Forums > Specific Focus > Learning Spanish

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 5:58 AM

Post #1 of 23 (4339 views)

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English/Spanish/English Translator

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Does anybody know of a good electronic translator available on line?

(This post was edited by Papi on Feb 11, 2003, 6:51 AM)

esperanza

Feb 11, 2003, 5:59 AM

Post #2 of 23 (4109 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Quevedo is the best translator I know, and Rey, and me, and a couple of others.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

REY

Feb 11, 2003, 8:55 AM

Post #3 of 23 (4066 views)

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Re: [esperanza] English/Spanish/English Translator

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JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA = "hahahahahahaha" :P

yeah, I tested the one on alegria.org, and it didn't translate what I typed in there correctly. Trouble with those is that they translate things LITERALLY. A lot of the stuff that gets asked on here deals with use of slang. You WON'T get good feedback from an automated translator.

btw, you can try www.spanishdict.com for single word translations. Cool thing about that site is that you can get the pronounciation for the words...try it out! :)

HTH

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 10:41 AM

Post #4 of 23 (4052 views)

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Re: [REY] English/Spanish/English Translator

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I thought this forum was "Speak Spanish" has it changed to "Speak Slang?"

A translator really isn't necessary for slang, all you need do is look on rest room walls.

arbon

Feb 11, 2003, 10:57 AM

Post #5 of 23 (4053 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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"A translator really isn't necessary for slang, all you need do is look on rest room walls."

I just looked and all I found was....."Limpie por favor dos veces las necesidades de América con un chorro de agua más agua."

Todd DF

Feb 11, 2003, 11:48 AM

Post #6 of 23 (4023 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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here is my personal favorite...

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

esperanza

Feb 11, 2003, 12:19 PM

Post #7 of 23 (4034 views)

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Re: [REY] English/Spanish/English Translator

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OH, I missed the part where he said ELECTRONIC.

Besitos...

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 12:37 PM

Post #8 of 23 (4011 views)

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Re: [Todd DF] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Thanks Todd, my secretary, from Venezuela has a niece in Caracas studying english and I'm trying to help her find a good translator. It's helpful people like you I really appreciate. Having lived not only in Europe, but also in several South American countries and Mexico, I have been speaking spanish for more than 45 years. I was a petrochemical engineer for a large company with headquarters in Houston, Texas and my wife and I lived in many spanish speaking countries.

Once again, thanks for your help.

Papi

Angelina

Feb 11, 2003, 3:38 PM

Post #9 of 23 (3992 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Hey Papi,

Everyone that responded tried to be helpful, why did you only thank Todd?

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 3:53 PM

Post #10 of 23 (3988 views)

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Re: [Angelina] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Hola mi bebita, te amo mucho.

Angelina

Feb 11, 2003, 3:56 PM

Post #11 of 23 (3979 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Oh papi,

You're a king sized flirt---shame on you! Translate that!

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 4:04 PM

Post #12 of 23 (3981 views)

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Re: [Angelina] English/Spanish/English Translator

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O.K., esta noche????

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 5:19 PM

Post #13 of 23 (3972 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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I realize you think I'm a flirt, but can anybody blame me for being totally captivated by an ABSOLUTELY GEORGEOUS, 29 year old Mexican lady?

Angelina

Feb 11, 2003, 5:40 PM

Post #14 of 23 (3965 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Hay papi

Thanks for the gorgeous--but how do you know?

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 6:02 PM

Post #15 of 23 (3962 views)

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Re: [Angelina] English/Spanish/English Translator

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You came to me in a vision, but I need to wait a few minutes before I send anything else. My big, fat, ugly wife is starting to get jealous. (I'll wait until she goes to her den and starts hibernating.)

Angelina

Feb 11, 2003, 6:08 PM

Post #16 of 23 (3963 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Well papi---I thank you for your interest, but I think that your wife is calling you! and with your charm and good looks I doubt that she is big, fat and ugly!

Papi

Feb 11, 2003, 6:18 PM

Post #17 of 23 (3960 views)

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Re: [Angelina] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Buenas noches mi amor.

Papi

Denis

Feb 12, 2003, 11:39 AM

Post #18 of 23 (3939 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Someone recommended Babelfish, and I'll confess to having used it a number of times, but my experience is that the translation needs some serious touching-up by someone who actually knows the language. I've tried Babelfish on German web pages and have actually had to go back to the German, a language I don't know at all, to try to figure out what it meant.

As an example of Babelfish (or similar) translations gone awry, this is a rather mild example posted on the cooking forum. Notice the "files bitter" (actually limes), and the suggestion that you need to bake the lemon garnish (the original says to slice them).

Chocolomo

Papi

Feb 12, 2003, 12:22 PM

Post #19 of 23 (3939 views)

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Re: [Denis] English/Spanish/English Translator

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Very Interesting, thank you.

quevedo

Feb 12, 2003, 3:56 PM

Post #20 of 23 (3922 views)

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Re: [Papi] If you must...

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... use this space to ligar chavas, por lo menos que el diálogo transcurra en español, para beneficio de las y los que desean aprender la lengua.

Same goes for nuestra amiga Angelina.

Un saludo cordial,

Quevedo

Angelina

Feb 12, 2003, 4:54 PM

Post #21 of 23 (3918 views)

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Re: [quevedo] If you must...

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Mi muy estimado Sr. Quevedo,

Tienes mucha razon. Disculpa por favor.

Angelina

quevedo

Feb 12, 2003, 7:13 PM

Post #22 of 23 (3885 views)

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Re: [Angelina] No tiene que pedir ninguna disculpa, estimada Angelina

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Me parece que es obvio que lo que escribí para ustedes fueron una broma y una invitación a usar el español, motivadas sobre todo por el amable correo privado que recibí de su parte.

Un saludo cordial,

Quevedo

Dave C.

Feb 12, 2003, 8:21 PM

Post #23 of 23 (3901 views)

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Re: [Papi] English/Spanish/English Translator

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The only good electronic translator I know is a human one with a pacemaker. But seriously, if a human translator isn't available, some of the better computerized ones like http://babelfish.altavista.com/ can usually produce an intelligible but often imperfect translation from a language you know to a language you don't know, if you're careful to use simple, clear, complete sentences, and avoid slang, idioms, and ambiguities as much as possible. But if you're using it to translate from a language you don't know, it's more of a crap shoot, with a lot of variation in accuracy.