Italian translation program

[Gina501]

Thank you all for your help with translating my letter to possible relatives in Pescasseroli, Abruzzo. I have already heard back from two after just one week!

I put their emails into an online translation program and was able to understand just about all of it. Unfortunately it doesn't work well for English to Italian.

Does any one know of a good program I can buy or even download that will translate correctly? I want to make sure what I send is said correctly (especially when dealing with dates and facts). Is their something that you use that you have had success with?

[elba]

I'm afaraid that most electronic translation programmes are a bit 'hit and miss'. The machine cannot recognise sentiment or any nuances, dialectical sayings or any use of a 'play on words'. For a good translation you really need a translator or a service.

Mind you - if anyone does manage to create a perfect translation programme they are going to be 'instant' billionaires!

[Gina501]

Thanks Elba. You are correct. But, is there anything that you think is worthwhile to look at?

[elba]

Thanks Elba. You are correct. But, is there anything that you think is worthwhile to look at?

Sorry Gina501 - not really....I do my own translating and have never used an electronic programme to do the job. I wouldn't know which one to suggest - for me they're all as poor as each other I'm afraid!

[wldspirit]

Sometimes..... if you put one or two words in a translation program it works fairly well...but only for exact words and no deviation....
I would suggest buying a good Italian dictionary.......I use the Oxford Italian dictionary, contains over 85,000 words, phrases and 120,000 translations. Bought it at Barnes and Noble.

Most people use Babelfish.com...not very reliable but you can make sense of it..sometimes!!!

I also have some very good links to Italian language web sites if you are interested.

wldspirit

[Gina501]

Thanks wldspirit. I have used babelfish, but I need something more reliable to translate frquent emails to and from Italy. I will get the dictionary, but you may suggest those web sites to me also.

[Poipuo4]

http://dictionary.reference.com/translate/

This one is better than wordlingo or babel fish. I have been taking beginner's Italian so I have a VERY basic foundation of Italian grammar and usage, let me emphasize BASIC. This web site is pretty good to use in conjunction with that kind of foundation. However, like the other posters said, it will not pick up nuances in the language and will translate everything word by word, rather than taking into account the entire sentence structure. I think if you totally rely on one of these programs you can make a big mess, that could be pretty funny or embarrassing. Also you have to know how to phrase things in English so they come out right in Italian when you type them into the translator. For example, I was writing, I know what you are saying. To make it translate better, I have to type in English, I know that which you say. Oh, and also, the translators do not seem to distinguish between "you" formal, familiar, singular and plural. When you type in "you", it seems to conjugate everything as voi (you plural).

This is more work, but I suggest buying the dictionary that wldspirit recommended and then read Italian for Dummies. It is an excellent book with basic grammar and is easy to understand. Believe it or not, I can now read Italian and get the sense of the letter, although by no means can I translate the letter word for word.

[Gina501]

Thanks poipuo. I think I will do that. When my relative in Italy wrote to me yesterday I used babelfish and I understood what he was saying. But I don't think it's the same way when you translate English to Italian, as we have our own way of saying things that don't come out right in the translation. I will get the books.

[Biff83]

Although this site does not translate phrases, I've found it helpful translating Italian into English. You type in the Italian word and it displays one or more meanings. I've been able to translate a few of my grandfather's letters using it. There's also a forum where you can ask questions.

One of the most important things to learn with Italian as well as other languages is the syntax and grammar. Translated words are meaningless without a sentence structure.

http://www.wordreference.com/iten/allegro

[Gina501]

Yes, and I am studing Italian right now so that i can help myself better in the future. Thanks!

[wldspirit]

To quote the master professor, who always reinforced the VERBS!!


There is an excellent easy read website to assist people teaching themselves Italian or as a homework aid. The site has an intial 10 italian verbs with an easy read conjugations in all of the tenses which when memorizedm the endings can be applied to most other verbs save for the irregular verbs. Then once memorized all you have to do is create your own sentences with the help of a dictionary to expand your vocabulary. I was so impressed that I had to share this with all of you whether you know your italian grammar or not. =Peter=

www.verbix.com

Looking thru my links now......
wldspirit

[wldspirit]

This book comes highly recommended and is another must have:
501 Italian Verbs
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 113482&z=y

Language sites:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/modla ... geone.html

http://www.june29.com/Italian/

http://www.gwc.org.uk/ModernLang/hotpot ... Index.html

Genealogy word list, very useful:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... Italia.ASP

Italian dictionary:

http://www.wordreference.com/

I have more, but they are buried in my favorites.....think it's time for me to organize my links again......I have a couple hundred.....

Just for fun.......great audio for Italian words!!!

http://vhost.oddcast.com/vhost_minisite ... ample.html

Hope this helps some!!
wldspirit

[Gina501]

yes thanks so much!

[wldspirit]

Once I wade thru all my links.....maybe I can find the others......
Have fun!!
wldspirit

[wldspirit]

Here is another site that I subscribe to.....
Word of the Day.
Once a day, an email is sent using the word of the day, and used in sentence form with translation.

http://www.transparent.com/subscribe/subscription.htm

http://www.transparent.com/languagepage ... talian.htm

wldspirit