I like some of the ideas that the Google Translate staff is trying to implement. But.. I have used Google Translate for the last two or three years and, in general, Google Tranlate has improved during this time. It has improved to the point that I use BabelFish much less to recheck my translation. This time though I have concerns. Better functionality is a reason I use Google Translate as opposed to BabelFish. 1) The old look is FAR SUPERIOR. When you are are translating, you are comparing two phrases at the same time. Seeing each word at or near its other language's counterpart matters. I am trying to get the IDEA translated so I am comparing and working in parallel- meaning SIDE by SIDE. Having to hunt for words up and down the page (like in BabelFish) makes comparison difficult. 2) When scanning through articles for the stuff of interest, the old look is FAR SUPERIOR. Same reason, the stuff is near each other- IF YOU VIEW IT SIDE BY SIDE. I WANT A TOOLBAR 1) I want a Thesaurus on at the top, as a tool bar, where I can highlight a word or phrase and I am given a choice to REPLACE. 2) I want a dual language Dictionary with examples of the use of the words. A good example of one is found at TRANSLATUM.GR 3) I want a GRAMMAR CHECK AND REPLACE tool, where I can check phrases for proper TENSE (past, present, future) and GENDER (masculine feminine neuter) to use. For example, the word RUN is identified and these options are loaded such as RUN, I RAN, I WILL RUN, I AM RUNNING, HE RAN, SHE RAN, IT RAN The machine translation is often in the wrong Tense or Gender and in my opinion a manual edit tool would be nice. What I do like about Google Translate. It has improved in the last few years. The names of cities and people are now present in the translation a lot more. The last translation languages were saved so I don't have to scroll and chose each time. Overall the translation on Google Translate has improved significantly. As for the NEW LOOK... It is another example of someone new taking control of management or a development team or the new CEO taking over and having to have a pissing contest with the past. The new look of Google Translate looks to me like the new look of eBay, the new look of Yahoo, the new Coke- a focus group success and actual user failure.
