> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Chuck & Grace Glass" <cgglass@sbcglobal.net> > To: <prussia-roots@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 3:08 PM > Subject: [PRUSSIA-ROOTS] German & Polish Translation Websites > > These sites are great. I can cut and paste text from an e-mail (or a > scanned document) and get an instant translation. I can also write a > letter or e-mail, > copy and paste into the boxes on these sites and come up with a German or > Polish > translation, which seem to be fairly good translations. > > My hope is that if they receive a translation in their native tongue, they > may > feel comfortable enough that a response in their native language will be > OK with me-which it certainly is. All I have to do is scan the document > (or copy and paste from their e-mail) dump it into one of these websites, > and hit the translate button. I'm sorry to say that this is totally in error and genealogists who do not speak German or Polish should NEVER use these mechanical translations to write correspondence to people in those countries. NEVER! NEVER, EVER! Why do I say this? From experience doing the exact same thing using both web site translations and purchased translation software. Please read the following old posting . . . ----- Original Message ----- From: "LGO" <le_geefted_one@ix.netcom.com> To: <prussia-roots@rootsweb.com> Cc: <Lynnjoni@aol.com> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 10:50 PM Subject: Re: [PRUSSIA-ROOTS] Google Translations > Joni, > > This subject comes up a couple of times a year on this list. Searching the > list archives would > provide you with many good answers before posting your questions, > comments. > > In short, DO NOT write letters or e-mails to Germany using translation > software or web sites. > Our cousins don't laugh at things we send them using this type of > translation mainly because > what we send them will be, for the most part, incomprehensible. > > Translation software and web sites are good for we non-speakers to get a > gist of a foreign web > site, or an e-mail, but they are totally unacceptable in sending something > to people in that country. > Instead, write in plain, simple English. Everyone in Germany at least > knows someone who can > translate for them, if not do it themselves. Writing in plain, simple > English is not as easy as it sounds. > > Here is something (from the archives) that I wrote two years ago about > this subject; > > "1.) Don't ever use web translation engines or software to go from English > to > German (or any other combination of languages). German grammar is so much > more > difficult than English grammar and the computer translations butcher it so > badly > that it makes the result incomprehensible to the people reading the letter > even > in their native tongue. My German "relatives" called me (not a cheap > effort for > them) when they received a short letter that I had translated this way and > told > me, "DON'T EVER DO IT AGAIN." <LOL>" > > Good luck, > > LGO > > -----Original Message----- >>From: Lynnjoni@aol.com >>Sent: Jan 11, 2007 2:56 PM >>To: Prussia-Roots@rootsweb.com >>Subject: [PRUSSIA-ROOTS] Google Translations >> >>Hi Everyone, >>I have also been using the Google German translation program for quite a >>while. I wonder if anyone has used it that knows German and could tell me >>if it >>translates correctly. I often wonder if our cousins are laughing when >>they >>get the translations. I guess it can't be as bad as when I used to get >>out >>the dictionary and tried to write them a sentence or two. >>Thank you. >>Joni >>