Have you ever uncovered a website, page in a scrapbook, or a death notice that was written in another language? In the past I've had to take this information to a friend or even a friend of a friend to get the page translated. The expansion of the internet has made the problem even more common. Fortunately, the internet has provided the solution that is quick, easy and fairly reliable
I recently received a memorial card from a relative in Belgium. I could tell from the look of the card that it was a memorial card, and from the postmark I knew who had sent it. I could determine who had passed away by carefully trying to spot the name. But I really couldn't tell anything more about the contents. That's where my scanner and the internet provided the tools I needed to find out all there was to know about this unfortunate situation. I popped the card into my scanner and saved the file as a text file. Then the real magic began.
I copied the text into Google's Translate (http://www.translate.google.com/) webpage, selected the original language, or as close as I could get, and hit the Translate button. In seconds the text was converted to a reasonably easy to understand document outlining the details of the memorial service and the family and friends that were there. The system isn't perfect. Naturally, there are colloquialisms and phrases that a personal translator would reword to clarify, but in general the content is understandable.
The Google Translate service provides translations for over 40 languages. In addition to translating text, Google provides translate feature that you can add to your toolbar to automatically translate any webpage to your favorite language. There other translation services available too. Yahoo provides a service called Babelfish (http://babelfish.yahoo.com/) that translates the most common languages at the click of a button.
Searching the web for free translation services displays hundreds, if not thousands, of free translation services that you can use to translate almost anything. Now, I wouldn't recommend that you use these types of service to translate important contracts and official documents. However, for everyday family tree research, these services should be perfect.
For more information about researching your family history see my Ancestry.com - Helping You Discover Your Heritage webpage. This page shows you how to access Ancestry.com and all of its databases, research help and training materials. I'm sure that you will enjoy it.
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