Language Translation Tools

There are a number of language translation sites and foreign-language dictionaries on the web--below are just a few. Several sites offer a variety of options, including translating web pages and emails, and the opportunity to consult with a network of professional translators.

A word of caution: machine translation sites do not provide the kind of precise translations that only a professional human translator can provide.

AltaVista BabelFish

• Translates blocks of text and web pages in nearly a dozen languages, including French, German, and Chinese

Google Language Tools

• Searches web pages written in over 30 languages and web pages in over 80 countries

• Translates text and web pages, including Arabic-, Chinese- and Spanish-to-English and vice versa

• Sets Google homepage, messages, and buttons to display in one of nearly 100 languages – even Pig Latin and Klingon!

Translation.Langenberg

• Provides links to a several sites that translate words or phrases – useful for finding the language you need and/or comparing results

• Links to language identifier sites, web page translators, and one-word-to-many-languages sites

Dictionary.comTranslator

• Translates from English to simplified and traditional Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Dutch, among other languages

WorldLingo

• Provides text, web page, and email translations in a number of languages

Systran Language Translation Technology

• Translates text up to 150 words and web pages in over a dozen languages

WordReference.com

• French, Spanish, and Italian dictionaries

• Spanish monolingual and Spanish synonyms dictionaries

• Language Forums – Ask native speakers around the world questions about language usage

Foreignword.com

• Links to over 265 dictionaries for 73 languages; translates blocks of text in 60 languages; hosts a large Foreignword network of translators

Created by Val Hallinan