Translating text (Advanced)

Before you begin

Before you can start using the Cloud Translation API, you must have a project that has the Cloud Translation API enabled and the appropriate credentials. You can also install client libraries for common programming languages to help you make calls to the API.

For more information, see the Setup page.

Translate text example

The following example demonstrates how to use Cloud Translation - Advanced to translate text to a given target language. For more information, see the Translating text (Advanced) how-to guide.

REST & CMD LINE

Use curl or PowerShell to make a request.

The source and target languages are identified using the ISO-639-1 codes. The source language is English (en) and the target language is Russian (ru). The format of the query is noted as "text" for plain text.

Note: The sample curl command uses the gcloud auth application-default print-access-token command to get an authentication token.

Before using any of the request data below, make the following replacements:

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://translation.googleapis.com/v3/projects/project-number-or-id:translateText

Request JSON body:

{
  "sourceLanguageCode": "en",
  "targetLanguageCode": "ru",
  "contents": ["Dr. Watson, come here!"],
  "mimeType": "text/plain"
}

To send your request, choose one of these options:

curl

Note: Ensure you have set the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable to the path for your service account private key file.

Save the request body in a file called request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer "$(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token) \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d @request.json \
https://translation.googleapis.com/v3/projects/project-number-or-id:translateText

PowerShell

Note: Ensure you have set the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable to the path for your service account private key file.

Save the request body in a file called request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth application-default print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
  -Method POST `
  -Headers $headers `
  -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
  -InFile request.json `
  -Uri "https://translation.googleapis.com/v3/projects/project-number-or-id:translateText
" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "translations": [{
    "translatedText": "Доктор Ватсон, иди сюда!"
  }]
}

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the Translation Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Translation Go API reference documentation.

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import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	translate "cloud.google.com/go/translate/apiv3"
	translatepb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/cloud/translate/v3"
)

// translateText translates input text and returns translated text.
func translateText(w io.Writer, projectID string, sourceLang string, targetLang string, text string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// sourceLang := "en-US"
	// targetLang := "fr"
	// text := "Text you wish to translate"

	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := translate.NewTranslationClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewTranslationClient: %v", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	req := &translatepb.TranslateTextRequest{
		Parent:             fmt.Sprintf("projects/%s/locations/global", projectID),
		SourceLanguageCode: sourceLang,
		TargetLanguageCode: targetLang,
		MimeType:           "text/plain", // Mime types: "text/plain", "text/html"
		Contents:           []string{text},
	}

	resp, err := client.TranslateText(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("TranslateText: %v", err)
	}

	// Display the translation for each input text provided
	for _, translation := range resp.GetTranslations() {
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "Translated text: %v\n", translation.GetTranslatedText())
	}

	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the Translation Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Translation Java API reference documentation.

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import com.google.cloud.translate.v3.LocationName;
import com.google.cloud.translate.v3.TranslateTextRequest;
import com.google.cloud.translate.v3.TranslateTextResponse;
import com.google.cloud.translate.v3.Translation;
import com.google.cloud.translate.v3.TranslationServiceClient;
import java.io.IOException;

public class TranslateText {

  public static void translateText() throws IOException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "YOUR-PROJECT-ID";
    // Supported Languages: https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/languages
    String targetLanguage = "your-target-language";
    String text = "your-text";
    translateText(projectId, targetLanguage, text);
  }

  // Translating Text
  public static void translateText(String projectId, String targetLanguage, String text)
      throws IOException {

    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the "close" method on the client to safely clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (TranslationServiceClient client = TranslationServiceClient.create()) {
      // Supported Locations: `global`, [glossary location], or [model location]
      // Glossaries must be hosted in `us-central1`
      // Custom Models must use the same location as your model. (us-central1)
      LocationName parent = LocationName.of(projectId, "global");

      // Supported Mime Types: https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/supported-formats
      TranslateTextRequest request =
          TranslateTextRequest.newBuilder()
              .setParent(parent.toString())
              .setMimeType("text/plain")
              .setTargetLanguageCode(targetLanguage)
              .addContents(text)
              .build();

      TranslateTextResponse response = client.translateText(request);

      // Display the translation for each input text provided
      for (Translation translation : response.getTranslationsList()) {
        System.out.printf("Translated text: %s\n", translation.getTranslatedText());
      }
    }
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the Translation Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Translation Node.js API reference documentation.

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/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const location = 'global';
// const text = 'text to translate';

// Imports the Google Cloud Translation library
const {TranslationServiceClient} = require('@google-cloud/translate');

// Instantiates a client
const translationClient = new TranslationServiceClient();
async function translateText() {
  // Construct request
  const request = {
    parent: `projects/${projectId}/locations/${location}`,
    contents: [text],
    mimeType: 'text/plain', // mime types: text/plain, text/html
    sourceLanguageCode: 'en',
    targetLanguageCode: 'sr-Latn',
  };

  // Run request
  const [response] = await translationClient.translateText(request);

  for (const translation of response.translations) {
    console.log(`Translation: ${translation.translatedText}`);
  }
}

translateText();

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the Translation Quickstart Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Translation Python API reference documentation.

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from google.cloud import translate


def translate_text(text="YOUR_TEXT_TO_TRANSLATE", project_id="YOUR_PROJECT_ID"):
    """Translating Text."""

    client = translate.TranslationServiceClient()

    location = "global"

    parent = f"projects/{project_id}/locations/{location}"

    # Detail on supported types can be found here:
    # https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/supported-formats
    response = client.translate_text(
        request={
            "parent": parent,
            "contents": [text],
            "mime_type": "text/plain",  # mime types: text/plain, text/html
            "source_language_code": "en-US",
            "target_language_code": "fr",
        }
    )

    # Display the translation for each input text provided
    for translation in response.translations:
        print("Translated text: {}".format(translation.translated_text))