A Chinese to English Translation Tool (CETT) locates pre-existing translations of phrases and increases probabilities for a match by searching independently of proper nouns and Western characters. The CETT comprises an enhancement program, a search program and a display program. The CETT is adapted to access a translation database, a proper noun table, and an unmatched translation table. The translation database is a central repository of an accumulated body of translated literature. The proper noun database is a table showing the associations between English and Chinese for proper nouns.