LibreTranslate: How much DeepL is ahead

[necrevistonnezr]

I just randomly played around with LibreTranslate to see if it could replace my daily driver DeepL for translation. I used a random text from an email advertising an article in a German magazine.

LibreTranslate does more of a (flawed) word-by-word translation (in German, we”d say “Denglish”, a mix of “Deutsch” and “English”), whereas DeepL actually gets the meaning of the sentence and finds a proper English replacement.

• For example, LibreTranslate uses “the e-book reader” in the first sentence because in German, we use “the” all the time, whereas in English, you only use it on special occasions (mostly, if that word has been referenced before).
• In the second sentence, it just omits “video”.
• In the last sentence, it just doesn’t get the meaning. In the German version it describes the fact that if you have old readers and you don’t use it anymore, very often people just put it in the drawer and don’t use it anymore.

German:

Wer nicht nur Bücher liebt, sondern sich auch seine Lieblingsfotos ansehen möchte, kann dies auf dem E-Book-Reader tun. Alexander Spier zeigt im Video, wie. Neues Leben – nicht nur für ältere Technik: Wer einen E-Book-Reader besitzt und diesen nicht mehr zum Lesen benutzt, verstaut ihn gerne mal in der Schublade.

Libretranslate:

Who not only loves books, but also wants to watch his favorite photos, can do this on the e-book reader. Alexander Spier shows how. New life – not only for older technology: If you own an e-book reader and don't use it for reading, you'd like to put it in the drawer.

DeepL:

If you not only love books, but also want to look at your favorite photos, you can do so on your e-book reader. Alexander Spier shows how in the video. New life - not just for older technology: anyone who owns an e-book reader and no longer uses it for reading likes to stow it away in a drawer.

[timconsidine]

Interesting comparison