Do you need something translated? Need something translated? Over the years, Google Translate has been the choice of anyone who wants to find out what a text in other languages. However one German startup company is using machine learning to give instant translations that can often outperform the tech giants in terms of accuracy.
Google Translate vs DeepL
DeepL translator uses artificial intelligence to constantly learn and delivers good results, even with long-winded sentences. Sometimes, no human correction is needed. Usually, this free service can handle a common phrase and adapt it to something idiomatically similar in the target language.
Although DeepL’s range of languages is not as massive as Google translate, but it still covers some of the most widely spoken ones. Also, lets you freely translate between English (British or American), German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chines. With the free browser-based version of DeepL translator, you are able to translate texts of up to 5,000 characters in one go, anything else will get cut off at the bottom, but you are able to paste in longer texts in chunks.
One key advantage over DeepL, especially for translators, is the ability to click on any word and see suggestions for alternative methods to translate it. This means that if at any time, DeepL’s translation does not feel right, so you are able to click on the word and then change it to something more suitable. DeepL will be able to be used either in the browser version or as a free app for Windows or Mac.
The competition between these two online translators is no secret. Now, let us look at the main differences between the two services and see which performs better. Let’s have a look Google Translate vs DeepL. Most users know that Google Translate does not provide for alternatives to translate a word or a specific text. However, this could change with the arrival of DeepL.
1. DeepL Translator
DeepL is an innovative free translation service which uses artificial intelligence techniques based on deep learning, is a branch of artificial intelligence which tries to simulate learning models in methods similar to the human brain. DeepL translator offers translations in some language combinations such as English, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, German, and Dutch. Some of those combinations are more successful than others; English, for instance is the language which produces the best translations. Also, DeepL translator is based on the online dictionary Linguee which offers access to over one billion translated texts. So, with one click, you are able to get the translation of any word.
To prove the potential of DeepL, a test was carried out in which professional translators had to select the best translation from among over 100 sentences translated by Microsoft, Facebook, and Google. The results, in the translation from English into Spanish, DeepL translator scored much higher than other translators such as Google, Microsoft, or Facebook. In the other language combinations tested, DeepL translator performed three times better than those carried out by the other translation services.
Because DeepL translator uses more advanced technology than Google, it can generate translations that read very naturally, similar to those that could be produced by a human translator. One of disadvantages of this translation service is that, for now, it cannot translate a whole website from the web browser.
2. Google Translate
Google Translate is one of Google’s most famous and well-known tools. It is able to translate into more than 100 languages. Google Translate has improved substantially in recent years and right now offers higher quality results.
One of the best features of Google Translate is that it will be able to import documents and, once translated, show the translation in such a way that online. Google Translate still has more features than DeepL translator. Need to know that Google Translate offers voice translation, image translation and it is integrated with the Chrome web browser to translate any website without leaving it.
But, when Google Translate is asked to translate a sentence or a text and not only a single word, it provides only a literal translation which is a much lower quality than that produced by a human translator. On the other hand, DeepL translator puts the sentence to be translated into context and translates it using the most commonly used words in the target language.
DeepL More Accurate and Nuanced than Google Translate
We run our own experiment and test the capabilities of the new tool. For the purpose of the experiment, we picked a non-fictional text from the European Personnel Selection Office sample tests for verbal reasoning. What we see from the experimental results is that Google Translate went for the more literal translation, while DeepL translator tried to find synonyms so that not lose certain nuances. Eventually, this difference made for a more natural translation. In addition, we get information that Google Translate managed to slip in a tense error, while DeepL translator did not make the same mistake.
Of course, this is no means a comprehensive experiment. There are no definite claims that can be made as to the relative proficiency of both systems. But, within the scope of our experiment, DeepL outperformed Google Translate. Thus, the newcomer clearly has an important role to play in the machine translation landscape. Those translation systems are interesting if you want an instant translation, the same as with our machine translation service. The major difference and the added value of the AT translator is that you are able to translate any text or document while preserving the original formatting. Furthermore, if you are translating a document, you will be able to download the translation in the same file format as the original version.
Machine translation solutions are great for professional translators, who use them as a support tool, and also non-professional users who only need an occasional translation. However, as much as DeepL translator has improved machine translation, it will never replace the work of a professional translator.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…
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