DU Researchers: Is there an online dictionary that will translate a phrase in any

[loudsue]

language, even if you don't know which language the phrase is written in? :shrug:

I wish someone would take me under their little researching wing so I could find stuff. Help!!

[Poll_Blind]

1. translate.google.com

You're welcome.

PB

[MineralMan]

3. Cool! I did not know it could do that.

Very nice.

[xocet]

6. Google Translations: Caveat Lector

Google Language Tools are neat (www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en); however, they do not always provide a correct translation.

For example, "Aber wie erforscht man die Zukunft?" is German for (approximately) "But how does one research/study the future?"

Here is a link to the actual article that contains the German sentence that I just mentioned; www.senioren-ratgeber.de/Politik-Soziales-Umwelt/Zukunftsforschung-Einblick-in-den-Ausblick-113639.html . This is the context behind my translation.

Google Translate returns the following English translation: "But as we explored the future?" Unfortunately, that is not even inaccurate.

[Capitalocracy]

9. The most you can get from an automatic translator is a gist of what they're talking about

it'll get the words more or less right, but never the context. So if you put this post in an automatic translator, you would understand that I'm talking about translation, something automatic or some sort of machinery, and something about words and context, but you may not truly understand what I'm talking about.

[loudsue]

11. I see that. I just spent some time translating a bunch of stuff that I knew what it meant,

and it doesn't seem the same out of context.

[MineralMan]

18. You're correct, but you can usually get a gist of what's written.

If you're translating English to another language, a good test is to translate it back into English. Make changes in the English original until the two are the same.

[loudsue]

4. Thank you thank you thank you thank you

:loveya:

[loudsue]

5. Poll Blind....how do you learn to find stuff?

Where did you start? What can I study? How do you do searches that actually take you where you want to go, and not to a zillion other sites?

[Poll_Blind]

7. Heh heh...

I started in 1990 doing Archie searches...and just never stopped. ;-) You can maybe pull up some guide to using the Google search operators and understanding how they work. Good searches take time and you have to be familiar with what places have the right information for what you're looking for. That also takes time. Having a very good memory doesn't hurt, either. Once you think you've mastered Google and foreign-language surfing learn about the Deep Web and Computational Linguistics and you'll be ready to go from classical painting to cubism.

Really, it depends on what you're searching for though. But if what you're looking for exists in some accessible form and you genuinely have enough bona fide desire, you can find it.

PB

[loudsue]

12. Wow. That sent me off in a dozen directions. VERY interesting.

Thanks again Poll Blind.

[ohheckyeah]

10. Knowing the Google operators

is a big help:

http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html

For instance, if I want a review of computer software or hardware I like the site CNET. So, I type
site: CNET review Motorola modems.

This is the result I get: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A+CNET+review+Motorola+modems&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

or type in

define: socialism

Result page: http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+socialism&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

If you find that some results are outstanding then click on the +1 beside the result. That helps teach Google which results are good and desirable results.

[loudsue]

13. Thanks for that ohheckyeah. That was my problems last week,

trying to decide about something I was buying, and didn't know how to filter out the parts I didn't care about.

[ohheckyeah]

14. You're welcome.

I love being able to filter out the garbage sites. It makes a search so much more helpful.

[Donnachaidh]

2. babelfish n/t

[Book Lover]

8. How accessible / well funded is your local library?

I see in your profile you say you live in a rural area. I know rural library systems' resources tend to be stretched thin, but there's a good chance your system has someone on staff who can help you with searching, and improving your own searches.

[loudsue]

15. Man, THIS is the part of DU I love the most.

We've got the smartest, kindest people on the planet here. I've been a member here for about 9 years, and lurked since the get-go, (but never signed up because I didn't think it was safe to put myself on the internet, even under an assumed name! ) . It was lurking on DU that finally made me realize it was safe to sign up on a message board. <key head-slap smiley here>

Ok. I'm from the generation that was glad when we finally got XEROX machines so we didn't have to make all the carbon copies.

You guys have been VERY HELPFUL, and I deeply appreciate it.

[ngant17]

16. machine translation yields better results with science-based text

it's when you try to tackle literary/fiction works that the computer has difficulty.

If you watched the Feb. 2011 Jeopardy game that was played with the IBM "Watson" computer as a contestant, you would have had a good idea of the current state of artificial intelligence. It bombed out on a few questions, but otherwise it blew all the others out of the game.

[bananas]

17. The google chrome browser has automatic language detection and translation built-in

and it works even better if you add the extension https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb

There are also translation plug-ins for firefox.