• National e-Commerce Extension Initiative
• Module Homepage
• General Overview
• Facilitation Tools
• Learning Lesson
• Introduction
• Phase One
• Phase Two
• Phase Three
• Phase Four
  • Introduction
  • Language
  • Translation
  • Translation Cont.
  • Translation Cont.
  • Color
• Final Thoughts

Translation continued...

The following sources are free machine translation services which allow visitors to either translate a block of text or cut and paste a URL for translation of a webpage.

• Google Translate: http://translate.google.com.
• SDL Free Translation: http://www.freetranslation.com.

Machine translation is perhaps best for gaining the overall meaning or ‘gist’ of something written in an unfamiliar language. Small business owners might consider machine translation for e-mail correspondence with an international customer if a common language between merchant and owner is not identified. One must be cautious however, because in addition to the possible inaccuracy of free machine translation, there is a distinct possibility of dialogue becoming too complicated for this service if there is a problem with an order or a return.

Another potential problem in using free translation services is that machines are not yet capable of identifying the context in which words are used. Elements of writing such as context, style and tone are essential to conveying the intended meaning of a language.

Web site and all contents © Copyright Southern Rural Development Center 2009, All rights reserved. These materials were developed as part of the Southern Rural Development Center’s National e-Commerce Extension Initiative. They are based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2005-45064-03212

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Southern Rural Development Center.