German-English computer translation
Moderator: John W. Howard
German-English computer translation
Maybe someone could recommend me any tool for online translation of German text into English. I have several Word documents in German and would like to get its rough translation via Internet. I know the limits of online translations but at this stage I have to get the idea about the content of documents.
Do not salute me. There are goddamned snipers all around this area...
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Mobile Infantry
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- Location: Germany
Try this one:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
I think we've already pounded this topic several times here.
As I have already posted, for several years I worked on the development team of the system which provides the backbone of babelfish and I can assure you that the development was very specific and not at all related to anything WWII or anything other than very bureaucratic language.
I have to admit that I am fascinated by people who use the system and say they are pleased with it beacuse often if you do not understand the source language reasonably well you have no chance of understanding the raw translation that comes out. I saw something on AHF (or maybe here) where the guy posted something in Russian, someone else ran it through babelfish and offered it as a translation and the questioner thanked him profusely and said what a good translation it was.
The English version was utter garbage and, at least for me a native English speaker, totally useless, but the questioner was convinced that it was great.
Basically it depends on what you're looking for and your level of understanding of English. Often babalfish will give you virtually the opposite of what is written because it works on computer logic and not linguistic logic. If you do not know the source language sufficiently you can easily think that the translation is okay.
This is very much much a case of caveat emptor and if you are not reasonably proficient in the source and target languages I think it will not of much use to you. the probblem here is taht if you are reasonably proficient in both languages you don't need the fish! Catch 22
As I have already posted, for several years I worked on the development team of the system which provides the backbone of babelfish and I can assure you that the development was very specific and not at all related to anything WWII or anything other than very bureaucratic language.
I have to admit that I am fascinated by people who use the system and say they are pleased with it beacuse often if you do not understand the source language reasonably well you have no chance of understanding the raw translation that comes out. I saw something on AHF (or maybe here) where the guy posted something in Russian, someone else ran it through babelfish and offered it as a translation and the questioner thanked him profusely and said what a good translation it was.
The English version was utter garbage and, at least for me a native English speaker, totally useless, but the questioner was convinced that it was great.
Basically it depends on what you're looking for and your level of understanding of English. Often babalfish will give you virtually the opposite of what is written because it works on computer logic and not linguistic logic. If you do not know the source language sufficiently you can easily think that the translation is okay.
This is very much much a case of caveat emptor and if you are not reasonably proficient in the source and target languages I think it will not of much use to you. the probblem here is taht if you are reasonably proficient in both languages you don't need the fish! Catch 22
Regards
Howard
Howard
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Richard Hargreaves
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- Location: Gosport, England
I use a CD that I bought maybe a decade ago, Power Translator. It provides a rough translation, which I then tidy up with the aid of a lot of work and the biggest German dictionary you can buy in Blighty. 
However, I will say this computer translators are useless unless the user has knowledge of a foreign language. I was lucky (sic!) enough to do seven years of Latin. Understanding the way it works allows me to understand the way German works.
Sometimes, computer translations are spot on. They are the exception, not the rule. They will in most cases give you the gist of a sentence, but never a perfect translation. That, I'm afraid, rests with the brain.
However, I will say this computer translators are useless unless the user has knowledge of a foreign language. I was lucky (sic!) enough to do seven years of Latin. Understanding the way it works allows me to understand the way German works.
Sometimes, computer translations are spot on. They are the exception, not the rule. They will in most cases give you the gist of a sentence, but never a perfect translation. That, I'm afraid, rests with the brain.
No-one who speaks German could be an evil man
Well, I don't use computer translators for German as in many many cases it gives you a wrong meaning. I know it's hard if you don't understand the language - in this case it could maybe help you to understand the point of the trext, but only if you have a quite simple text. I rather use my dictionary :)
This is not exactly about WW2 or german, but I tried to translate some italian song lyrics with babelfish and it translated "Ti amo" into "I love to you". :)
Best,
P.
This is not exactly about WW2 or german, but I tried to translate some italian song lyrics with babelfish and it translated "Ti amo" into "I love to you". :)
Best,
P.
Tod sekla bridka bodo jekla in ti mi bos krvava tekla,
kri nasa te pojila bo, sovrazna te kalila bo!
Simon Gregorcic: Soci
kri nasa te pojila bo, sovrazna te kalila bo!
Simon Gregorcic: Soci
This weekend I tried PROMT Translation suite 7.0 
Although ithis software is not cheap I was rather impressed with the quality of translation. No comparison with Babelfish. While translating you can select additional dictionaires so Military dictionary is very helpful for WW2 texts.
Although ithis software is not cheap I was rather impressed with the quality of translation. No comparison with Babelfish. While translating you can select additional dictionaires so Military dictionary is very helpful for WW2 texts.
Do not salute me. There are goddamned snipers all around this area...
Translator
http://www.translation.paralink.com/
This is the link to Im Translator.net.
It has worked excellent for me. It will translate up to 100 words at a time.
Easy to use and quite accuarate.
Good Luck
This is the link to Im Translator.net.
It has worked excellent for me. It will translate up to 100 words at a time.
Easy to use and quite accuarate.
Good Luck
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BDMhistorian
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- Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:28 pm
- Location: Virginia, USA
The best website I have found for translating individual words (ie, translating reference) has been the LEO dictionary at
http://dict.leo.org
It has a large amount of words that are not commonly found in your average German dictionary, and if a word is not listed in their database, you can ask about it on the forums.
Very helpful site. :)
http://dict.leo.org
It has a large amount of words that are not commonly found in your average German dictionary, and if a word is not listed in their database, you can ask about it on the forums.
Very helpful site. :)
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mightythor99
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leo page is the way to go!
I am interested in buying / trading for photo albums, photo groupings, diaries, feldpost groupings,etc, from any country in the world, any army/navy, etc, mostly 20th century!!