Blog
Essays on translation, naturalness, and writing in a second language.
Mistral vs GLM: a French model and a Chinese model, split by writing system
Neither model is better at translation overall. That held across 375 translation pairs, 25 target languages and 1,500 API calls. Split by writing system, thoug…
Understanding IPA: The Pronunciation System That Works for Every Language
There is a stage in learning a language where you can recognize a word on the page, know exactly what it means, and still have no idea what it sounds like. The…
How to Use a Translator to Learn a Language (Without It Doing the Learning for You)
Right now, somewhere, a language teacher is telling a class never to use a translator, and a student in the back row is quietly using one anyway. If you have e…
Why are LLMs so good at translation?
Anyone who used machine translation fifteen years ago remembers what it felt like. You pasted in a sentence and got back something that was technically readabl…
The effect of LLMs for Translation: What are people using for translation in 2026?
More people are translating text than at any point in history, yet the standalone websites built for that purpose are quietly losing visitors. The trend lines…