Translate text with Cloud Translation Advanced

This document shows you how to translate a sample text by using Cloud Translation 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 you must have 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.

REST

Use curl or PowerShell to make a request.

The source and target languages are identified using the ISO-639 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.

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

  • PROJECT_NUMBER_OR_ID: the numeric or alphanumeric ID of your Google Cloud project

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, expand one of these options:

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 Cloud Translation quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Translation Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Translation, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

// Imports the Google Cloud Translation library
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	translate "cloud.google.com/go/translate/apiv3"
	"cloud.google.com/go/translate/apiv3/translatepb"
)


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"

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

	// Construct request
	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: %w", 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 Cloud Translation quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Translation Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Translation, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

// Imports the Google Cloud Translation library.
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 {

  // Set and pass variables to overloaded translateText() method for translation.
  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);
  }

  // Translate text to target language.
  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 Cloud Translation quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Translation Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Translation, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

/**
 * 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 Cloud Translation quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Cloud Translation Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Translation, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

# Imports the Google Cloud Translation library
import os

from google.cloud import translate_v3

PROJECT_ID = os.environ.get("GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT")


# Initialize Translation client
def translate_text(
    text: str = "YOUR_TEXT_TO_TRANSLATE",
    language_code: str = "fr",
) -> translate_v3.TranslationServiceClient:
    """Translating Text from English.
    Args:
        text: The content to translate.
        language_code: The language code for the translation.
            E.g. "fr" for French, "es" for Spanish, etc.
            Available languages: https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/languages#neural_machine_translation_model
    """

    client = translate_v3.TranslationServiceClient()
    parent = f"projects/{PROJECT_ID}/locations/global"
    # Translate text from English to chosen language
    # Supported mime types: # https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/supported-formats
    response = client.translate_text(
        contents=[text],
        target_language_code=language_code,
        parent=parent,
        mime_type="text/plain",
        source_language_code="en-US",
    )

    # Display the translation for each input text provided
    for translation in response.translations:
        print(f"Translated text: {translation.translated_text}")
    # Example response:
    # Translated text: Bonjour comment vas-tu aujourd'hui?

    return response

Additional languages

C#: Please follow the C# setup instructions on the client libraries page and then visit the Cloud Translation reference documentation for .NET.

PHP: Please follow the PHP setup instructions on the client libraries page and then visit the Cloud Translation reference documentation for PHP.

Ruby: Please follow the Ruby setup instructions on the client libraries page and then visit the Cloud Translation reference documentation for Ruby.

Additional resources