How to Translate Foreign Websites
If you've ever lived in a foreign country, arranged for a trip abroad or communicated with an overseas business, you know about trying to decipher foreign websites. Unfortunately for the isolated anglophile Internet users across the United States, not ALL websites are in English, even with the combined clout of the European Union and American global reach. Here are some tips for translating the content on foreign sites that appear inscrutable to the native-English eye.
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Instructions
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Look for easy translation tabs. Many foreign sites have buttons for choosing your own native language to reach out to polyglot clients. However, some of these little buttons are hard to find, and since you may not be able to read the host language, any directions to them won't be very helpful. In general, look for a small icon of the US or UK flag for a translation fix.
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Use visual cues. A lot of websites have pictures and .gif icons in among the text. These can really help you get the gist of what the site is about.
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Pick out phrases. Many times, you can break down the foreign text into more digestible chunks by isolating familiar words. Look at each sentence separately, and pay attention to phrases next to crucial input boxes or check boxes, so that you might be able to make minimal use of a site without understanding every last word.
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Do emails to tech support. If you really need to understand something that is a brick wall to you, find the creators of the site through email and express your concerns. When you contact them, you craft the scope of the interaction, and you can zero in on what you need to know without slogging through interminable pages of something you can't read.
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Pick out the important stuff and let the rest go. If you've found what you're looking for, resist the temptation to keep on going through mysterious texts. Keep you specific goals in mind to keep your translation time down and free you up for other projects.
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Utilize translation websites such as babblefish (see Resources below).
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