These days, there are so many tools a translator can use – how can anyone know what all is out there, let alone which one he or she should use? What do translators use today?

First Survey

That's why we created our poll from last month, asking our Global Voices Lingua group, “What is your favorite translation tool?” Here were the results:

You can see a more detailed view of the results here. (Please note, participants could vote on multiple items.)

As you can see, most people selected “Other Online Translation Tools,” followed closely by “CAT Tools” and “Online Bilingual Dictionaries.” Yet these are such broad categories, we quickly realized that they were but the tip of the iceberg, and wondered which tools, specifically, our community likes to use.

Hence the second questionnaire. :)

Second Survey

In a GV Community Blog Post, I again asked the question, “What is Your Favorite Translation Tool?”, but this time used Google Forms to get a more in-depth look as to what our fellow translators are using. Participants were asked 9 fill-in-the-blank questions so that multiple answers could be given for each. Here's a big shout out and thank you to everyone who participated! Your responses were very helpful, and we appreciate you sharing your knowledge with our community!

The Results

Rather than posting a ton of charts and graphs in this post, I have created a Google Slides presentation of the results. To see them, click here and then select “Presentation” in the top, right-hand corner. Afterwards, if you would like to go look at the sites for the different tools and see what they are all about, I also have another Google Slides presentation that has the related links. I was not 100% certain on all of them, so a few are still missing. If you know which links to use, or if you find I used an incorrect link, please let me know so I can make the correct updates.

More Tools

We got a lot of good answers, but they are far from comprehensive. For starters, there is this blog by Flo Bejgu on free tools that can help you in your translation career. Or maybe you're more worried about time crunches? Check out Chiara Grassilli's suggestions for tools that save time. You may have to pay a little, but it could save you money – and frustration – in the long run. ProZ.com also has a pretty good CAT Tool comparison site. And don't forget to check out Danelle's GV post on which resources and processes she enjoys using as well!

If you know of other tools, or have any more good tips and tricks of the trade, please share them in the comments below!