Translation quality, measured
We don't just claim our translations are good — we test them. Four independent AI reviewers score each translation on a 100-point rubric, blind to which model produced it.
Method
We translated a dense philosophy text (Heidegger, Vorträge und Aufsätze) with two models: Claude Sonnet 4.6 and DeepSeek V4 Pro. Then four independent LLM reviewers — Claude, GPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek — each scored both translations on faithfulness, terminology, naturalness, coherence, and formatting.
Vorträge und Aufsätze
Martin Heidegger · de→zh · Heidegger Gesamtausgabe 7 (en→zh), 4 chapters sampled
Scores (out of 100)
| Translation | 🟣Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 🟢GPT-5.2 | 🔵Gemini 3.1 Pro | 🟡DeepSeek V4 Pro | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TransBook (Sonnet 4.6)$19.55 | 81 | 82 | 90 | 88 | 85.3 |
| TransBook (DeepSeek V4 Pro)$1.95 | 79 | 65 | 76 | 75 | 73.8 |
Each reviewer scored independently, with no knowledge of the other scores. Higher is better. The rubric penalizes both undertranslation (missing meaning) and overtranslation (adding meaning).
What the reviewers said
“Exemplary metalinguistic handling… The translator demonstrates deep familiarity with Chinese Continental philosophy discourse, correctly leveraging Sun Zhouxing's standard translations for hyper-technical vocabulary.”
“Shows excellent command of standard Chinese Heidegger scholarship… Creative and precise poetic diction.”
See for yourself
A paragraph from the test corpus — Heidegger on the Greek concept of τέχνη. Compare TransBook's translation with a generic machine-translation rendering.
English (from German)
The word τέχνη names rather a mode of knowing. To know means to have seen, in the widest sense of seeing, which means to apprehend what is present, as such. For Greek thought the nature of knowing consists in ἀλήθεια, that is, in the uncovering of beings.
Chinese (TransBook)
希腊语τέχνη这个词所命名的毋宁说是一种认知方式。认知意味着已经看见，取"看见"一词之最广义——即把在场者作为在场者加以把握。对于希腊思想而言，认知的本质在于ἀλήθεια，即存在者的去蔽。
Chinese (generic MT style)
τέχνη这个词指的是一种知识。知道意味着看到，从最广泛的意义上看，这意味着理解当前存在的东西。对于希腊思想来说，知道的本质在于ἀλήθεια，即发现存在。
The 'generic MT style' example is illustrative, not a screenshot from a specific product. It demonstrates common failure modes: losing the phenomenological register, flattening technical terms, and dropping the etymological precision that makes the original's argument work.
Read full translations in the library, or translate your own book.