5 Essential Chrome Extensions for Working in Multiple Languages
Posted by Chrome has become an integral part of our online experience, whether you are browsing for fun or work. The range of Chrome extensions that are now available to make all those experiences even better seem endless. Why not use some of those extensions to your advantage by helping with languages? Here are some of the essential Chrome extensions for working in multiple languages.
Readlang Web Reader
Readlang is truly one of the best Chrome extensions for anyone using multiple languages. Once installed you can read any article in your target language with Readlang right there in the corner of the screen, ready to translate whatever you need.
You can choose the position of the Readlang toolbar on the page, choose how the translation is displayed — either highlighting, underling, or replacing. Even words in a headline can be clicked on individually for translation, with the option of following the link.
As well as all of this, if you sign into Readlang you will get to keep the words you are checking to produce your own set of flashcards. You can save texts to read later or work through the recommendations from other users. In short, you can take whatever you want from anywhere on the internet and create a personalized study and reference guide. This is an incredible extension that you shouldn’t be without!
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Google Translate
Yes, the go-to translation tool for just about anyone is available as a Chrome extension! Google Translate lets you highlight a word or sentence on the page and offers you a quick pop-up translation complete with audio.
The pop-up also gives you the option to go straight to the Google Translate web page itself if you want to check for other translations or add your own words. And if the auto-detect of the language gets it wrong, you can select from the long list of languages available in the pop-up to find the right one.
This is a simple, effective extension that benefits from Google’s extensive machine language translation for a hundred languages.
Do you use Chrome extensions more for work or for fun? / photo via Pixabay
ImTranslator
ImTranslator is a popular Chrome extension that pulls together the dictionaries of Google Translate, Microsoft Bing, and other translators. There are pop-up bubbles for the words you select on whatever page you are reading, text-to-speech, and a translation history that stores the words you look up if you want to go over them again later. ImTranslator also gives audio examples so you can hear how words should sound. The extension even lets you choose to customize shortcuts suited best to your needs. This is an effective, useful extension that you will wonder how you did without it before now!
Mate Translate
If you want a Chrome extension that is visually appealing, Mate Translate is definitely worth a look. This is a clean, clear extension that gives you translations of words, sentences, and even entire pages.
You can build up a phrasebook with word lists to help you learn and remember. There is a pop-up screen where you can type your own words to translate, which is useful if you are summarizing something you are reading on the page. You can even have this bubble in day or night mode if you want to avoid eye strain! Mate Translate is available across all devices so you can keep your words in sync, with your custom wordlists always there right at your fingertips.
Which extension do you think you’ll download? / photo via Pexels
Google Input Tools
It can be annoying and time-consuming to search for an accented letter when you are typing in a language other than English since most ‘standard’ keyboards don’t provide such letters. Well, there is now an extension to help with that!
Google Input Tools is a must for those needing to work with multiple alphabets. By allowing you to bring up the keyboard layout of any language in the world, Google Input gives you access to all the letters you don’t have on your own.
There is a handwriting input feature if you have the extension on a device with a touch-screen, as well as character conversion through transliteration which makes accents appear on letters as you type in certain languages. Google Input Tools is a great, customizable tool for anyone who works in multiple languages. Give it a go!
Working in multiple languages doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Which of these Chrome extensions will help you most with your work?