Free Translator

A free translator can be a real life-saver for a person who is in desperate need of human translation but does not have a budget for it. No, I don't mean free online translators that produce "quick and dirty" machine translation output which is unacceptable in many life situations. By "free translator" I mean a person volunteering to help others with language translation. I have put together a list of resources for you to be able to find some free translation help from humans in case you need such help.

 
By the way, if you know free translators (individuals, organizations or websites that provide human translation support free of charge), please let others know about them.

Here's the list:

1. Freelang - Free Human Translation. You will be able to contact a translator and get some help with the translation of a short text of non-commercial nature.

2. Linguanaut. One of the goals of this website is to connect people needing a translation with native volunteers who offer one. There are more than 150 free translators registered on the website. All you need to do is choose a language from a table, fill out a form, submit it, and wait for an e-mail from a volunteer.

3. Cucumis is a community of translators who share their knowledge of language for mutual advantage. If you don't know a foreign language, you still can use Cucumis. Upon registration, you'll be given 300 points plus 300 points each 10 days when you log in. You need these points to submit a text for translation.

4. Sylang. The website is in French. It helps to get short (up to 300 characters) English to French and French to English translations performed by volunteer translators from across the globe. You have to verify your email since the translation will be sent to you by email. Also, you can submit up to two translation requests in a 24-hour period (that is up to 600 characters per day).

5. BBB Korea - a volunteer service for translation. If a foreigner in Korea has problems communicating in Korean, he or she just need to call 1588-5644 (no area code is necessary) to be connected to one of the BBB volunteer interpreters. The service covers the whole Korea peninsular. Nearly 3,700 volunteer interpreters provide interpretation services in 17 different languages 24/7 through mobile phones.

6. Toyama International Center. If you don't know Japanese and need to communicate with a Japanese person or office about something important, call the Toyama International Center. The Center will provide you with a telephone interpreter free of charge. The interpreter will contact the appropriate person or office and interpret during the consultation.

7. Translators Without Borders Association created by Lexcelera, a French translation company, to provide pro bono or low-budget translations to humanitarian organizations that do not have political affiliations. TWB has enough human resources to help NGOs even with very big translation projects on condition that the deadline is long enough. Along with your document for translation you need to send to TWB, in particular, information about your preferred deadline, source and target languages, an indication of a budget (if you have one), the level of quality required (translation for internal purposes or publication purposes), and whether the translation will be edited and proofread once received.

8. Free Human Translation Service by Translatorsbase.com. Offers translation of a short term or phrase by professional translators. Quick translation is not guaranteed. The translation turnaround time will depend on the availability of translators. You'll submit your term or phrase via the website. But at first, you have to register. You'll get a notification by email when your phrase or term is translated. The last step is to log in to the website and grab your translation.

To read more about free human translation, go to Free Language Translation Page

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