Translating websites

I just got an email promoting a website that I decided to check out. It
turns out that this site is in French, which I don't know. But my
Google toolbar has a translate button, which is a fairly new feature.
So I clicked on the button and it automatically translated the page
into English. Now I don't know how good the translation is, but perhaps
for basic understanding, it's good enough. What I did see seemed to be
well structured.

Joan
---
author of This Time, a novel about Richard III in the 21st-century
website: http://www.joanszechtman.com/
blog: http://rtoaaa.blogspot.com/
ebook: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3935
2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist for General
Fiction/Novel

My experience of most translation tools is not good, including the
google one. I tested some of them with a translation of a number of
different phrases. The funniest response of all was for "the actor's
biggest fan" which came back translated as the word for an electric
fan. Translating tools translate literally word by word, not by
phrase or colloquialism. So beware! :-)
Paul


On 26 May 2010, at 14:25, Joan wrote:

> I just got an email promoting a website that I decided to check
> out. It
> turns out that this site is in French, which I don't know. But my
> Google toolbar has a translate button, which is a fairly new feature.
> So I clicked on the button and it automatically translated the page
> into English. Now I don't know how good the translation is, but
> perhaps
> for basic understanding, it's good enough. What I did see seemed
> to be
> well structured.
>
> Joan
> ---
> author of This Time, a novel about Richard III in the 21st-century
> website: http://www.joanszechtman.com/
> blog: http://rtoaaa.blogspot.com/
> ebook: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3935
> 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist for General
> Fiction/Novel
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Richard liveth yet

Dear Paul,

> My experience of most translation tools is not good, including the
> google one. I tested some of them with a translation of a number of
> different phrases. The funniest response of all was for "the actor's
> biggest fan" which came back translated as the word for an electric
> fan. Translating tools translate literally word by word, not by
> phrase or colloquialism. So beware! :-)

It's easier to learn a language than use translating tools!

For quick reference, there are a number of useful onlines dictionaries for several languages.
For earlier mediæval material, I recommend the Anglo-Norman Hub:
http://www.anglo-norman.net/

Middle English Dictionary:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/
Concise Dictionary of Middle English:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/concise/concise.html
French Dictionary:
http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/dictionary/

LatinWORDS is an excellent downloadable dictionary for the desk-top:
http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/whitakerwords.html
cheers,
Doc M

Not for me. Anyway, here's what someone wrote about Google's German to
English translation:
I use Google translate all the time. I don't have the toolbar installed,
but I have it bookmarked for German to English. [;)] It does a pretty
good job most of the time, though some stuff ends up a bit weird and I
may have to look an individual word up because Google picked one
meaning when the other would work better.
Her husband is stationed in Germany. I know I will find it of benefit
and thought some others on this discussion group would too.

Joan
---
author of This Time, a novel about Richard III in the 21st-century
website: http://www.joanszechtman.com/
blog: http://rtoaaa.blogspot.com/
ebook: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/3935
2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist for General
Fiction/Novel

--- In , "reginadespazas"
<docm@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Paul,
>
> > My experience of most translation tools is not good, including the
> > google one. I tested some of them with a translation of a number of
> > different phrases. The funniest response of all was for "the actor's
> > biggest fan" which came back translated as the word for an electric
> > fan. Translating tools translate literally word by word, not by
> > phrase or colloquialism. So beware! :-)
>
> It's easier to learn a language than use translating tools!
>
> For quick reference, there are a number of useful onlines dictionaries
for several languages.
> For earlier mediæval material, I recommend the Anglo-Norman Hub:
> http://www.anglo-norman.net/
>
> Middle English Dictionary:
> http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/
> Concise Dictionary of Middle English:
> http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/concise/concise.html
> French Dictionary:
> http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/dictionary/
>
> LatinWORDS is an excellent downloadable dictionary for the desk-top:
> http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/whitakerwords.html
> cheers,
> Doc M
>

On 26 May 2010, at 20:16, reginadespazas wrote:

> It's easier to learn a language than use translating tools!

Well I wouldn't go that far, took me 7 years to get to fluency in
French, and 3 ears in Spanish. Two years studying German was hard
work, all those bloody datives and word order changes, and I had to
live in Norway over a year before beginning to understand what was
being said!
None of it easy!

Paul



Richard liveth yet

This information is great - thanks! I don't suppose you know of a Mediaeval French dictionary, do you?
Annette

----- Original Message -----
From: reginadespazas
To:
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:16 PM
Subject: Re: Translating websites

For quick reference, there are a number of useful onlines dictionaries for several languages.
For earlier mediæval material, I recommend the Anglo-Norman Hub:
http://www.anglo-norman.net/

Middle English Dictionary:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/
Concise Dictionary of Middle English:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/concise/concise.html
French Dictionary:
http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/dictionary/

LatinWORDS is an excellent downloadable dictionary for the desk-top:
http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/whitakerwords.html
cheers,
Doc M

Dear Annette:
Mediæval French:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dcwalker/Dictionary/dict.html#database
(although the Anglo-Norman site I gave earlier also covers a lot of
the same ground: the differences are not huge).
Mediæval Occitan:
http://lengadoc.chez.com/lexic_medieval.htm
cheers,
Doc M

Totally agree about German.  I've been doing it for over two yeras and still need to use Babelfish to translate e mails!




________________________________
From: Paul Trevor Bale <paul.bale@...>
To:
Sent: Thursday, 27 May, 2010 7:56:53
Subject: Re: Re: Translating websites

 

On 26 May 2010, at 20:16, reginadespazas wrote:

> It's easier to learn a language than use translating tools!

Well I wouldn't go that far, took me 7 years to get to fluency in
French, and 3 ears in Spanish. Two years studying German was hard
work, all those bloody datives and word order changes, and I had to
live in Norway over a year before beginning to understand what was
being said!
None of it easy!

Paul

Richard liveth yet

Thanks, that's very kind.
Annette

----- Original Message -----
From: Dr M M Gilchrist
To:
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 1:40 PM
Subject: Re: Translating websites



Dear Annette:
Mediæval French:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dcwalker/Dictionary/dict.html#database
(although the Anglo-Norman site I gave earlier also covers a lot of
the same ground: the differences are not huge).
Mediæval Occitan:
http://lengadoc.chez.com/lexic_medieval.htm
cheers,
Doc M

Paul Trevor Bale wrote:
>
> My experience of most translation tools is not good, including the
> google one. I tested some of them with a translation of a number of
> different phrases. The funniest response of all was for "the actor's
> biggest fan" which came back translated as the word for an electric
> fan. Translating tools translate literally word by word, not by
> phrase or colloquialism. So beware! :-)
> Paul
>
Carol responds:

This response is totally OT, but the funniest online translation I ever encountered (from Babelfish) was the actor Vin Diesel's name translated as "Diesel Wine"! (Not even George of Clarence would drink that.)

Carol, who doesn't really believe the butt of Malmsey story or that George was a drunkard

Now that reminds me of a dinner I attended, at which an MEP spoke. He recounted a Brussels debate on industrial relations at which a French MEP had predicted some strikes being solved by "la sagacite Normand".

This may have to be explained to our American readers but the European Parliament has a system of "simultaneous translation".

----- Original Message -----
From: justcarol67
To:
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2010 10:55 PM
Subject: Re: Translating websites



Paul Trevor Bale wrote:
>
> My experience of most translation tools is not good, including the
> google one. I tested some of them with a translation of a number of
> different phrases. The funniest response of all was for "the actor's
> biggest fan" which came back translated as the word for an electric
> fan. Translating tools translate literally word by word, not by
> phrase or colloquialism. So beware! :-)
> Paul
>
Carol responds:

This response is totally OT, but the funniest online translation I ever encountered (from Babelfish) was the actor Vin Diesel's name translated as "Diesel Wine"! (Not even George of Clarence would drink that.)

Carol, who doesn't really believe the butt of Malmsey story or that George was a drunkard