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Azure AI Translator Service - Complete Guide ๐งฉ Problem You need to build an application that can translate text between multiple languages, detect the language of input, or adapt to specific vocabulary/industry requirements with custom translations. ๐ก Solution with Azure Use the Azure AI Translator service to detect languages, translate text, transliterate scripts, and apply domain-specific custom translations via the REST API or SDKs. ๐งฑ Required Components
Azure AI Translator resource (or Azure AI Services multi-resource) Subscription key and endpoint REST API or SDK (Python, C#, etc.) (Optional) Custom Translator portal for specialized translation models
๐๏ธ Architecture & Development 1. Provision the Translator Resource
In Azure Portal, create an Azure AI Translator resource Alternatively, create a multi-service Azure AI Services resource and use the Translator API Collect your subscription key and region, needed for API calls
- Core Capabilities a. Language Detection Endpoint: POST https://api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com/detect?api-version=3.0 Sample input: json[{ "Text": "ใใใซใกใฏ" }] Sample output: json[{ "language": "ja", "score": 1.0 }] b. Text Translation Endpoint: POST https://api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com/translate?api-version=3.0&from=ja&to=en&to=fr Sample output: json[ { "translations": [ { "text": "Hello", "to": "en" }, { "text": "Bonjour", "to": "fr" } ] } ] c. Transliteration Endpoint: POST https://api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com/transliterate?api-version=3.0&fromScript=Jpan&toScript=Latn Output: json[{ "script": "Latn", "text": "Kon'nichiwa" }]
- Translation Options Word Alignment Helps map parts of source to target: json"alignment": { "proj": "0:4-0:1 6:13-2:3" } Sentence Length Include includeSentenceLength=true to get: json"sentLen": { "srcSentLen": [12], "transSentLen": [20] } Profanity Filtering Options:
NoAction: translate as-is Deleted: remove profanity Marked: replace with asterisks (profanityMarker=Asterisk) or tags (profanityMarker=Tag)
Example: json{ "text": "JSON ist *** erstaunlich." } 4. Define Custom Translations Use the Custom Translator Portal to:
Create a workspace linked to your Translator resource Create a project Upload training data Train and publish the model
Each model is assigned a category ID
Call the Translator API with the category=
Use language detection when the source language is unknown Use transliteration for script transformation without changing language Apply profanity filtering where needed based on context Implement custom models when domain-specific terms are poorly translated by default Test with multiple target languages in a single request Monitor status codes and error handling for failed requests
โ Sample Exam Questions Q: What endpoint is used to detect the language of a text input in Azure Translator? โ https://api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com/detect?api-version=3.0 Q: What is the purpose of the category parameter in a translation request? โ It applies a custom translation model instead of the default. Q: How can profanity be filtered in a translation? โ By setting profanityAction to Deleted, Marked, or NoAction. Q: Which function allows rendering text in a different script (e.g., Hiragana โ Latin)? โ Transliteration (/transliterate endpoint) Q: How can you align words from source to translated text in the output? โ Use the includeAlignment=true parameter.