I use QQ International, which has built-in translation. I hit Alt-E after every message and she gets English and Chinese. I think it uses YouDao for its engine, and like most it is not 100% but works ok for simple sentence structures. She uses the Chinese version of QQ, which I gather does not have immediate translation. She cuts and pastes from YouDao website and only gives me English, which can be really frustrating. Every day I remind her to give me both Chinese and English so that if I don't understand I can run it through other translators and most of the time figure it out.
When there is confusion, I also use:
http://fanyi.youdao.com/http://translate.google.co.nz/?hl=en&tab=wThttp://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=translateI find Google the best for quick translations, but mdbg the most accurate. It also gives alternate words and meanings which can be really helpful.
Be wary of the wrong use of the "NOT" character, 不, or bù. Both YouDao and Google have often added this to my sentences to completely reverse the meaning, with disastrous consequences.
For example, at one stage I felt my GF was being overly swayed by her circle of friends, all trying to get in her ear about me, or long distance relationships in general. I told her:
"I don't care what they think. I do care what you think."Straight forward, simple sentences, so I thought. After the reaction I got, I did a reverse translation of the Chinese (as I often do):
"I do not care what they think. I do not care what you think."Try it in Google and you'll see what I mean. This is not the first time this has happened to me.
cheers,
Steve