But having this understanding is not usually essential. Start by bookmarking all of the on-line translation services listed above. Then find and open a multilingual Web site. If you speak English, Spanish, or French, the Web site of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law will work. Repeat the last three steps with a handful of sites and you will soon have a feel for how these programs work.
None match human translation.
Machine translation programs don't all use the same translation protocol. Some cover more languages than others. Some programs have bigger dictionaries than others. Some seem to translate better in one direction than in the reverse. Simple sentence structures translate the best.