The trick is not to rely on Google translate for a finished translation, but to use it just as a tool toward reaching that goal.

As someone who is learning French these days, it is an absolute boon.

One of my favorite things is letting Google auto finish a sentence.... because those auto finished sentences usually tend to be phrases or constructs French speakers use a lot.

The other neat thing is that Google shows a check mark near a translation which it feels with high confidence is good — in my experiences those translations really are good and without fault.