Is this considered cheating?

I take online classes and today I was finishing up my French exam. Part of it was writing and constantly with this stupid school they ask me to write complete sentences, yet they don’t teach me the words to make a complete sentence.
So, I’m left worrying if it’s right or not and if it’s incorrect, they still deduct points from my work.
This was my final exam and I didn’t want to lose points so I WROTE my sentences down using what I knew, keep in my these were my sentences, from MY knowledge, I did not “cheat” and search the answers.
But I was unsure and my parents don’t speak French so I couldn’t ask them for help. SO, I took my sentences to an online translator and put them in to check if they were right. I did not change them if they were wrong, and that I can swear to. And they weren’t wrong, because they were my answers and I know my French and I DIDN’T cheat. It was only checking. Is checking your work considered cheating?

I asked this on Yahoo! ( I know, they’re idiots…but it’s force of habit) and all of the soccer moms got riled up and said that that is considered cheating. That the school says no outside resources so it’s considered cheating. One lady said that the only way I “got away with it was lack of supervision”. As if I had malicious intent in checking my work.
If they were my answers and I didn’t look them up or use the translator in any way but to check them…is that even cheating?

I mean…it’s not cheating if you write an essay and then do spell-check. I think the same applies for a French exam.

Anyway..opinions? My parents said it’s not cheating and that soccer moms just have their knickers in a knot and like to make things bigger than they are.