How far will translation technology advance in 2022?Evolution of "DeepL" beyond Google Translate

DeepL Translator app icon. Can be linked with other apps using the sharing function.

Google Translate is already an iron plate in machine translation, but DeepL Translation is often called as a technology that far exceeds its accuracy. Many readers will already be using DeepL. But if you're only using the basic method of "copy and paste the document you want to translate into a browser base," it's a waste. DeepL's recent leap is beyond imagination. Here are some examples of improvements and innovations that many people who use machine translation should know about. Only a few years after its launch, DeepL is an automatic translation service launched by a German startup in August 2017, with new features such as "Glossary", and currently supports 26 languages. This is less than Google Translate, which supports more than 100 languages, but there are enough languages ​​for general translation. Its accuracy is the number one reason why the service is preferred. It can be translated in a natural context that is not literal. The basic usage of the free version is almost the same as Google Translate, and you can access and use the DeepL site based on the browser of your smartphone or computer. However, in the free version, the number of characters that can be translated at one time is limited to "up to 5000 characters". In May 2020, a new function "Glossary" was also added. This allows the user to set a custom term and specify how to translate the phrase in the translation function. This function does not currently support Japanese, but the official website of DeepL states that "other languages ​​will be added soon". The screen when you click "Glossary" in the upper right of DeepL Translator. Procedure to create an original glossary: ​​1. Click "Glossary" in the upper right corner of DeepL Translator → 2. Specify the language pair of the glossary → 3. Enter the phrase and its translation in the original text you want to specify the translation method → 4. Added as a term pair In the app version, "image / voice translation" is also an amazing evolution of the iOS / iPad OS version app. This app version, which was launched in April 2021, implements functions unique to the app, not just "copy and translate". First, there were several options for entering text. One is to select the text of another app and link it with the DeepL app using the sharing function. As a result, a shared sheet will appear on the terminal screen, and the selected text will be automatically pasted onto the sheet and translated. A "shared sheet" that works with other apps using the sharing function has appeared. The text is automatically pasted and translated. The other is to instantly read and translate the document file in the storage of the terminal with your favorite shortcut key. Both methods save you the time and effort of "copying and pasting". The app version also supports image loading and voice recognition. "Image reading" includes "image translation" that automatically reads and translates the text contained in the image, and "camera translation" (iOS 15 only) that scans and translates the text directly with the camera. In "speech recognition", the voice heard in the microphone of the terminal is transcribed by voice recognition, and the transcribed text is automatically translated. There is also an "alternative translation" function. Multiple alternative options are offered for short phrases, allowing you to choose the one that best suits your situation. The strength of the app is that it can be easily used anytime and anywhere, but it can be said that the contents of this app version make full use of the ease of use as an app. Also, the app is completely free, including the Mac and Windows versions.