digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Online Translation Explained

feeds.gawker.com — The web makes it possible to search for documents written in every conceivable language, but what if you don't actually know the language you find that special somethin' written in? No worries —there are plenty of online translation services that can give you anything from just a good idea to a complete translation of what you're looking at.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • sitetrans, on 10/24/2007, -4/+7Google provides a good, free service: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
  • Niddik, on 10/23/2007, -0/+21"Disclaimer: None of the following language translation services can substitute for a real live human translator."
    This is not emphasized enough.
    • macweirdo42, on 10/23/2007, -2/+9Ran your statement through Google translator - English to Spanish, then Spanish to English. I think it speaks for itself.

      "Disclaimer: None of the following translation services can replace a real live human translator."
      This is not important.
      • Patogrande, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5Romantic languages are too similar.
        To China and back:

        "Exemption clause: none of the following language translation services, can replace a real live human translation."
        This is not emphasized enough.
        • Mononuclear, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Are you trying to say English is a romantic language? It's not.. If you are trying to say it's harder to translate from one language to a romantic language and back that is wrong. It doesn't matter how close other languages are, it is translating to only one. It isn't comparing it to Portuguese, French, Italian, etc.
        • nairanvac, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1That still expresses the same concept, albeit with slightly different words.
  • Sil369, on 10/23/2007, -2/+2I was hoping the title of this page was going to be sarcastic and actually link to a site that mocks online translators. Boo.
    • vofuse, on 10/24/2007, -0/+4I was hoping my new next door neighbor was going to be Jessica Alba and a lifetime supply of Guinness Draught.
  • reversekilled, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1More surprise will be found when you knock it!
  • padfignton, on 10/23/2007, -1/+0I thought I would see something a bit deeper
  • dphoenix1, on 10/23/2007, -0/+0heh, if you want a real laugh, check out http://tashian.com/multibabel/

    it translates your text from english through five different languages back to english, using the freely available online translators.

    if I remember correctly, once I ran "eat ***** and die" through it, it came back "eats the platoon to collect the thing, the mold!"
  • moffie, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2For Eng.-De. and De.-Eng. translations, www.dict.cc is probably the best website available. It does not offer word-for-word literal translations for text blocks. However, the site does include an extensive (growing every day with more (technical and layman as well as slang and idiom) terms, words and phrases) dictionary, and a translation forum, for those of us who have made a valiant effort, but still need help translating that paragraph/sentence/word. The forum is constantly crowded by skilful translators of both languages, and occasionally (often) someone can also offer their expertise with another (Eng.-, -Nl, Fr, Ru, etc.)
  • blackturtleus, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I use BabelFish a lot to translate Russian to English. It's not terribly accurate! As a way to supplement my Russian lessons I regularly read through Russian news articles and try to decipher as much as I can. To check my understanding I paste a paragraph at a time into BabelFish. Most of the time the translation is close enough to help, but there have been occasions where the results were very inaccurate. Luckily, I know a Russian speaker who I can bother to check odd translations. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, BUT there have been some amazingly poor translations generated by BabelFish.
  • rawsteak, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1this doesn't explain anything, only lists different online translators.... i've been had!
  • ewang, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1OK, so are there any good online services for AUDIO files in other languages? So far the only thing I've found is services that charge beaucoup dollars for even a half hour file. Perhaps a "Dragon Naturally" for other languages that could then feed a text translator?
  • tedc, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Well, I asked google to translate "I saw a girl in the park with a telescope" into Japanese. Linguists like to use that one to test automated translators, since there are several ways you might interpret the meaning. One early attempt resulted in the software assuming the present tense for "saw". In other words, there was this guy in the park trying to cut a girl in half using a telescope.

    Anyway, this time, google shot back with some broken Japanese which reads something like: "The girl I saw will do a telescope at the park." Kinky...

  • DiTherBox, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Sorry, but web translating services are, at most, funny.
  • thirdwill, on 04/12/2008, -0/+0I found a great translation company providing two way message translation, over the phone interpretation, document translation and tons more. Great price too. They are now offering a prepaid language card, which just like a credit card etc, you buy your minutes and use them as you need them. Very simple and easy to use! Over 100+ languages supported.
    Dialog-one http://www.dialog-one.com
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.