MetaFilter posts tagged with translation and language

The Next Big Breakout

netbros — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:16:34 -0800

An Omnivorous Google Is Coming. "Imagine what it would be like if there was a tool built into the search engine which translated my search query into every language and then searched the entire world’s websites," she says. "And then invoked the translation software a second and third time – to not only then present the results in your native language, but then translated those sites in full when you clicked through.” Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president for search products and user experience, shares her unparalleled insights into the future of internet search engines. "She divides the focus areas for Google into three parts: modes, media and personalisation. Modes refers to the ways we can access search – the latest addition to which has been Google Goggles – an Android mobile tool which enables people to search using pictures instead of words. Users focus their phone's camera on an object, and Google compares elements of that picture against its database of images. When it finds a match, Google will tell you the name of what you're looking at, and provide a list of results linking through to the relevant web pages and news stories."

Wordchamp: hover over a foreign-language word and get its definition

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:42:30 -0800

Wordchamp lets you view foreign-language web pages with definitions in your language as mouseovers (registration-only). When you've registered, you can enter a language pair and a URL into Wordchamp's "Web Reader" and a definition will pop up when you hover over a word. It's sad that it's registration-only, and I can't vouch for the quality of the dictionaries; but I've found it quite useful in making some sense of web pages in different languages.

Translation can be hard.

skynxnex — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:24:13 -0800

A Wicked Deception (youtube). A fun look at (multi) round-trip machine translation. Sadly, it is a simple fattening of Verbindungsyoutube. Of course, humans, as Jules Verne might tell you, can have problems with translations too. Related previously: Multibabel, translating poetry, and good machine translation?. Main link via Fazed.

The Sumerian Language

Effigy2000 — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:08:16 -0800

Sumerian is the first language for which we have written evidence and its literature the earliest known. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, a project of the University of Oxford, comprises a selection of nearly 400 translated literary compositions recorded on sources which come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and date to the late third and early second millennia BCE. Not enough for you? Why not impress your friends (and confuse your enemies) by translating some english words into Sumerian?

Traduttore-traditore: translating poetry

nthdegx — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 09:35:28 -0800

Translating poetry is really really hard.

dotSUB is a collaborative subtitling tool with lots of languages

k8t — Fri, 11 May 2007 15:41:30 -0800

dotSUB s a resource and gathering place for subtitling films from one language into many languages using our unique subtitling tools. These tools expand the power and reach of films by making it possible for people to view and enjoy films in their native languages. It is very easy to use and has many languages.

Magic Keyboard!

anticlock — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:31:46 -0800

Multilingual Keyboard Emulator.

Tao Te Ching in many languages

Wolfdog — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 06:35:21 -0800

The Tao Te Ching in dozens of languages and translations, with a lovely side-by-side comparison tool.

Nehmen Sie meine Frau, bitte!

madamjujujive — Fri, 26 May 2006 04:13:55 -0800

Lost in translation. British Comedian Stewart Lee explores comedy in Germany and finds it stymied by the peculiarities of language and sentence construction. Mark Liberman at Language Log disagrees. And an extended essay by Josh Schonwald explores in greater depth how the German comedy scene is transitioning (PDF) from the more traditional kabernett to a burgeoning stand-up comedy scene, which is characterized by one observer as being in "the Bob Hope phase of comedy."

Lost in translation

johnny novak — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 02:13:37 -0800

What's the Korean for thanatophany or the Icelandic for snoek? J M Coetzee writes about the problems and delights of translation. [via languagehat]

I enjoy making fire, because it makes people feel warm

szechuan — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:22:42 -0800

Lauris is the spirit of the office, irrespective weather those are the numerous jokes for any occasion he has in his luggage or a basket of autumn apples, which he has picked in the morning to remind the colleges about the beauty of the autumn.

Zane has chosen to live in a beautiful world of internal and external beauty, where fragrances and aromas are of importance, however the uppermost value are harmonious relations with the closest people.

We are all fans of mangled English translations from Asia, but there is a certain added beauty in this site for a Latvian law firm, which boasts "professional, fast and qualitative translations" while "introducing a spirit of poetics in the daily routine of the office".

Classics of Early Modern Philosophy, translated.

monju_bosatsu — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 12:58:16 -0800

Early Modern Texts. Versions of some classics of early modern philosophy, prepared with a view to making them easier to read while leaving the main arguments, doctrines, and lines of thought intact. Recently added: John Locke's Second Treatise of Government. Via Crooked Timber.

I slap my balls against it!

jonson — Thu, 23 Jan 2003 13:36:51 -0800

The English have landed! In the spirit of international confederation, Nerve.com offers this all too brief list of common curses, epithets, and scandalous phrases, along with their French counterpart, and more interestingly, a transliteration of the French so one can better understand the Idiom.

igor.boog — Wed, 06 Nov 2002 10:45:57 -0800

Poetry International Web opens today. "Hundreds of poems by acclaimed modern poets from all around the world, both in the original language and in English translation."

mcwetboy — Mon, 10 Jun 2002 19:30:25 -0800

A handheld device that translates simple spoken phrases. "American troops in Afghanistan are using a revolutionary device that instantly translates soldiers' voices into native languages. . . . The soldier speaks into the machine, which recognizes the words and translates them into another language." Simple phrases only — and a long way from a Star Trek universal translator — but kindling for the science-fiction-addled imagination nonetheless.

eoz — Fri, 04 Jan 2002 21:07:03 -0800

An interesting look at translation: Australian writer Peter Goldsworthy "on being Spanished, Deutsched, Japanesed, Greeked and Malayed", and what he thinks is gained or lost in the process. (Also: translating poetry.)

headspace — Thu, 27 Dec 2001 09:01:38 -0800

WebVerbix can conjugate verbs for you sixty-four languages, ranging from French and Spanish to Dutch and a variety of creoles. The best part is that it'll do it for free (though you can buy the software and conjugate in 100 languages.) It's sites like these that remind me why I love the Internet.

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 20 Sep 2001 17:37:37 -0800

A Little Light Relief - and Brush Up Your English While You're At It. In the spirit of poking fun at one's own flesh and blood - and respecting all those who aren't - I offer the most appalling tribute to Shakespeare's and Emerson's language since time itself began. I give you, ladies and gentlemen, the great Portuguese scholar Pedro Carolino, whose "English As She Is Spoke" Mark Twain considered to be the funniest book ever written. Start with "Familiar Dialogues 1" and, if you've still been able to keep a straight face, try "Idiotisms and Proverbs" for the full effect... (Thanks to Ganz's Humor Page)

Mo Nickels — Sat, 08 Sep 2001 08:50:37 -0800

Polish slang! Having just moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the heart of Polish New York City, I've been digging for Polish links. English-Polish computing dictionary. Useful Polish phrases, with audio. Simple Polish lessons and email list. Polish spelling dictionary. Warsaw Voice English-language newspaper. Warsaw Business Journal, in English. Warsaw Insider, a city guide. Portal for Wroclaw, capital of Lower Silesia. Kracow Academic Radio. Radio KRAJ from Brisbane. Polish Reader's Digest. Finally, The Official Site of His Serene Highness Dennis Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt.

bkdelong — Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:22:52 -0800

Did anyone else notice Babelfish now translates Chinese, Korean, and Japanese? This may be old news but we come across a lot of Asian Web site defacements at Attrition. I think this is a huge step to be able to translate a non-Roman character language- and it works.

howa2396 — Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:56:03 -0800

Lost in Translation ?
TRANSLATION: This extension of the pagination the great energy of the translation of the confusion of Alta Vista.
ORIGINAL TEXT: This page demonstrates the great translating power of altavista's babel.
(via CasaFidel)

lagado — Thu, 03 Aug 2000 05:56:43 -0800

Here is the last phrasebook Americans will ever need when they go overseas. Packed with useful little snippets like:

I wish to complain.
Je veux porter plainte.
Protesto.

Don't "imperialist pig" me, my good man.
Fichez-moi la paix avec votre "cochon impérialiste", mon petit bonhomme.
¡Váyase usted al cuerno con su "cerdo imperialista", hombre!

How do I get Letterman?
Sur quelle chaîne je peux voir Letterman ?
¿En qué canal puedo ver Letterman?