Instant Quote in 3 Easy Steps

How to use the Free Online Translator to your Benefit Anita Karlson Henssler
back to last page

How to use the Free Online Translator to your Benefit

Anita Karlson Henssler

An online translator is an interactive program implemented on a web page offering translations of a text into a different language. The translation is generated by a computer and instantly displayed. And best of all - using it doesn't cost you anything!

Behind the online translator there is a software program that analyses the text according to predefined linguistic rules and reconstructs the text in a different language according to the corresponding rules of the target language.

As opposed to an online dictionary, which only translates single words or phrases, an online translator can translate larger text segments or even entire web pages. Some of these online translators are better than others, but they all have one thing in common. They don't produce a perfect copy of the submitted text in another language.

You can easily check this by typing in a short test text translate it to a different language and then translate it back to the original language again. You will see that some words have been mistranslated and that the sentence structure no longer is correct!

Taking this into account, it is clear that an online translator never can substitute a human translator. If you want to have your web page or your sales letter or other business material translated into a foreign language you should use a professional translator. Keep in mind that a bad translated sales letter will not bring you any sales and an incorrect translated web page will only provide you with an unprofessional look.

So - when should you use the online translator?

You should use the online translator when you want to translate a text written in a foreign language into your native language or a language you understand!

Imagine you are doing some research on the Internet and come across a web page written in a language you don't understand. Now is the time to look for an online translator! You simply copy and paste the text, or type in the URL if the online translator translates web pages, and choose what language you want to have the text translated into. And there you have it!

As I said earlier, this type of translations will not be perfect, but you will at least be able to understand what the text is about.

You can go here to have a go at using free translation:

Free Translation

An online translator is also fine to use when you want to translate short and simple sentences into a foreign language. Lets say you for instance want to impress a foreign business contact by adding a
personalized greeting in his language to your email. Then you can go ahead and use the online translator.

Here is a list of how to write "Happy Birthday!!" in 10 other languages.

Finnish: Hyvää syntymäpäivää!!
Norwegian: Gratulerer med dagen!!
German: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!!
Polish: Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin!!
Croatian: Srijetan Rodjendan!!
Spanish: Feliz Cumpleaños!!
French: Joyeux Anniversaire!!
Italian: Buon Compleanno!!
Macedonian: Sreken Rodenden!!
Welsh: Pen Blwydd Hapus!!

Happy Translating!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anita Karlson Henssler is working as a freelance translator.
Visit her web page PolarText here
http://www.polartext.com/ for more information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

back to last page

Articles Archive

A Journey into Chinese-English Environmental Translation
Accommodation in Translation
American Businesses are Under Attack!
Asian Languages in Translation
Becoming a translator
Commas Explained
English to Hindi Translation
English to Portuguese Translation
What to Look for in an English to Italian Translation
eProcurement and Translation
Este traductor no es un gallina
Ethics and Professionalism in Translation
Experiences with Greek Users of MT
GILT: Globalization, Internationalization, Localization, Translation
Globalisation and Translation
Globalization, Internationalization, Localization and Translation
Hermeneutics and Translation Theory
How to Successfully Promote your Business to an International Audience
How to use the Free Online Translator to your Benefit
Hyperformality, Politeness Markers and Vulgarity
Ideology and Translation with a concluding point on translation pedagogy
Internationalization Using PHP and GetText
Kehot Publishes New English Translation of Torah
Languages of the Former Yugoslavia
Make The Court Reporter's Day
Making Your Multilingual Web Site Work
Mikiel Anton Vassalli
MT And Mat
Multilingual_Search_Engine-Optimization
Online Translation - The Future??
Poetry Translation
Professions for Foreign-Language Users
Quick Answers to General Questions
Reading my Poetry in Hebrew Translation
Science in Translation
Testing and Evaluation in the Translation Classroom
The Arabic Language and Folk Literature: A call for gathering and translating Arab folk tales
The Changing World of Japanese Patent Translators
Thinking International?
Thoughts for the Future
Top 5 Questions From First Time Translation Buyers
Training Translators
Translating English to Spanish
Seven Survival Tools for Translating Brazilian Portuguese into English
Translating HTML Files
Translation of PDF Documents
Translation for the Global Travel Industry: Attention to Detail Pays
Translation in Afrikaans Today
Translators And Money
Translation vendors
Translator's Home Office
Virgin Birth and Red Underpants: The Translator's Responsibility in Shaping Our Worldview
What Is the word for “you” in Portuguese?
When Does Localization Become Discrimination?
Why communication is so important when selling to a global market
Wordfast: A quick and inexpensive way to translate
Google Paid Translate API

Join us on:

facebooklinkedinTwitterwordpress

© Copyright 2010 Applied Language Solutions a Translation Services Company

Queens Award Logodineninvestors in people logoISOWebby awardssocially responsible language services