Bubble translate is one of the best extensions for Google Chrome to be released so far. It is a translation tool which uses Google’s own API at translate.google.com to change languages on the fly and display them in a tooltip on the page. When you select a passage using the mouse cursor and hold down a button or two (of your choosing) the transformed text will appear inside a tooltip bubble (which you can also customize).
You can see from this test at http://pics520.com that although the translation is not perfect, you can easily understand what it means!
The first thing you notice after installing the Bubble Translate Chrome extension is the number of languages available. The list is huge, and it contains some languages that you probably have never heard of. Don’t be shy, however, just select ‘English’ (if that’s the language you want to read) and move on!
You can also customize your ’shortcut’ buttons (ie, which buttons to hold down while you’re selecting text). We found holding Shift and Control was a good option (as your left hand is naturally close to these two), however it’s obviously up to you!
Finally, you can set your preferences regarding the look of the tooltip which will pop up with your desired text in. It’s that easy!
Obviously, because you’re using machine translation (from Google) of the text, it is not going to be fluent or perfect. That said, the quality that is produced is, in most cases, understandable – and it is only getting better.
If you’re involved in any multi-lingual projects, or if you like to browse sites not in your native tongue, then try it out.
Bubble Translate Chrome extension
Direct download – http://bubble-translate.googlecode.com/files/BubbleTranslate-v0.4.5.crx
Homepage – http://code.google.com/p/bubble-translate
Having trouble installing the Bubble Translate extension into your Chrome browser? Remember to restart after installing and after changing preferences, and you should be set.
Let us know what you think of Bubble Translate in the comments, or if you know of any other translation plugins, addons or extensions for Google Chrome!
