Recently in Using the Internet for research Category
The Language of Genealogy
The tracing of ancestors often leads to countries with a culture and language very different to your own. Fortunately there are a number of online resources to help you decipher the occasional piece of information which isnt in your mother tongue, or any other language you know.
Whilst a number of these resources are free, bear in mind that automatic translation of text isnt perfect; however it is generally good enough to give you an idea of the meaning. Specific items, such as dates and names, are usually fine.
Google Language Tools
www.google.com/language_tools
Offered here are a search tool looking at pages written in a specific language (or located in a particular country), a text or web page translation tool, and links to the numerous versions of Google around the world (each in the language of the host country).
WorldLingo
www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html
In addition to the free text and web page translation tools, the site features a browser tool, an email translator, text and page translation tools (paid services) which can be added to a website, and a translator API for programming use (from $29.95).
The browser tool facilitates automatic translation of the current web page, allowing the page to be viewed in any of a dozen languages. Unfortunately this tool is only available for Microsoft Internet Explorer v5 and up, and costs $19.95 per year.
Moji
moji.mozdev.org
Moji is a japanese term meaning character. The tool here is a Mozilla Firefox extension which allows japanese characters on a page to be highlighted and automatically translated. Note that this is designed to translate individual words rather than sentences or entire pages; although long strings of characters are sometimes given a reasonable translation.
Babel Fish
world.altavista.com
Free text and web page translation tools are available here, as well as an automatic translation tool for your site (also free).
