QTranslate

QTranslate uses online translation services to provide you with not only equivalents of a phrase in a foreign language but also dictionary definitions of a word.

If you are wondering what the benefits of using such an application are, let me explain to you that it can connect to various translation sites, including Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, Prompt, Babylon, SDL Free Translation and Yandex. Moreover, it gives the option of using back translation to check whether the text did not lose its original sense. It can also let you translate a given text from within any application that supports text selection.

Fortunately, the program has a user-friendly interface that entails no difficulty, even for beginners. As the program can be set to start along with the system, you can access its main window from the System Tray and enter the desired text manually. However, if you click on its icon or press a hotkey combination, a translation of the selected text will pop up. Various key combinations are available for different functions; thus, pressing Ctrl+W will show a definition of a word while Ctrl+E will use the system’s text-to-speech engine to speak the phrase.

All in all, QTranslate is a very handy application. Although for some people depending on the Internet connection is no limitation at all, other users with no permanent access to the Web will surely feel frustrated when they try to use this program unsuccessfully.