Universal Translator for Mac

Universal Translator is an app for the Mac that offers word and sentence translation into more than 50 languages. The Universal Translator installs in a second or two, and the interface is a model of simplicity with two panes, one for typing a word, sentence or phrase and the other for the translation. Two selectors at the top control which languages are used. Icons allow the phrases to be spoken. The software supports non-Roman alphabets and where necessary there's both the textual translation and a phonetic translation as well. There's a long list of supported languages, although not all have a spoken option. Universal Translator requires an Internet connection so it can reach Google Translate, which it used for the basis of translations.

We tested Universal Translator with the seven different languages we are fluent in, and the translations were all acceptable, and in many cases, very good or excellent. Some phrases that trip up other translation software were correctly translated by Universal Translator, which was surprising. A good example is the term "wizard," which many software packages translate as a magical person but Universal Translator sensed meant an installation assistant from the context of the sentence!

We used Universal Translator on hundreds of phrases and excerpts from books and verified each translation was acceptable. With a near 100% accuracy rate Universal Translator was impressive. Sure, it uses Google Translate, but it was easy to use and fast. We are so impressed with Universal Translator we are using it as our go-to translator. Now we need a mobile version, please.