Using AltaVista Translations with SIDS Network web pages

From English to French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and back.

How can I translate specific text?

How can I translate a specific SIDS Network web page?

1. Copy & paste, or type the web page address (URL) into the block below.
2. Select the language pair (English to German, for example) to use.
3.Click Translate.

How can I add the AltaVista Translation to my Browser?

Follow the link to http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/content/browser.htm and follow the directions.

Why can't I understand the translation?

Translating languages is a very complex task. The translator works best when the text you wish to translate uses proper grammar. Slang, misspelled words, poorly placed punctuation, etc. can all cause a page to be translated incorrectly.  Also the more translations a piece of text goes through, the further the resulting meaning will be from the original. So you will not necessarily get a good idea of the quality of a translation by translating the translated text.

Can I trust the translation?

Machine translation produces reasonable results in many cases. But you should not rely on it. As in other areas of life, honesty pays. If you want to use a translated text always acknowledge the translator, and append or reference the original text. This will put the translation into the right context and will help you avoid embarrassing misunderstandings.

What types of documents work best?

Try news articles. They are usually written using proper grammar and translate very well.

Why can't I translate a long document?

There are several reasons this might happen.
1.The page was not fetched in a timely fashion: The document you want to translate is on a slow server or the server has a poor network connection.
2.The page is too long: This service is not for translating long documents.
However, you can cut and paste sections of a long document and translate each section.

Why do I get "TRANSLATION ENDS HERE" in the translated document?

Translation is computationally very expensive. This service is not for translating long documents. However, you can cut and paste sections of a long document and translate each section.