As the web has spread across the world, more and more web pages are available in languages other than English. Google provides a translation link and language tools to enable you to read pages written in unfamiliar languages.

Google translates pages by computer. Machine translation is difficult to do well and tends not to be as clear as human translation. But it can give you the gist of what's written or suggestions for translating something into another language.

Your results may include a "Translate this page" link when a results page is written in a language different from your interface language (as specified by your Google Preferences, which is described in the next section). Your interface language is the language in which Google displays messages and labels, buttons, and tips on Google's home page and results page. You can translate pages written in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish into another language from that set.

Google's Language Tools overcome language barriers. Click on the "Language Tools" link to the right of the search box on Google's home page,

or visit www.google.com/language_tools, or select the Language Tools menu option in the Google Toolbar (in Part III, section Making Google Search Easier with Google Tools) to:

• Search for pages written in specific languages

  

• Search for pages located in specific countries

• Use the Google interface in another language,
  e.g., set Google's home page, messages and labels, and buttons to display in a specific language

• Visit Google's site in a specific country,
  e.g., www.google.de in Germany

  

• Translate any text or web page from a limited set of languages including English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish into another language in that set.

  

If you want to translate some text or a page into a language other than those Google Language Translation Tool offers, check out Fagan Finder's Translation Wizard.

If you're interested in translating Google Guide, send email to feedback(at)googleguide.com (replace "(at)" by "@") and review Erik Hoy's advice for Google Guide translators. The Danish Google Guide, bibliotek.kk.dk/soeg_bestil_forny/googleguide, is available through the Copenhagen Central Library's website. You can find a Hebrew version of Google Guide at www.googleguide.co.il/.

Exercises

1. Find out about municipal swimming pools that you can use when visiting Naples. Hint: Find the Italian words for "municipal swimming pools Naples" and then search for them on pages in Italy. You can use your browser's Copy and Paste features to transfer the Italian words from one screen to another.
2. Find the name of the mayor of Montpellier, France, by searching the city website montpellier.fr. It may help to know the French word for "mayor."

3. Translate "I wish to mail a package. Where is the nearest post office? Thank you." into Spanish.

4. Find listings or photos of old books at the national library of Spain. Hint: Translate the two unrelated phrases "old books" and "national library Spain" separately; otherwise, the translation software may try to make them into a sentence (and add "noise" words).

5. Restrict your search to France and search for pages in English on the war in Iraq.

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