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