Firefox translations tested – GNU/Linux.ch

Tuesday, September 19, 2023, Ralph Hersl

The translation function in the Firefox web browser has been available as an add-on for more than a year, as we mentioned here and here. With the current version 117, this feature appears for the first time as a native part of the browser. Firefox translations are currently marked as beta and must be turned on via configuration, but the functionality should already be turned on by default in version 118.

Translated Washington Post article with Firefox subtitles

The special thing about Firefox translations is that the translation does not use a service in the cloud, but rather language models available locally. To activate the function, change under About: configuration Parameter value browser.translations.enable on TRUE Firefox restarts. As I said, this is no longer necessary starting with version 118 because it has become standard. Now you can Settings, General, Subtitles Select the language models for local translation, which are from Bergamot Project Come.

The languages ​​offered are currently limited to: Bulgarian, German, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. By button Settings You can also specify which languages ​​should be translated automatically, which languages ​​should not be translated, and which sites should not be translated. This completes the preparations. If you now open a website in a supported language (the language template is downloaded), you will find a Translate button in the address bar:

The source language is automatically recognized and the target language is suggested. The source and target languages ​​can also be changed at this point. You clicked TranslateThe entire website is translated into the target language. An example of a translated Washington Post page is shown in the cover image. In addition to the button with the language symbol, the menu item can also be used Translate the page From the hamburger menu can be used.

The translation quality cannot be compared to the quality of cloud translation like Deepl or Google Translate. The translation is done on the local computer. In addition, the translation quality is sufficient for reading comprehension, but not suitable for professional purposes.

In addition to translating entire websites, typed or copied text can also be translated. There is currently no button for this. Instead you open the page About:TranslationsAny source text can be translated.