Use Google Sheets to translate faster

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to translate a complete app / a lot of strings?

Here are some quite common scenarios:

• Shortly before the launch of your MVP someone notices that the internationalization has been completely forgotten.
• You create a prototype and the interface is in your native language. A new member joins your team that does not speak your native language.
• The market for an existing product is being expanded and requires a new language to be added.

These and other scenarios can quickly lead to frustration among developers.
Large companies have employees whose main task is to provide translations. But often the developers have to translate it by themselves. Freelancers have to do it by themselves also.

To avoid copying every single phrase to a translator and the result back, you can use Google Sheets to quickly translate it!

How to do it
Name two columns and put in the origin language in one of them.
Use the following formula in the other one:

=googletranslate(A2; "en"; "es")

The first parameter is the cell you want to translate.
The second parameter is the origin language abbreviation.
The third parameter is the target language abbreviation.

Just drag the cell with the formula down to copy the formula to the other cells and you have your translation!

Of course one can argue about how good the translation of the formula is for one's own purposes, but the result is a good starting point.

And to be honest: I was amazed that this is possible!