If you are using Google Chrome, you may safely skip reading this as your browser has built-in language translation that triggers automatically. That is, if you ever come across a web page written in a foreign language, Chrome will instantly translate the whole page into your native language without requiring any add-ons or toolbars.

Google Translate also offers bookmarklets – or browser buttons – that you can use to quickly translate web pages in any of the other browsers (including mobile phones).

One downside of Google Translation bookmarklets is that they always open the translated page in a new browser window (or tab). If you would like the translation to happen inline – just like Google Chrome - check this new bookmarklet that uses Microsoft Translator instead of Google Translate.

javascript: (function () {
  var s = document.createElement('script');
  s.type = 'text/javascript';
  s.src = 'http://labs.microsofttranslator.com/bookmarklet/default.aspx?f=js&to=en';
  document.body.insertBefore(s, document.body.firstChild);
})();

When you click the translation bookmarklet (video demo), it will automatically detect the language of the current page and will translate to your preferred language. Translation happens inline – so you don’t leave the page - and if you ever want to go back to the original version, just reload that page.

Video: Translate Web Pages to English