New Page Added

I just finished adding a new page to the main Spanish Translation help site. The page is about language interpretation with a short introduction about some of the different types of interpretation.

I am not an interpreter but I thought it would be good to add a little introduction to the industry for those interested.

SES Latino 2006 Roundup

Today in my searches I came across some pretty good information on the Search Engine Strategies Latino 2006 Conference held recently. This conference was two days and had seperate panels and talks talking about various opportunities in the Latino market for Internet marketers, as well as different issues for Spanish and Portuguese language marketers.

If you have any contact at all with the Spanish or Portuguese speaking market, you will definately benefit by reading the coverage given to these sessions held over a period of two days.

Here are the titles of the different sessions:

Day One:
+ The Opportunity: Tapping Into US Hispanics & Latin America Via Search
+ Search Landscape: US Hispanics
+ Search Landscape: Latin America
+ The Challenges Of Search Marketing To US Hispanics & Latin Americans

Day Two:
+ Translate Or Create: Strategies For Those With English-Language Sites
+ Domain Issues - Latin American Version
+ Spanish / Portuguese Language Ad Issues
+ SEO & Spanish / Portuguese Language Issues

audio spanish translator

One of the biggest problems for soldiers on the battle field is the lack of adequate audio Spanish translators. In Iraq, for example, there aren't enough good translators to help all of the coalition forces to communicate with the local Iraqi people.

 

Well, Stanford University has come up with an improved audio Spanish translator that uses the latest speech technology to facilitate communication. While the device is definitely not perfect, it does seem to be an interesting tool that could help not only save the lives of soldiers, but also of translators that are targeted by terrorists. Anything that does that will definitely be worth it.

Spanish Software - Firefox

Translators are always on the lookout for Spanish software tools that will help them in their translation business. One of the tools that you probably already have is the Firefox Internet browser. I downloaded this software a while ago, but just recently decided to download the Spanish version.

 

The Spanish version is basically the same as the English one, but one thing I did notice is that when you move your cursor over a word, the translation of the word pops up in a little window. At first it seems like a cool little device for someone that might not be able to understand what they read in English. However, for someone who already has a pretty good command of English and Spanish, it can get a little annoying. I'm sure there is a way to turn it off, but I haven't really gotten around to that yet.

 

Anyways, this Spanish software is interesting and if you haven't downloaded it yet, give it a try.

 

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A new A.I.-based guessing game

This post isn't necessarily about Spanish language, but I have to tell anyone who will listen about a cool website I ran across a little awhile ago. The name of the website is www.20q.net and it contains an online version of the classic game, 20 Questions.

 

The game is based on artificial intelligence technology and does an incredible job of guessing what you've thought of. There are different categories you can start in, either Sports, TV & Movies, or Rock and Pop. The first time I tried it, I played the Sports version and the A.I. engine behind the website figured out  who I thought of in about 17 questions. (I was thinking of Dale Murphy, the long-time all-star from the Atlanta Braves).

 

One of the cool things about the site is that you can choose to have the game presented in various languages with Spanish being one of them. So if you've got some time (you might need more than you think because you won't be able to stop with one game) give it a whirl and try it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

Altavista Spanish Translation

Yesterday I wrote a little about some of the free Spanish translators online. One of the more popular ones in use today is the Altavista Spanish translation engine.

 

The Altavista Spanish translation engine is actually referred to as the Babel Fish Translation service and one of the things I like about this website is that it is actually pretty clean and straightforward. Lots of websites have the incorrect assumption that more is better when in fact, most people just want to be able to find the information they are looking for relatively easy without having to search all over the place. Think Google's home page. A great example of keeping your page to a minimum.

 

So back to Altavista's translation page. While it doesn't have the capability to translate every language pair you could possibly think of, it does have a good number of combinations for you to choose from. You can also put in a website URL and choose the language combination you want to translate it with.

 

Another somewhat unique capability of the Altavista Spanish translation engine is that you can put it directly on your website. I've never really been a fan of putting a translation engine on my website but I'm sure that many people have found them useful. It would be interesting to know how many people use these and if visitors to their sites really find them useful. In the meantime, you can visit the Babelfish site to get a translation.

Spanish Translation for Free

Many people online search for translators that are capable of providing Spanish translations for free. There are a few of these websites that offer free online Spanish translators and they offer an interesting look into the world of automatic translation. Some of the more popular translators that offer Spanish translation for free are Altavista's Babelfish, Google's translator, the WorldLingo translator, and the translator from El Mundo.

 

While these translators are good at providing (most of the time) a general idea of what the text is about that you are feeding through the free translator, they are definately not good enough for professional services.

 

Awhile ago, I tried a little experiment on the translation capabilities of these translators that offer Spanish translation for free. It was an interesting exercise in how these translators behave and you might find it interesting. The page can be found at my free Spanish translation site. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Canadian National Anthem: Translation Issue

Before people in the United States was even concerned about the issue of the national anthem being translated into another language, our neighbors to the north have dealt with the issue of having their national anthem translated into two languages, namely French and English.

One of the biggest issues of the Canadian national anthem is that the differenent versions also have different meanings. These different meanings, according to one reporter, reflect different Canadian attitudes. Now, I'm not from Canada and don't know much about Canadian attitudes and politics, but it is interesting to see how one national anthem in two different languages can have such a difference and how these differences can reflect different feelings.

Here's the French version:
O Canada, land of our forefathers, Your brow is crowned with glorious garlands, Because your arm knows how to carry the sword, It knows how to carry the Cross. Your history is an epoch of brilliant exploits And your valor of tempered faith will protect our homes and our rights.

Here's the English version:
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

World Cup Translation Recruitment

I just read an article about the U.S. military recruiting Arabic translators using advertisements showing during World Cup matches. I guess they have had pretty good success, especially during the Iran-Mexico game a couple of weeks ago.

You can see the videos here. They're pretty interesting.

Regardless of what you think of the U.S. or it's military, you have to admire the way they used this media to get recruits. It makes me wonder how I can use things that are going on the world today to get more clients. What current events can you use to increase and improve your business.

Tags: Arab translation, world cup, recruitment

Do you speak Arabic and English?

If so, there's an organization called ElectronicIraq that is looking for you to help translate various documents from the Iraqi media. According to the website:

Electronic Iraq is actively expanding its commitment and capacity to bring news, views, and voices from Iraq to a worldwide audience. To achieve this end, Electronic Iraq must translate articles, analyses, Op Eds, and human-interest stories from the Iraqi media. We are currently seeking experienced and dependable translators for this project, and hope to give special attention to the translation of Arabic posts to our acclaimed "Iraq Diaries" section. In addition, we are seeking the assistance of individuals who are able and willing to transcribe interviews from Arabic in to English.

Sounds like an interesting proposition that would be worthwhile to check out.

Tags: arabic jobs, arabic translation

The Need for an "Urban Translator"

I just barely found this article from the Chicago Sun-Times about a gang member who is on trial and now needs one of his buddies to serve as an "urban translator" to help bridge the "cultural gap" between the courtroom and the gang-ridden streets.

It seems a bit over the top for me. According to the article, the "translator" is needed to help the defendant understand that he shouldn't shout in court and attack his attorneys. Interesting.

Tags: court translation, legal translation

Hispanics and Marketing

There is a good article at Ecommerce Times about hispanics and marketing. The author makes a good point that just having a few products or services translated into Spanish is not the end all be all of having a good Hispanic campaign.

 

I think the author makes two very valid points about marketing to the Hispanic population. The first is that, just with everything else in marketing, you have to know your market. If you don't market to the right people, Spanish-speakers or not, you won't stand a chance.

 

The second point is extremely relevant and something that I have seen over and over again. You must have an infrastructure that can support Spanish-speaking customers. If you offer your product in Spanish, but then don't give the Spanish-speaking consumer the ability to call a bilingual help desk or read instructions in Spanish, that customer won't be yours for very long.

 

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Alan Enwiya, translator.

Jill Carroll's story of capture and eventual release and freedom is indeed heart-warming and downright amazing. It's sad, however, to think of her translator/interpreter and his fate in the ordeal.

 

When the kidnappers attacked, he put himself on the line to try and rescue his client, even though he was unarmed and he probably knew that he would die trying. Alan Enwiya is a model to all translators and interpreters everywhere and we must always realize and be grateful for those who do their work in dangerous conditions for the benefit of all of us.

 

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Translation does not equate with vocal fluency

My day job is translating and in the course of the day I often run into a lot of different people that have various ideas about not only translation but also about foreign language and the ability to do both.

 

Oftentimes, people who know about (or pretend they know about) these two things (the ability to translate and the ability to speak a foreign language) usually fall into two camps: 1) Those who know that translation is a different skill than speaking a foreign language and the ability to do one does not preclude the ability to do the other and 2) those who think that they are the same thing and that if you can translate you can speak fluently and if you can speak fluently you can translate.

 

To be honest, this second group of people drive me crazy. Nobody thinks that just because they can speak English they can give a presentation, or that just because they can write they can be a journalist, novelist, or some other type of writer.

 

Why is it then that people who speak a foreign language automatically think they can translate to or from that language?

 

I believe it's a combination of ignorance on those not familiar with the translation field and good translators not speaking out and educating clients and others about translation. Until that happens, we're bound to be stereotyped as someone who can translate because he/she can speak a foreign language.

 

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Mediocre Translators = High Salaries

You may not like it, but it just goes to show you that all are not created equal in the translation industry. An article from the Shanghai Daily says that

"A big problem is that payment and translation quality don't match," said Lu Gusun, dean of Fudan University's college of foreign languages and literature and vice director of the Translator's Association of Shanghai.

So someone in China has realized that translators are not always treated fairly. Well, I think every translator I know could have told you that.

So why is it that some translators are able to make more than others even when they have the same (or even less) ability than another translator? Well, I think the real reason has to do with the fact that freelance translators do more than just translate. The most important thing they can do is market themselves. Two translators with the same skills will not earn the same amount, but rather the one who is better at marketing will earn more (both in terms of the number of jobs, and what they can charge).

 

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Practicing Your Spanish Listening Skills

If you're interested in improving your listening abilities in Spanish, there are a few websites out there that will help you do so. However, some of the best ways to improve your listening skills are to listen to news reports in Spanish.

 

One of the best sites for listening to news not only in Spanish but in a ton of other languages as well (44 languages currently) is VOA - The Voice of America. This website not only has news articles written in various languages, but also provides both audio and video programming for listeners for free. They also broadcast on various channels around the world, but it's just as easy to go online and listen there.

 

Every morning I listen to a 30-minute news segment in Spanish so that I can keep up on my Spanish listening skills, and I know it helps.

 

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Finding a Qualified Translator

I recently read an article about the translation industry in Yemen and how more and more people are opening translation shops and proclaiming to be authorized translators but not necessarily having the training to operate a translation business.

 

This is seen as a big problem because unqualified people are misleading consumers into thinking that their information will be translated correctly, when in fact, it will not be up to standard. This is further intensified by the fact that some clients will shop around for translations and then decide to go with the cheapest solution no matter what. This isn't the best criteria to search for if you want a good translation.

 

How then, if you are in need of having something translated, should you determine which translator or translation agency is qualified to work on your project? In the U.S., the ATA is an organization that certifies translators and many clients will want the translator to be ATA-certified. This is not always the best solution, however. Just because a translator is not ATA-certified does not mean that they are not qualified.

 

I think the best way to know if the person you're dealing with is qualified to do translation work on your behalf is to look at their client list and see if the people that they've worked with before have been happy with the work that they have received.

 

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Article Directory in Spanish

Lately, in order to increase traffic to my main website spanish-translation-help.com, I've been writing articles relevant to Spanish translation. In submitting these articles, I have focused on two main article directory sites, www.goarticles.com and www.ezinearticles.com.

 

So far, I have submitted 5 articles to goarticles.com and 3 articles to ezinearticles.com. I'm not sure how much traffic is coming through these, but in the research I've done, it seems to be a good way to get more traffic.

 

The question I have, however, is whether or not there are any article submission sites specific to accepting articles written in Spanish. If there are any, I'd be intersted to know where to find them.

 

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Translation and Billboards

Translating in any language can be a tricky situation. You have to know who your audience is, and that means knowing what flavor of a particular language a particular group speaks.

 

For example, the same words in Spanish could have different meanings depending on the person who is subjected to that language. Spanish is different, whether you're in Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Argentina. It's also different to Cuban Spanish-speakers living in the United States.

 

Therefore, it is interesting how marketers use language to target specific groups of people.

 

A story in Miami over the weekend illustrates this. Volkswagon wanted to advertise their GTI 2006 model specifically to Hispanics in the United States. Well, it didn't go too well.

 

They put up billboards with a picture of the car alongside the words "Turbo-Cojones" in big letters. Needless to say, not a few people were a little offended and the sign was taken down a few days later.

 

Whereas the term cojones was used to signify gutsy in the ad, the more vulgar meaning was the one that came across and eventually got the ad shut down.

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Want to be a Conference Interpreter?

There is a program from the Directorate General for Interpretation in the European Commission for those who are interested in becoming a conference interpreter.

 

If you meet certain requirements, you may be eligible to receive a study bursary from the Directorate General for Interpretation. It seems like it could be a great opportunity.

 

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Teacher suspended for not translating

According to the Aspen Daily News, "A Spanish teacher at Aspen Middle School has been suspended without pay for refusing to administer standardized tests this week, school district officials confirmed Wednesday."

 

Schools in Colorado are mandated by the state to give Colorado State Aptitude Program exams, and these exams are only in English. In order for all students to take the exams, teachers are required to translate the directions, the questions, and the multiple-choice answers from English to Spanish for students whose first language is not English.

 

The teacher in question, Sam Esmiol, says that he didn't feel it was right for him to translate the test for a couple of reasons. First, he said that he "feel[s] that each teacher is going to translate the questions and answers differently" and that "each group of students taking the test is getting a slightly different version. There's too much personal influence on the results."

 

Secondly, he says he is not a trained translator and therefore shouldn't be expected to translate.

 

It does seem like it is unfair for the students to have each teacher that gives the test provide his or her own personal translation of the directions, answers, and questions. The translations are going to be different among the teachers and those translations very much have the possibility of influencing the students.

 

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Translation Summit

The Center for Language Studies at Brigham Young University, the American Translators Association (ATA), and the National Virtual Translation Center (NVTC) are jointly hosting the first ever Translation Summit: The Latest Word in Translation.

 

The theme of the summit is "Bringing together private industry, government, and academia." Representatives from all three sectors will be at the summit being held in Utah on March 20, and it seems that the goal will be to increase dialogue between these three sectors.

 

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of this summit, and how the information will trickle down to the actual translators and interpreters doing the job on a daily basis.

 

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Translation Technology

The translation industry is, like any other industry, constantly looking for the next technological breakthrough that can aid the field and those that work in it. A lot of translators are able to translate and do their jobs without having to interact with new technology but whether they use it or not, it's out there. And it's only going to get more prevalent as more companies and government agencies work to fix the national translation problem.

 

Companies and government agencies are constantly facing the issue of sifting through vast amounts of data written in various languages and figuring out how to best sift through that information for the gold nuggets to then be able to act on them.

 

As translators, we often face our own dilemma of trying to decide if it's worth it for us to keep informed of all these changes that could take place in the future. I for one think that it is imperative that every translator keep up to speed on the type of translation technology that is being developed. The translation industry, as I said before, is like any other industry, and in order to be a good translator, you must be informed about the industry you represent.

 

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Lost in translation

OK, so one of the things I like to do to keep up on the Spanish translation industry is to read news about translators and translation in general. However, I'm getting really tired of seeing every journalist out there using the phrase "lost in translation" in their stories. Half the time the phrase doesn't even fit with the story. The other half of the time it looks like the writer is just trying to using a catchy phrase that isn't all that catchy.

 

It seems like everything is getting "lost in translation" these days. Take a look at some of these I pulled from various headlines of news articles:

 

1. Energy efficiency lost in translation

2. Culture, cuisine get lost in translation

3. Measures lost in translation

4. Italian flavor gets lost in translation

5. Athletes' quotes often lost in translation

6. NYC schools lost in translation

7. Hong Kong Disneyland gets lost in translation

8. Yahoo gets lost in translation

9. Winter Olympics remained lost in translation

...and most importantly...

10. Timberlake tattoos lost in translation

 

I hope the phrase itself gets lost in translation so I don't ever have to read or hear it again.

 

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Free Translator's Handbook

The 1999 edition of the Handbook for Literary Translators from the Translatiom Committee of PEN American Center in New York is finally available for free. According to their website:

This, the fully revised fourth edition of the Handbook, a valued information resource for translators, is now accessible free of charge in either an on-line version or as a downloadable Microsoft Word document.

This handbook contains various information for all levels of translators, such as help in negotiating a contract, a sample contract, globalization issues, and resources for translators.

 

This is an invaluable resource for translators just starting out, or those who would like updated information on the translation industry.

 

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Pledge of allegiance in Spanish

The flag of the United States, and especially the accompanying Pledge of Allegiance has certainly had its share of controversy, especially it seems in the last few years.

 

Well, the controversy didn't end with Michael Newdow.

 

Turns out that Noelle Tepper of Frederick County, Maryland also had a beef with what a local middle school was doing with the Pledge.

 

It seems that the school thought it would be a good idea to broadcast the pledge being recited in different classes. One of the broadcasts was of the Pledge being recited in Spanish in a Spanish class. Tepper was infuriated that the Pledge could be spoken in another language other than English because, according to her, "the Pledge of Allegiance is a sacred oath to Americans. Why should it be OK to translate it into another language where it loses meaning? Our government is in English. Our laws are in English. It is the predominant language, and it should be our national language."

 

So, first of all, she implies that because the Pledge is an oath for Americans, it can't be recited in another language. I know plenty of people who are Americans who speak more than one language (myself included). Does it make us any less American if we repeat the Pledge in another language?

 

Second of all, how does she know the translation of the Pledge in Spanish causes meaning to be lost? Sure there are times when translations aren't faithful to the original documents, but to just assume that meaning is lost is preposterous. Does she even speak Spanish?

 

Third, whether or not you believe English should be the national language of the U.S. should not preclude the idea that a middle school Spanish class have the opportunity to recite the Pledge in the language they are studying. It doesn't make them or the Pledge any less American.

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Looking for a new language?

Not finding enough translation work? Maybe you should learn a new language. According to Datuk Noh Omar, the Deputy Education Minister of Kuala Lumpur, "translation of books into Malay is still scant...compared to other countries."

 

So if you need more work, maybe you could learn Malay.

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New Translations in Spain

After Spain legalized same-sex marriage, they decided to go one step further. They've created new birth certificates in order to avoid discrimination.

 

Instead of having the terms father and mother on the certificates, they will be replaced with the terms progenitor A and progenitor B.

 

Let's hope this doesn't get carried away even more, such as:

 

madre tierra = la tierra del progenitor

padre nuestro = progenitor nuestro

 

 

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Translation Technology

Newsweek International has published an interesting article on translation technology.

 

The article describes various projects underway (mostly in Europe) to create machines for understanding and communicating to humans. Especially intriguing are the "ceiling-mounted 'audio-beam' speakers" by DaimlerChrysler that are capable of projecting sound 5 meters to an area as small as a single seat. This would potentially replace headphones at conferences or other places such as the U.N.

 

One thing that I think is interesting about the translation and interpretation arena is that a lot of the technological advances seem to be happening in Europe. I'm sure that this has something to do with the fact that a lot of European countries have more than a single official language, and therefore government is more involved in streamlining translation and interpretation, as opposed to the United States, where English is the defacto language and it is usually companies that are working on translation issues in order to increase revenue.

 

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Multi-directional Translation

The translation industry is a profession like any other; it's got its shares of unwritten guidelines and rules that translators should follow along with translators who do and don't follow them.

 

When I was in my translation program in college, one of these "guidelines" that the professors told us over and over again was that we should only ever translate into our native language. So I should only ever translate from Spanish to English and native Spanish speakers would do the opposite.

 

This counsel we were given does seem to make sense when you first begin as a translator. You are usually more fluent in your native language and have an easier time rendering another language into that language, than vice versa.

 

However, when translators finally leave the comfort of school and begin competing with other translators in the market, they often find that this guideline is hardly ever adhered to. Translators who promote their services advertise that they are equally able to translate both directions between a language pair. I often wonder how many of these translators are as good as they advertise and are able to go both ways.

 

The American Translator's Association (ATA) provides certification tests for translators and they are very specific that translators who advertise their certification must pass language direction-specific tests. For example, a Spanish-to-English translator must pass a Spanish-to-English translation test in order to be certified in that specific language pair and specific direction. If they want to be certified from English-to-Spanish, they must take another test specific to that direction.

 

So why do translators who are not certified advertise multi-directional translation services? I think that one of the reasons is because of the number of translators in the market. If you are an English-to-Spanish translator, you could be losing business by not accepting offers for Spanish-to-English translations.

 

Also, certain a certain language direction might not be in as high a demand as the other direction. For example, I've noticed that there are more translators offering Spanish-to-English translation services than English-to-Spanish and so therefore there might be more jobs going from Spanish-to-English.

 

Now the real question is whether or not this is an ethical thing to do. I know many translators that are not certified by the ATA and they get plenty of business from clients who are happy with their work. Individual translators need to honestly assess their translation abilities and decide whether it would be fair to a client to proclaim their ability in a certain language direction.

 

By doing so, they will help the translation industry earn more respect and be able to provide a better product to the client.

 

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Keyword Popularity

For the past few months, I've been getting a keyword report from Worktracker. This report contains two lists. The first is the Top 300 Surge Report and according to Wordtracker, "contains the top 300 queries from the last 48 hours, which represents the complete queries from the largest Metacrawlers on the web for the last 48 hours."

 

I enjoy getting this email because it helps me see trends that are developing and also gives me new ideas for various projects. However, there is something I don't understand.

 

The top three search terms on the list are, in order:

1. Google

2. Ebay

3. Yahoo

 

My question is this: Why are these search terms? Don't most people know that the URLs of the above companies are the same as the business name? It would seem to me that people interested in finding the Google webpage would already know where to find it and not have to search for it.

 

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New poll on bilingual dictionaries

I've just added a new poll (my very first one, in fact) to the blog. I'm curious to what everyone's preferences are. After the poll ends, I'll let you know what mine is.

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Simultaneous Interpretation is no curling match

First of all, let me say I have nothing against curling. I think people who do it must be very talented and work very hard to be good at their sport.

 

That being said, I think I'd have a better chance of being a curler than being a simultaneous intepreter. When I was in college, I took Spanish translation classes and these classes mostly focused on the art and skill of written translation. However, to get us a feel for what intepreters do and to engrain in the students that interpreters and translators are not the same, our professors let us practice doing simultaneous interpretation.

 

After I went through that, I realized that I could never be an interpreter. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I gained a new respect for people who could sit down and concentrate to such a degree that they could interpret somebody else speaking in nearly real time.

 

Not only do interpreters have to be able to multi-task efficiently, they have to be walking encyclopedias that are not phased by anything they come across, because if they do, they'll be behind the speaker and it'll it be tough to catch up. Interpreters also have to be able to work with audio equipment and not let it various intricacies distract them.

 

Most of the time interpreters work in tandem, and because it's such a tiring and draining job, they have to rely on their partner to take over. But, while an intepreter is not interpreting, he/she is helping the other person, looking up terms that might be unknown, and helping to deal with any technical issues that might arise.

 

So while I love translating and think I'm decent at it, I could never be an interpreter and would rather go one-on-one against Maria Sharapova on the tennis court.

 

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Spanish translation for Harry Potter

On Thursday of last week, three different Spanish translations of Harry Potter were released. One translation was bound for Spain, one for Argentina, and one for the other locations in Latin America. It's amazing how a book like Harry Potter can have such a following and that the power of that following can demand three different Spanish translations for different regions of the world. I wonder if the previous Harry Potter books were also translated into slight variations from one another. I have the second and third Harry Potter books in Spanish and they seem to be translated with "Spain" Spanish.

 

On Amazon.com you can't tell which version it is that your buying so it would be interesting to know the distribution of the versions. I imagine that the books sold in the U.S. would be the version sold to the majority of Latin America.

 

On another interesting note about the book, the English title, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was translated as "Harry Potter y el misterio del príncipe" and did not include the possibly more accurate translation of mestizo due to negative cultural connotations that exist with that word. It shows once more that a translator's job is not to merely render one language into another, but to always take into consideration the culturual implications of the translation.

 

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The Altavista Spanish Translator

There are a ton of free online translator programs. A lot of these translators offer roughly the same options there really doesn't seem to be much difference in the quality of the translations that they produce.

One of the most popular online translators is the Altavista Spanish translator, or Babel Fish. This translator can be found at the Babel Fish site.

Here are some of the features of the Babel Fish translator:
-Provides translations for 36 language pairs
-Can translate a block of text up to 150 words
-Can translate web pages
-Has a World Keyboard for entering accented or Cyrillic characters

In terms of the quality of the translation, it's like I've mentioned on my site, you get what you pay for. It's good for shorter texts when you want a rough idea of what the text says, but for anything official or important, it's best to get help from a qualified translator.

You can also read some reviews about some other popular online translators, as well as see a sample of how they (along with the Altavista Spanish translator) perform at the Spanish-translation-help website.

S.I.D.A. in the Salt Lake airport

Over the Christmas break I went out west to visit some family and I saw something that made me chuckle. I was in the Salt Lake City airport and as I was getting ready to board the plane, I saw on some of the doors a stop sign with the abbreviation S.I.D.A. in the middle.

It made me stop and think because that (as you probably already know) is the very common abbreviation for AIDS in Spanish. I bet it's an old joke among all the Latins that work at the airport there.

By the way, what it really stands for at the airport is Security Identification Display Area.