There are quite a lot of websites that may not be in your preferred language. For those people that use Firefox as their browser, there is a built-in translator.
The translation add-on allows you to translate languages even when offline.
Firefox Version
Before we can get the translations enabled on Firefox, you need to verify that the Firefox version is 118 or higher.
Within Firefox, go to the 'Help' drop-down on the menu.
You can also get the version from the Command-Line Interface (CLI), or terminal. Use the command:
If the version is not over 118, or you want to make sure the browser is the newest version, then try:
NOTE: Before running the update, be sure to close Firefox or the update will fail.
Once you complete the update, you can try the previous test to check the version of Firefox.
Now that the browser is up to date, we can start the process of translations.
Translation Add-on
Open the Firefox browser and type in the address bar:
In the box labeled 'Find more add-ons', enter 'firefox translations'.
You should see an option returned similar to Figure 1.
FIGURE 1
Click on the option, then on the next screen click on 'Add to Firefox'. A box should pop up to ask if you want to 'Add' the add on. Once added, a configuration menu should appear to allow to change settings on reporting to Firefox. Set the options as you need.
Translating a Web Page or Text
After a page loads, you may get a box to alert you that the language is not the same as you set for the default language. It may ask you to translate the whole page.
If the box does not appear, then you can choose the option after the address on the address bar as shown in Figure 2. The language should be detected for the web page and it should also set the language to translate to as your default. Just click on 'Translate' to get the page translated as you specified. Sometimes, it may ask if you always want to translate the detected language to your default when you go to a page that is the same language as currently detected. If you want to go back to the original, just click on the same button and select 'Show Original'.
FIGURE 2
Otherwise, you can highlight specific text, right-click on it and select 'Translate to English', or whatever your default language may be set in the browser.
Download Languages
You can download language files for specific languages by opening:
You can download only the languages you want, or download all the languages for offline use.
The languages are:
You can drag-and-drop text files into the browser and have them translated. Instead of dropping a text file, you can enter the location. For example, if I have a file named 'Spanish.txt' in my Home folder, then I can type in the address bar:
The documents should be loaded into the browser and then you click on the Translation button and set your choices if they are not auto-detected.
Issues
If a language is not supported, of course it will not be translated.
When a page contains multiple languages, then only the selected language to translate is translated.
If the language is supported and it is not translating, make sure you download the language pack for the language you want to translate. If you are not connected to the Internet and the language file is not downloaded, it cannot translate the language.
Conclusion
Because of the Internet, websites are accessible from all over the globe. Not all sites support multiple languages, so a translator is beneficial to access distant sites.
The add-on is very helpful for web pages that may be in a foreign language. It is also beneficial for local text files.
Give the add-on a try and visit foreign web sites.
NOTE: Be aware that the Translations add-on can be added to Firefox, even on Android or other systems.
The translation add-on allows you to translate languages even when offline.
Firefox Version
Before we can get the translations enabled on Firefox, you need to verify that the Firefox version is 118 or higher.
Within Firefox, go to the 'Help' drop-down on the menu.
You can also get the version from the Command-Line Interface (CLI), or terminal. Use the command:
Code:
firefox -vIf the version is not over 118, or you want to make sure the browser is the newest version, then try:
Code:
sudo snap refresh firefoxNOTE: Before running the update, be sure to close Firefox or the update will fail.
Once you complete the update, you can try the previous test to check the version of Firefox.
Now that the browser is up to date, we can start the process of translations.
Translation Add-on
Open the Firefox browser and type in the address bar:
Code:
about:addonsIn the box labeled 'Find more add-ons', enter 'firefox translations'.
You should see an option returned similar to Figure 1.
FIGURE 1
Click on the option, then on the next screen click on 'Add to Firefox'. A box should pop up to ask if you want to 'Add' the add on. Once added, a configuration menu should appear to allow to change settings on reporting to Firefox. Set the options as you need.
Translating a Web Page or Text
After a page loads, you may get a box to alert you that the language is not the same as you set for the default language. It may ask you to translate the whole page.
If the box does not appear, then you can choose the option after the address on the address bar as shown in Figure 2. The language should be detected for the web page and it should also set the language to translate to as your default. Just click on 'Translate' to get the page translated as you specified. Sometimes, it may ask if you always want to translate the detected language to your default when you go to a page that is the same language as currently detected. If you want to go back to the original, just click on the same button and select 'Show Original'.
FIGURE 2
Otherwise, you can highlight specific text, right-click on it and select 'Translate to English', or whatever your default language may be set in the browser.
Download Languages
You can download language files for specific languages by opening:
Code:
about:preferences#generalYou can download only the languages you want, or download all the languages for offline use.
The languages are:
- Bulgarian
- Catalan
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Estonian
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Greek
- Hungarian
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Serbian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Spanish
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Vietnamese
You can drag-and-drop text files into the browser and have them translated. Instead of dropping a text file, you can enter the location. For example, if I have a file named 'Spanish.txt' in my Home folder, then I can type in the address bar:
Code:
file:///home/jarret/Spanish.txtThe documents should be loaded into the browser and then you click on the Translation button and set your choices if they are not auto-detected.
Issues
If a language is not supported, of course it will not be translated.
When a page contains multiple languages, then only the selected language to translate is translated.
If the language is supported and it is not translating, make sure you download the language pack for the language you want to translate. If you are not connected to the Internet and the language file is not downloaded, it cannot translate the language.
Conclusion
Because of the Internet, websites are accessible from all over the globe. Not all sites support multiple languages, so a translator is beneficial to access distant sites.
The add-on is very helpful for web pages that may be in a foreign language. It is also beneficial for local text files.
Give the add-on a try and visit foreign web sites.
NOTE: Be aware that the Translations add-on can be added to Firefox, even on Android or other systems.
