into manual mode by tapping on the mic icon at the left and right corners of your screen.

How To Google Translate Images

One of the really useful Google Translate tips is to use the visual translations feature . You can point your camera at something and the Google Translate app will translate text in that image for you in real time. This doesn’t require you to type the foreign characters in the app.

  • Access the Google Translate app.
  • Tap on the Camera option.

How To Google Translate Images image

  • Point your camera at the foreign characters you want to translate and it’ll translate that instantly on your screen.

How To Google Translate Images image 2

  • If you want to get translations for certain items in your camera frame, tap on Scan at the bottom and let Google Translate scan your picture.
  • Tap on a word and it’ll be translated on your screen.

How To Google Translate Images image 3

  • If you have saved a photo of a foreign text on your phone, you can tap on Import at the bottom to import and translate it into the Google Translate app.

How To Google Translate Images image 4

Save Translations To Access Them Later

You can use Google Translate to save your favorite words and phrases so you can get access to them quickly at a later time. This way you can build-up your own little dictionary that gives translations for your chosen words and phrases.

  • Launch the Google Translate app.
  • You’ll see your translation history. Go through it and tap on the star icon for the translations that you want to save.

Save Translations To Access Them Later image

  • To access your saved translations, tap on the hamburger icon and choose Phrasebook .

Save Translations To Access Them Later image 2

Make Your Translations Go Full-Screen

If the person you want to show the Google Translate translation has vision problems , you can get your Google translations to appear full-screen on your device. This way the text will appear in a significantly larger size and most people will be able to read it.

  • Perform your translation in Google Translate .
  • Tap on the three-dots on the translated text section and choose Fullscreen .

Make Your Translations Go Full-Screen image

  • Your translated text will now cover your entire screen.

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Write To Google Translate

You don’t necessarily need to type text to translate it. You can use Google Translate to write words (handwriting) to translate your words and sentences to your chosen language.

This can come in handy when someone’s more used to handwriting than text-typing.

  • Open the Google Translate app and tap on the pen icon next to where you type the text.

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  • Write your text in the Write here section.

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  • You’ll see the translation of your handwritten text at the top of your screen.

Write To Google Translate image 3

Use Google Translate As a Dictionary

If you have Google Translate on your device, you don’t need a dictionary. It’s because this app can bring you definitions for your words on the same translation interface.

It’s a less-known yet extremely useful feature of this app.

  • Tap on your source language and select the Detect Language option.

Use Google Translate As a Dictionary image

  • Choose English as the target language to get word definitions in the English language.

Use Google Translate As a Dictionary image 2

  • Type a word and let the app translate it for you.
  • You’ll see a section labeled as Definitions right beneath the translation box. That’s where it displays the dictionary meaning of your typed word.

Use Google Translate As a Dictionary image 3

Block Offensive Words

If you want to keep offensive words from your translations, you can do so by turning off an option in the Google Translate app on your devices.

  • Launch the app and tap on the hamburger icon.
  • Select Settings from the options available on your screen.

Block Offensive Words image

  • Tap on Speech input on the following screen.

Block Offensive Words image 2

  • Turn on the Block offensive words option.

Block Offensive Words image 3

Delete Translation History

Google Translate keeps the history of your translations and you can view it whenever you want in the app. If you don’t want someone accessing this history, you can clear it on your phone.

  • Launch the app and tap on the hamburger icon at the top-left corner.
  • Select Settings on the following screen.

Delete Translation History image

  • Tap on Clear History at the bottom.

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  • Select Yes in the prompt that appears on your screen to delete your translation history.

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Do you have any other tips on how to use Google Translate? Let us know in the comments below.

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Mahesh has been obsessed with technology since he got his first gadget a decade or so ago. Over the last few years, he's written a number of tech articles on various online publications including but not limited to MakeTechEasier and Android AppStorm. Read Mahesh's Full Bio

How to Write Unique Articles That Drive Traffic

There is no surprise that when it comes to marketing, your primary goal is to stand out and to get noticed. Your content is your main weapon and you need to make it visible on search engines. In this blog post, we have described some of the effective methods that will show you how to write unique articles the easy way.

How to write unique articles that drive traffic

Our post encompasses different methods of creating original content both manually and with the help of special tools, as well as will help you breathe new life into your website and engage more new visitors.

What Are Unique Articles

To generate unique content and rank high on Google, it’s vital to find the right approach. Uniqueness is not always about new extraordinary ideas or topics. A lot has already been said and written, so it’s hard. If at all possible, to produce brand new ideas. What really matters and has value is your approach and way of thinking.

The idea of uniqueness in a world where it is so hard to surprise other people is to make an old topic new again. Share statistics, trends, reorder, and recollect existing facts and ideas, change the angle and perspective, apply an individual style of writing, and so on.

Do not chase 100% uniqueness, as this might lead nowhere. Instead, feel free to quote opinion shapers or any famous successful people whose words can back up your opinion and bring value to your text. The priority should be given to quality that will ensure more views and, thus, higher positions in search results. 

How to Write Unique Articles: Best Practices

If you wonder how to create unique articles, we’ve gathered a few methods of generating original content for a blog or website.

Share Personal Experience

People often seek hands-on tips. If you have any related personal experience, why not leverage it and make an article 100% unique? Share your background and practice with others, such information is always interesting to read and is highly appreciated by the audience.

This tactic also ensures that you have a great new angle for your content and helps find topics to write articles about. You can either create a brand new blog post or develop an existing topic by sharing some real-life examples of your own.

Make sure to check all your posts for plagiarism, even if you write it from scratch. With as much content as the web has now, there is always a chance of a coincidence with someone else’s text, which search engines might consider plagiarism. To avoid this, use dedicated plagiarism checkers . 

Research Existing Content and Compile a More Comprehensive Guide

Chances are, similar content already exists on the internet, so your task is to outsmart them and provide valuable and unique content to your blog. Start with learning what your competition is up to. Look through the search results for your topic to see what’s already been covered. Now you need to find the gaps and tackle them. 

Read as many materials as possible. This will inspire you to generate more ideas or depict already existing ones from a different point of view. Other examples also can help you realize how to write a good article with the most comprehensive content. To cover a wider range of materials, you can use different article writing services that have a lot of useful functions, services, and content.

Your main goal is to get your content show up on the first page of the search results. Collect the best insights and ideas that come to your head from researching your competitors and make your article better with  a unique spin of thought. 

Translate Foreign Articles

What is a better way to explore a variety of existing content than to expand your contextual borders? If you speak more than one language, use it as your advantage and research foreign articles on the topic of your interest. This may be an additional source of information and ideas to further develop. 

When coming across a thought-provoking article in a different language, you may as well translate some of the ideas and use them to generate unique articles. It’s better to avoid a simple adoption of a thought and add something of your own to it. 

Synonymization

An easy way to rewrite your materials is to use synonymization, which allows you to paraphrase what you already have with the use of synonyms.   

There are two ways to go with this. You can utilize an application or a web service that will save your time. On the other hand, it may decrease the overall quality of the content. Alternatively, you can do this manually to save up on fee-based automated services and produce a high-quality text.

A lot depends on the type of text you want to produce. Synonymization is a good choice with technical or professional articles. As for blog posts written in a plain language with colloquialisms, this method might not work that well and will require the editing of produced texts manually.

Tools to Check Uniqueness

With the help of online services you can measure the uniqueness of your texts and avoid plagiarism. This will ensure higher positions in search results and, consequently, higher click-through rates.

The services that you may use to learn the percentage of uniqueness:

  • Plagtracker
  • Dupli Checker
  • Small SEO tools

If there is any plagiarism detected, tools will highlight the phrases so you can polish the text.

Even though it may seem hard to generate unique articles, in reality it is not so. All you need is to find an individual approach and present thoughts and ideas from a new angle. You’ll rank high if you write for real users and bring them value instead of producing texts for the search engines. Thus, your content will always be original and drive traffic.

Alexandra Belski

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Translate with handwriting or virtual keyboard

You can type or draw letters or symbols that your keyboard doesn’t have using Google Translate’s virtual keyboard.

  • Go to  Google Translate .

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  • Click the language to translate from. Each language has different keyboards.
  • Click the keyboard you want to use. The keyboard or drawing area shows below the white text box.
  • Use the keyboard to type or draw what you want to translate.

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If I use Google Translate to help me understand sources, do I need to create a works-cited-list entry for it?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook . For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

No, but if you are relying on  Google Translate , we recommend that you alert your instructor as early as possible. If you are unable to talk with your instructor, indicate in an endnote in your paper that you have used Google’ s translation tool.

Keep in mind, though, that Google Translate  does not always translate accurately. As the Princeton University professor Simon Gikandi notes, “When I ask Google to translate ‘Call an ambulance’ into Swahili, it suggests ‘beat up the vehicle that carries sick people’” (qtd. in Jaschik).

Jaschik, Scott. “Computer Science as (Foreign Language) Admissions Requirement.”  Inside Higher Ed , 27 Nov. 2017, www.insidehighered.com/ admissions/article/2017/11/27/should-computer-science-fulfill-foreign-language-admissions.

Exploring Google Translate-friendly strategies for optimizing the quality of Google Translate in academic writing contexts

  • Original Paper
  • Published: 01 August 2022
  • Volume 2 , article number  147 , ( 2022 )

Cite this article

  • Yu-Chih Sun 1 ,
  • Fang-Ying Yang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5262-3240 1 &
  • Hsin-Ju Liu 1  

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The present study explored the types of errors found in Google Translate (GT) Chinese-to-English translations and, based on those error types, proposes strategies for optimizing the performance of GT. Seven abstracts written in both Chinese and English from seven articles published in English Teaching and Learning in 2017 were selected as the materials. The researchers compared the GT translations to the English abstracts written by the original author(s) and analyzed the problems in the translations. The problematic translations consisted of grammatical errors (35%) and lexical errors (65%). Relatedly, we propose nine specific strategies to employ when writing Chinese abstracts to be translated into English using GT. According to the strategies, we suggest that users (1) avoid native language-specific expressions, (2) maintain the use of original English terminologies in composing Chinese abstracts, and (3) enhance logical relations and expressions for the discipline-specific discourse community. Further analyses revealed that 99% of the 69 identified problems in the GT translations of the seven abstracts could be avoided by using the proposed strategies. A conceptual framework for the collaboration between GT and GT users is proposed and pedagogical implications are discussed.

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Introduction

The United Nations’ (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serves as a guideline “for peace and prosperity for people and the planet” (Department Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, History section 2022 ). The current 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined in the agenda stressed the importance of global partnerships, which require all countries to work together to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Department Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations 2022 ). At the heart of the global partnerships lies effective intercultural communication in which language is one of the major means. Learning a new language, however, is a time-consuming process and is often constrained by a number of factors (van Lieshout and Cardoso 2022 ). With the rapid development of technology, a variety of tools have been adopted by learners to facilitate the process of language learning. An understanding of the affordances of these tools can guide the language learners to make evidence-based decisions in selecting and using the tools. The present study focuses on one of the commonly used technological tools by language learners and users, Google Translate (GT). The purpose of the study is to explore GT’s affordances in English academic abstract writing by first analyzing the translation problems by GT, and based on which, proposing nine GT-friendly writing strategies for language learners to employ when they use GT to support their English abstract writing.

Advantages of machine translation technologies

With recent development of artificial intelligence (AI), the neural machine translation system utilized by machine translation (MT) tools such as Google Translate (GT) has greatly improved the translation accuracy and quality. This improvement has led to better translations of longer texts (Ducar and Schocket 2018 ). Studies have indicated that GT can be a useful learning aid for college students in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL)/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) contexts (Nila and Susanto 2017 ; Tsai 2019 ). Recent research shows that GT is a promising tool for learning second language (L2) vocabulary and pronunciation in self-directed settings (van Lieshout and Cardoso 2022 ). MT has recently taken on increasing importance in scholarly fields such as L2 academic writing and publishing. Previous research shows that MT helped L2 writers improved the quality (Stapleton and Kin 2019 ) and quantity of their L2 writing (Chon and Shin 2020 ). Groves and Mundt ( 2015 ) explored GT’s effectiveness in providing writing instruction in an English for academic purposes (EAP) context. They asked students to write short essays in their first language, and then they translated the essays to English with GT. The results showed that despite the fact that they still contained ungrammatical words and sentences, GT’s translations were considered comprehensible; the results even met the minimum admission standards for most academic institutions in Malaysia. In addition to improving L2 learners’ writing outcomes, MT also offers affective supports to L2 learners in the process of L2 writing by lowering their anxiety levels and enhances motivation and confidence (Lee 2020 ).

Challenges of machine translation technologies

Despite MT’s positive effects, studies (e.g., Alhaisoni and Alhaysony’s 2017 ) found that students expressed a paradoxical view toward its use in class. Teachers often have divided opinions regarding MT’s role in language learning. Jolley and Maimone ( 2015 ) reported that both students and their teachers have positive outlooks with regard to the in-class integration of MT; they also suggested that, in the future, teachers should provide guidance during the learning process in order to facilitate more appropriate use of the tool. On the other hand, some instructors still hold conservative, even antagonistic, views regarding the use of MT in class (Stapleton and Kin 2019 ). Chandra and Yuyun ( 2018 ) suggested that it is important for instructors to cover both the benefits and the limitations of using MT in class so that students can engage in productive and meaningful translation activity and language practice. In summary, specific guidelines of effective and appropriate MT use are called for. The present study responds to the call by offering MT-friendly writing strategies based on empirical evidence.

Evaluation and measurement of machine translation quality

Lee ( 2021 ) systematically reviewed and conducted meta-analysis on MT studies related to foreign language education published between 2000 and 2019. Based on the review of the studies that examined MT translation quality, Lee ( 2021 ) found that overall the most common error types produced by MT were syntactic and grammatical errors, and the translation quality was particularly poor with translation of longer texts. However, closer examinations of more recent studies reveal that the application of the neural machine translation system in MT has greatly improved the translation quality of longer texts.

Lee ( 2021 ) also indicates that, unlike the evaluation of MT outcomes in translation-related studies, the purpose of evaluating the MT translation quality in L2 learning and teaching mainly focuses on examining MT’s technological affordances for L2 learning and teaching rather than evaluating the translation quality per se. As a result, most studies evaluate students’ writing after students used MT as a supporting tool rather than directly evaluating the quality of machine translation output. For example, Tsai ( 2019 ) used two online computational writing assessment tools to assess L2 students’ MT-supported English writing. In this study, writing quality was evaluated in terms of the number of spelling and grammatical errors, the probability of errors, and lexical features (i.e., the number of words at different frequency bands and lexical density). In another study, Stapleton and Kin ( 2019 ) recruited English teachers to evaluate the quality of English essays, which were originally composed by students in their L1 (Chinese) and later translated by GT into English. A rubric on a four-point scale covering three dimensions (i.e., grammar, vocabulary, and comprehensibility) was developed to guide the teachers to evaluate the translated English text.

Previous studies show that GT has frequently been integrated into English writing classes and used as a support tool by language learners. Given the fact that GT has advanced to become a more reliable tool, and will continue to advance further, its application in the field of language learning and teaching deserves our attention. The present study, therefore, sought to explore the affordances of GT in language learning and teaching and based on which to propose strategies for enhancing its affordances by addressing the following three research questions:

What types of errors in English translation can be identified when GT is used to translate Chinese academic abstracts?

What Chinese abstract writing strategies can be used to optimize the quality of GT English translations?

To what extent can the proposed Chinese abstract writing strategies enhance the quality of GT English translations?

Seven abstracts (containing a total of 51 Chinese sentences and 2129 Chinese characters) written in both Chinese and English from seven articles published in English Teaching and Learning ( ETL ) in 2017 were selected as the materials for data analysis. ETL was chosen because the journal’s corresponding English abstracts allowed the researchers to check the accuracy of terminologies translated by GT. Also, the topics of studies published in ETL match the researchers’ field of expertise. The researchers’ familiarity with the content knowledge of the abstracts, thus, allowed for the accurate and reliable justification of the GT translations.

Data analysis

To answer Research Question 1, the researchers first used GT to translate the seven Chinese abstracts into English. The English translations generated by GT were then compared to the English abstracts written by the studies’ author(s). Differences between each Google translated English abstract and the corresponding original English abstract were identified, with those differences used to identify and code errors in the translation. Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss   1999 ) was employed as an analytical approach. The process of data analysis was inductive, iterative, and data driven. A research assistant, who had a master’s degree in the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL), coded the errors and developed an initial coding system. The final coding system was developed through several rounds of data examination and discussion with the first author, who had a Ph.D. degree in TESOL.

To answer Research Question 2, the researchers examined each error in the English translations and identified the source(s) of the errors, before then using that information to modify the corresponding portion of the Chinese abstract written by the author(s). The modification strategies were coded and analyzed inductively following the same approach described in the previous paragraph.

To answer Research Question 3, the researchers used GT to translate the modified Chinese abstracts into English. Each entry of the English output was rated by the researchers to evaluate the translation outcome. More specifically, the evaluation focused on whether the use of a given modification strategy successfully resolved the errors in the English translations. A total of 69 problems in the GT translations were evaluated. A check of interrater reliability regarding all 69 entries was conducted, and it was found that the interrater reliability was 100%.

Types of errors in the GT English translations

Sixty-nine problems in the GT translations were identified (Table 1 ). Approximately 34.8% of those errors were categorized as grammatical errors, while 65.22% were categorized as lexical errors. The most common grammatical errors were instances of mispunctuation, null-subject sentences, and the misuse of conjunctions. The most common lexical errors were instances of academically inappropriate word choices; non-contextual, literal translations of Chinese texts; and untranslated or redundant/unnecessary words.

Optimization strategies for Chinese abstract writing

Nine optimization strategies for Chinese abstract writing were identified based on inductive analyses of the GT translation errors. The nine strategies (Table 2 ) can be divided into three types of actions: (1) avoidance actions: Strategies 1–3 (2) maintenance actions: Strategy 4, and (3) enhancement actions: Strategies 5–9. Each strategy is illustrated as follows:

Strategy 1: avoid using Chinese big words or set phrases, use modern Chinese

Our analyses showed that GT currently cannot appropriately process Chinese big words and ancient literary Chinese. As shown in Table 3 , one author used the Chinese word 服膺 (fú yīng; obey ) to indicate that the students in the study identified with the core value of their textbooks. Nevertheless, Google translated the Chinese word 服膺 to clothing , an uncontextual translation which totally deviated from the Chinese word’s actual meaning. The researchers then replaced 服膺 with a more modern word, 認同 (rèn tóng ; identify ). The modified Chinese text, thus, generated a contextually appropriate GT English translation—“… most children agree with the value and content of textbooks.” Of the 69 translation errors, three (4.3%) could be resolved using this strategy.

Strategy 2: avoid writing null-subject sentences

Writing a sentence without a subject is common in Chinese. The data analyses of the present study showed that GT assigned contextually inappropriate subject(s) to null-subject sentences. The associated proposed strategy recommends that the writing of null-subject sentences in Chinese, especially long, complex sentences, be avoided. As shown in Table 4 , the original Chinese text consisted of a null-subject sentence. GT assigned a contextually inappropriate subject, you , to the sentence. To avoid this problem, we added a contextually appropriate subject 研究者 (yán jiùzhě; the researchers ) to the sentence. The resulting GT output was, thus, acceptable. Of the 69 translation errors, seven (9.4%) could be resolved using this strategy.

Strategy 3: avoid using Chinese-specific punctuations

The analyses showed that GT followed the original Chinese punctuations, which generated incorrect uses of punctuation in the English translations, especially in cases of listing. As can be seen in Table 5 , we used a conjunctive coordinator, 及 (jí; and ), and a Chinese-specific punctuation mark that indicates a short pause (、) to separate three nouns in the original Chinese sentence. GT then simply used a comma to replace the Chinese-specific punctuation (、) without placing a conjunctive coordinator, and , before the last listed item. The researcher modified the Chinese text by following the English punctuation rule for listing and using commas instead of the Chinese-specific one. The modified GT English translation outcome was, thus, correctly punctuated. Four of the 69 (4.3%) translation problems were resolved using this strategy.

Strategy 4: use English terminologies directly

Strategy 4 suggests the use of English terminologies instead of Chinese terminologies when writing Chinese that is to be translated into English using GT. As shown in Table 6 , Google translated 修辭言步 (xiū cíyánbù) as rhetoric step and translated 介紹本研究 (jiè shàoběnyán jiù) as introducing this study. Although the translation output was still comprehensible, it deviated from the standard usage of the terms in this field of study. In this case, the English terms rhetorical move and occupying the niche can be used directly in Chinese abstract writing to avoid nonstandard GT translations of the terminologies. Approximately 30% of the English translation errors could be addressed using this skillful bilingual writing strategy.

Strategy 5: add the structural particle “的” ( de ) after compound-complex adjectives/adjectival phrases to distinguish the modifier from the modified noun

In Chinese, it is common to attach the attributes of a noun by directly adding complex adjectives or complex adjectival nouns before it. The analyses showed that GT was not able to distinguish the complex adjectival nouns from the nouns that they were intended to modify. Table 7 illustrates the use of Strategy 5, inserting the structural particle 的 ( de ) between the modifier from the modified noun, to overcome this problem. As shown in Table 7 , 學習成效 (xué xíchéng xiào; learning effectiveness ) was modified by adjectival nouns, 跨文化溝通能力 (kuàwén huàgōu tōngnéng lì; cross-cultural communication skills ). GT translated the entire phrase into cross-cultural communication skills learning effectiveness without identifying that 學習成效 (xué xíchéng xiào; learning effectiveness ) was the noun to be modified. We inserted the structural particle 的 ( de ) between the complex adjectival nouns and the modified noun. GT, thus, successfully identified that 學習成效 (xué xíchéng xiào; learning effectiveness ) was the modified noun and generated an appropriate translation for the phrase— learning effectiveness of cross-cultural communication skills. The analyses showed that Strategy 5 could be applied to four of the 69 (5.8%) translation errors.

Strategy 6: use circumposition such as “在…中” (zài…zhōng) to mark the abstract context where an event takes place

Circumposition combines the usage of a preposition (e.g., on the floor) and a postposition (e.g., 4 hours ago ) to create a phrase specifying the place where an action takes place. In other words, circumposition refers to the use of two prepositions in a prepositional phrase: one at the beginning of the phrase, and one at the end. In Chinese, it is common to use circumposition to surround a complement to indicate that an event takes place in abstract locations or contexts. Our data analyses showed that using Chinese circumposition to specify abstract contexts can enhance the clarity of GT English translations. As shown in Table 8 , the context identified in the sentence was an abstract context, 學術寫作 (xué shùxiě zuò; academic writing ). In the original Chinese text, the author only used a preposition, 在 (zài; in ), to indicate the context. The GT placed the resulting prepositional phrase, 在學術寫作 in academic writing , at the end of the sentence, which resulted in an ambiguous sentence; the elements which form the object of the sentence were separated into two: the relationship between the presentation and coherence and in academic writing. The structure of circumposition, 在學術寫作中 in academic writing , was added to the modified Chinese text. Although the English translations of 在學術寫作 ( in academic writing ) and 在學術寫作中 ( in academic writing ) were the same, the use of circumposition in the Chinese text generated a much clearer English sentence in which the elements which formed the object of the sentence were more consolidated.

Strategy 7: use a coordinating conjunction such as “並(且)/而(且)” (bìngqiě/érqiě) to introduce additional ideas

Explicitly marking relations between phrases or clauses can enhance the clarity of GT output. As shown in Table 9 , the original Chinese text included three verb phrases without linking them with any coordinating conjunctions. The logical relations of the three verb phrases were not explicitly specified. GT, thus, translated the second verb phrase into two separate verb phrases, which deviated from the meaning of the original text. In the modified Chinese text, a coordinating conjunction, 並 ( and ), was added to introduce the third verb phrase. The addition of the coordinating conjunction resulted in an accurate translation of the three verb phrases.

Strategy 8: use an infinitive phrase such as “以/來”(yi/lai; in order to) to suggest that the latter clause marks the purpose of the former clause

Like Strategy 7, Strategy 8 can also be used to explicitly mark the logical relations between clauses. Table 10 illustrates an example of using an infinitive phrase, 以 or 來 ( in order to ), to introduce a purpose clause. In the original Chinese text, the author used a coordinating conjunction, 並 ( and ), to introduce a clause that was supposed to indicate a purpose. GT was unable to precisely translate this rhetorical move. An infinitive phrase, 以 ( in order to ) was used to replace 並 ( and ) in the modified Chinese text. The modified GT English translation, thus, produced a to-infinitive clause that properly introduced a purpose.

Strategy 9: use academically appropriate vocabulary and phrases instead of colloquial expressions

As shown in Table 11 , in the original Chinese text, the author chose the Chinese word 訪問 (fǎng wèn) to indicate interview ; however, the word 訪問 carries other general, colloquial meanings such as visit . Such a word choice resulted in an unprofessional GT translation in this context— visit . According to the proposed strategy, the word 訪問 was replaced by 訪談 (fǎng tán), a more specific one meaning interview in Chinese academic writing. The modified Chinese text, thus, generated an accurate GT English translation. The inductive analysis showed that a total of 11 (15.9%) of the GT translation errors could be avoided by using this strategy.

Evaluation of the Chinese optimization strategies

Each portion of the modified English output was evaluated. The evaluation focused on whether the use of the given modification strategy successfully avoided the problematic English translation output. Among the 69 identified problems in the GT translations, 68 were avoided using the proposed strategies. This finding indicates that the proposed optimization strategies can be used to resolve approximately 99% of the problems in GT English translations.

Discussion and conclusion

The present study explored the types of errors found in English translations produced by GT and proposes the use of various strategies to enhance the quality of GT translations. The results showed that using the nine GT strategies introduced in the study to modify the Chinese input into GT can correct approximately 99% of the errors in the original English translations. In other words, the findings of the study revealed that by understanding the capabilities and limitations of GT and understanding their own capabilities and limitations, GT users can utilize strategies that effectively compensate for both types of limitations and optimize the performance of GT.

In Fig.  1 , Zone 1 is the area in which both the user and GT can perform well. Zone 1 can be enlarged either through the user’s development of proficiency in the target language or through the advancement of the technology employed by GT. Zone 2 is the area in which GT still does not perform well but the user’s capability in the language can compensate for the limitations of GT. Zone 3 is the area in which the user can employ various strategies to enhance the quality of GT’s performance and therefore exceed his or her own limitations. This zone has been identified in previous studies; for example, GT was shown to outperform EFL users in terms of the use of precise vocabulary (Stapleton and Kin  2019 ; Chandra and Yuyun 2018 ). By using the nine strategies developed in this study, users can maximize the capability of Zone 3 and generate satisfactory translations. Finally, Zone 4 is an area that shows the limitations of GT. This zone can be reduced by growing Zones 1, 2, and 3. That is, the development of language proficiency, the skillful use of strategies to enhance the performance of GT, and the advancement of GT itself can lessen the size of Zone 4.

figure 1

Conceptual framework of cooperation between users and Google Translate

Function-oriented language learning and teaching

As presented in Zone 3 in Fig.  1 , from a function-oriented perspective, the proposed strategies do not require fully proficient language skills. With partial, general knowledge of the target language, users can better utilize GT to reach the goal of effective communication, unlike traditional language teaching pedagogy where teachers take time to guide students in a step-by-step manner to develop academic writing skills. This requires a long developmental process for a learner to reach the proper level of communicative competence in order to participate in the discourse community of academic writing. With the help of GT, it is possible for learners who have only limited language proficiency in the target language but strong research ability, profound discipline-specific knowledge, and knowledge of the relevant terminologies in the target language to be empowered and given the access necessary to contribute their research findings to the field, thereby speeding up the creation and dissemination of knowledge.

New lingua franca

This vision of skillful user collaboration with GT to achieve effective communication may redefine the concept of a lingua franca in the future. With the swift development of GT, the term lingua franca might no longer refer to any particular language; instead, lingua franca could actually refer to the use of one’s first language along with appropriate GT strategies. That is, the new definition of lingua franca should be applicable to any language as long as it is written in a form that can effectively be translated into any other language through machine translation. In other words, the new lingua franca could be any language as long as it is written in a form with high machine readability.

Pedagogical implications

The concept of collaborating with GT using appropriate strategies may further transform the role of language learners into that of functional language users who could carry out real-life communication by skillfully drawing from their knowledge of their first language and the target language. This advancement may fundamentally change our beliefs about language teaching and learning. The collaboration between GT and language users is not meant to override the need for L2 learning or eradicate current practices of English academic writing. Instead, a shift of instructional focuses would become the priority. For example, English academic writing classes could potentially reduce the levels of laborious skill practice and training currently employed to teach some linguistic functions which GT can handle better, such as the use of tenses and definite/indefinite articles. More training could focus instead on aspects of language that GT currently cannot handle well, such as logical connections between ideas. Also, as the present GT technology is still far from being able to generate error-free translations (Ducar and Schocket 2018 ), L2 learners who use GT to support their writing still need to be competent in identifying and correcting problematic translations. In other words, users still need to learn the target language to be able to effectively evaluate the GT output. However, learners may no longer need to master a language before they can produce academic text with high readability if they assume an active, not a passive, role as a GT user through the use of the nine strategies proposed in the study.

Limitations and future research

The present study has several limitations which could be used to inform the objectives of future research. First, the GT strategies proposed by the study were proposed based on the analyses of problematic GT translations. Further empirical data are needed to examine the effectiveness of the proposed strategies. Second, it is still unclear how the strategies will be used by language learners. Future studies could employ qualitative research methods such as using think-aloud protocols to gain insights into learners’ use of the strategies and to examine the effectiveness of the strategies. The findings of such research could shed new light on the integration of these strategies into future curriculum and lesson designs of EAP courses. Also, as previous studies have shown that learners with different levels of language proficiency can take advantage of GT to various extents, it is important to explore how individual differences in factors such as language proficiency and attitudes toward GT-assisted writing influence the effective use of the proposed GT strategies. Moreover, the translation data used in the present study and the proposed strategies were limited to English academic writing. Future studies could explore specific GT strategies for different writing genres. Finally, to realize the vision of using one’s own language as a lingua franca, the collaboration between GT and users will have to be explored in more language pairs in the future, as the present study was limited to English-Chinese translation alone.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan [Grant No. 108-2410-H-009-018].

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Yu-Chih Sun, Fang-Ying Yang & Hsin-Ju Liu

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Sun, YC., Yang, FY. & Liu, HJ. Exploring Google Translate-friendly strategies for optimizing the quality of Google Translate in academic writing contexts. SN Soc Sci 2 , 147 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00455-z

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00455-z

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The Impact of Google Translate on EFL Learners' Writing Performance

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2021, In Translation

As most learners and teachers described, writing is a challenging task due to its different aspects. Accordingly, learners, frequently, tend to transfer from L1 to L2. Technological development brought various tools to help learners overcome their difficulties that Google Translate (GT) is the ideal option among students. Therefore, this study examines the impact GT has on EFL students' writing performance. The research opted for an experimental design wherein 32 second-year students at Badji Mokhtar-Annaba University were under investigation. Results revealed that students' writings slightly enhanced. They produced more unique words, fewer spelling mistakes, better arrangement of ideas, and longer sentences.

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In the present study, two sets of scripts from primary school students were collected, one written in English and the other in their native Chinese on the same topic. The Chinese scripts were translated into English by Google Translate (GT) and compared with the scripts written in English. Sentences in the two sets of passages that were clearly parallel in meaning were then extracted and compared for accuracy, vocabulary, substance and length. Findings revealed that in some cases the GT versions, i.e., those originally written in the native tongue, displayed language that was significantly better that what the students produced when writing in English. Patterns of improvement are analyzed and discussed.

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Online translators have become an ever-present component of language learning. Recent research has found that online translators are used for graded work at least sometimes by 87.7% of intermediate students learning Spanish and French (O'Neill, 2019). The same percentage of students self-reports using online dictionaries. Given how widespread these tools are, the impact of their usage needs to be explored. Although some research has looked into the effects of online translation on writing, no previous study has compared the composition scores of students using online translators with those using online dictionaries. This article reports the results of a study with over 1,000 compositions written by students in one of five groups: online translation use after training, online translation use with no training, online dictionary use after training, online dictionary use without training, and writing with the use of neither of these tools. The results (p < 0.05) show that students who used Google Translate after training scored the highest of all five groups on both experimental writing tasks, followed by those who used an online dictionary with prior training. The group that fared the least well was that which used neither tool. A posttest and delayed posttest however showed mixed results for online translators. Based on these findings, and given the difficulty of prohibiting the use of these tools on graded work outside the classroom, the author argues for training students in the responsible use of online dictionaries and translators for second language writing.

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