How To Translate That Phrase With A Little Help From Google

Ever come across a foreign language word or phrase in an email or on a website that you wish you could translate quickly and easily? It turns out Google has automatic translation tools to help you do just that. Here's an example of how you can use it:

Imagine that you get an email from your Italian friend telling you she's bringing, "biscotti alla mandorla" to your party. You know what biscotti are but, what in the world does, "alla mandorla" mean ? you wonder. So you go to Google and follow these steps:

• On the Google homepage, click on language tools. Alternately, you can click on more then translate. You'll arrive at the Google Translate page.
• In the text entry box under Translate Text, type in the phrase biscotti alla mandorla.
• Next, select Italian to English from the drop down menu directly below the text entry box and then click on the Translate button to the right of the drop down menu.

You'll see that Google automatically translates this phrase as:

biscotti the almond

Not bad, for a machine translation - you can now infer that your friend will be bringing over almond biscotti.

Remember, automatic translation services like this one and others on the web can't replace human translators - they won't always give you the most accurate translation in other words, but in many cases they can give you at least enough information to help you figure out the meaning of the original text.