Google Translate is a really handy service for translating text fragments, but wouldn't it be nice if you could access it directly from your desktop? If the idea makes sense to you, then you'll appreciate the ASTranslator utility. Although the project's Web site is in Russian, the application's interface is in English, so you can use ASTranslator even if your Russian is a bit rusty. To install ASTranslator, add the project's PPA archive to your sources list. To do this, launch Synaptic and choose Settings -> Repositories -> Other Software. Press the Add button, and enter the following APT line:

ppa:samrog131/ppa

Press Add Source, then Close to save the settings, and hit the Reload button. Locate and install the astranslator package. You can then launch the utility by selecting it from the Applications -> Accessories menu.

Using ASTranslator is as easy as it gets. Enter the source text snippet into the upper pane, select the desired language pair, and press the Translate button. Being a bare-bones tool, ASTranslator is not very customizable, but you can specify a font and font size as well as proxy server settings in the Options dialog window. To open it, click on the ASTranslator icon in the system tray and select Settings.