Common Questions
Short answers to what people ask most about the translator, our privacy approach, and how the site is run. Can't find what you need? Contact us.
Is Meguro English really free?
Yes. The translator is free to use with no account, no character cap, and no premium tier held back behind a paywall. We keep the lights on through ads shown on our learning guides and articles, not on the translator tool itself, which stays clean. There is nothing to buy and no trial that expires.
Do I need to create an account?
No. Open the page, paste your text, and you get a translation. We do not ask for an email, a password, or a sign-in. Because there is no account, there is also no profile building up a record of everything you have translated.
How accurate is the translation, and what powers it?
Translations are generated through a machine translation service, so accuracy is strongest for everyday sentences and short, clear text. It handles common phrasing well. Like every machine engine, it can miss nuance in long passages, idioms, sarcasm, and culture-specific wording. For anything where the exact wording matters, such as contracts, medical text, or published work, treat the output as a first draft and have a fluent human check it. Our guides on common translation mistakes and machine vs human translation explain where the gaps tend to be.
What languages do you support?
Japanese-English is our focus and the pair our guides are written around. The translator also handles 18+ language pairs, including Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Spanish, French, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Arabic, and Hindi. You can switch the source and target language from the dropdowns above the text boxes.
Is my translation history saved anywhere?
Recent translations appear on the page during your session so you can scroll back, but they live in your browser only and are gone when you close or refresh the tab. We do not write your text to a database or tie it to any identity. The text is sent to the translation service that produces the result. The privacy guide walks through exactly what that means.
Can I use this for professional or commercial work?
For quick reference, internal drafts, and understanding the gist of incoming messages, yes. Plenty of people use it that way every day. For anything customer-facing, legal, or high-stakes, use it as a starting point and have a qualified translator review the result. Our business email guide covers how to keep tone and formality intact when you do.
Why do you show ads on some pages but not the translator?
Running a free tool with no sign-up still costs money. Rather than charge users or put ads inside the translator, where they would get in the way, we show ads on the articles and guides. That keeps the tool itself uncluttered while still paying for hosting and upkeep. We explain our approach to content and review on the editorial standards page.
Do you have an API?
Not yet. It is something we get asked about and it is on the roadmap, but there is no public API today. If you would want to integrate translation into your own product, email [email protected] and tell us what you are building. It helps us prioritize.
How do I report a wrong or awkward translation?
Send the original text, the language pair, and what looked off to [email protected]. Concrete examples are far more useful than a general complaint, and they genuinely help us spot patterns worth writing a guide about.
Who writes the guides on this site?
The Japanese-language guides are written and reviewed by Aiko Tanaka, a Japanese-English translator who grew up bilingual in Meguro. The translation-technology and privacy articles are handled by Daniel Reyes, who came from software localization. You can read more on the about page and our editorial standards.
What's on the roadmap?
Near-term we are expanding the guide library, improving the pronunciation playback, and looking at an offline mode and a public API. There is no fixed release calendar, since it is a small team, but the direction is more useful reference material, not more features bolted onto the tool.
How can I support Meguro English?
The most helpful things cost nothing: share a guide that helped you, and report translations that came out wrong so we can improve. If you run a language blog or school and want to collaborate, reach out at [email protected].