[RESOLVED] open-source translator

[shane.carr]

Okay, I don't know if this is the correct forum for this question; feel free to move it.

Is there an online open-source translator that I can send automated queries to?

[shane.carr]

Does one even exist? I can't use Google with automated queries.

[shane.carr]

Hello?

[ray326]

I guess you mean human language translators, right? No I don't know of any. What about venerable old Babel Fish? It's got an "add Babel Fish to your site" link there.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

[shane.carr]

No, I need one that you can send automated queries to. It has to be all within-site, and no links off.

[The_Magus]

Good evening:

Some time ago I got a bright idea to add a translation service to my site to accommodate viewers who did not speak English and added a drop down box and link to http://www.freetranslation.com/ - this resulted in the web page being returned in a few seconds translated into the language chosen by the viewer. I put this on about 85 pages feeling pretty pleased with myself.

I then decided to sent it to a client asking her to have a look and let me know if she was interested in having this service added to her site.

Fortunately she speaks a number of languages including German and Dutch - I have difficulty speaking English correctly let alone a second language.

My clients reaction was to suggest I remove the links from my site immediately as the translationed pages were a complete mess with all the word translated into one form or another of the English word but totally out of context. I only remember one which she quoted although there were a number - sunshine Cruising became sunshine car driving.

I think you will find that any machine translation service will result in mangled context and that human translation is too slow and expensive.

You can go to the above site and test it for yourself however you need someone who can read the language selected and give you an opinion on the value of the translated page.

Cheers

Jack

[shane.carr]

Thanks for the reply:

I'm not doing anything formal; it's just a little translation box that is actually going to a widget. It's just going to be for my connivence to translate a few phrases now and then.

It doesn't have to be open-source; I just said that because you can usually send automated queries to open-source things.

[Eurolingo]

Hi Shane,
There is no comparision between a human translation and one done by computer. Because language changes and one word can have several different meanings, automatic computer translations are very poor and very unprofessional. Try it yourself, go to an online translator e.g Google type in a text translate it into another language, then translate that text back and you will see how different it is.

The best thing is to use a professional translating company, it's not as expensive as you might think and it is another service you can advertise.

If you need more information you can PM me

Regards
Eurolingo

[shane.carr]

Thanks for your response;

It's not for a website translation, more for personal use of translation of a short phrase. I realize that the automated translation services are not very good, and I suppose that if I want just a word or two translated, I can look it up in a dictionary. I've kind of given up on the whole idea of a widget. Thanks for your response! ;)