14 DAY TRIAL // Because translating is FUN!
Let's give it a B- for effort, but it should probably be about a C. If you've surfed the net long enough then you might have run into Web sites in different languages. You might even translated them in the language of your choice through several mediums. If you notice I used the word tried, that's because whenever you do use other translators, you're usually left off very close to where you started. Yes you have some of the words translated, but you're usually left with a mishmash of mixed fragments that you have to sort through and decipher.
With World of Words, you're able to save yourself the trouble of all that copying, pasting and time consumption with a little install of a portable and quick translator. One that will translate "most" words under your cursor.
How It Works
The idea behind the concept is quite simple. By scrolling over a specific word that's displayed on your computer, you're able to see what that word would be in 3 different languages: English, German and French. Setup is quite easy and there is absolutely no trick to the interface. The program itself runs in your System Tray and can be turned on and off by a single click on a button. You can tell whether it's on or off depending on the color it displays: red for off, green for on.
From there, you choose the language you want to read from while setting the language to the specified word to be translated to. You can also choose fro a variety of font styles. You can also check/uncheck 'balloon style' and 'shadow' from this menu as well. The final option you have for this program is setting the popup time delays (in seconds) along with the popup kill tie and transparency.
The program description should speak volumes? "will translate 'most' words under your cursor." Right off the bat I was curious to see what the word "most" would actually mean. I installed the program and got it running just fine, but I do have to say that it did have some fits with me.
Stubborn little guy
The program does what it's supposed to do? usually. I say it's stubborn because it only acted and brought up the popups whenever I was perfectly centered and in the right spot with the word I wanted translating.
If the word is a verb that's also being conjugated, prepare for a little disappointment because it wont' translate. Also beware that some online ads are in an image format but have words written on them, World of Words won't be able to translate anything that's not text based.
This program hasn't proven itself overall. I feel as though I'd still be better off going through Google translated Web sites or just copying and pasting into Babel Fish and figuring it out there. It provides me with no useful grammar checker and sometimes doesn't even get the right translation (It told me that "Aller" in French only meant "Flow or Ride"). I know I'm not the best fluent French speaker in the world, but I did learn that Aller means "to go."
The reason why I can't recommend it is that it only has 3 languages as well whereas Babel Fish works on much higher levels. I can't even recommend an install unless you're trying to learn some new vocabulary words (some of which won't even work). It's hard to make a translation program, but if one does, they should do it right and I just feel like this could use a little more work.
Typically for quick, direct and simple word translations, this program can usually do what you want of it, but when you want something with a bit more kick, look around before you decide to settle on World of Words.
The Good
The good part of this program is that it did work on many different types of applications. When looking at some file properties I was able to hover over some words and get the translation. I was indeed surprised that I could use it with so many programs, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was sometimes a real hassle to deal with. It's a descent single word translator at best.
The Bad
You'll go through a lot of bad before getting to the good. Aside from the necessary perfect mouse alignment, or the stubborn way it acts, or the fact that it sometimes doesn't even translate anything, yeah, it's pretty good. It's something you could give your eight year old to play with when you're trying to teach them a foreign language.
The Truth
The truth of the matter is that you're probably saving yourself some hard drive space, some time and definitely some hassle if you skip over this little guy. If you do choose to practice up on that vocab, get ready for a little disappointment when it doesn't translate that conjugated verb or any other word it chooses to ignore.
Check out the screenshots below.
