Technology Tips: Use Google to Translate a Webpage

Make sure you do the GoogleDocs Tech Tip first, before you do any other tips this semester.

As you all know from studying foreign languages, translating from a foreign language into English is not easy! There is no perfect computer solution for this problem. It is possible, however, to get some help from a computer. Even if the computer cannot provide you with a perfect translation, you can use a computer translation to get a general idea what a foreign language webpage is talking about. For this Technology Tip, you will use the Google Language Tools to translate an Italian webpage into English.

Step One: Google Language Tools. You will start by going to the Google Translate page.

Step Two: Translate page. To translate something, you can just cut-and-paste the text into the box OR you can paste in the address of a webpage. Here is a webpage address you can use as a test; it is from an Italian website of Aesop's fables:

http://www.iconos.it/index.php?id=846

You will need to copy this URL and put it into the box as shown, and then select Italian to English as the translation option. Then click the Translate button.

Step Three: View results. After you click on the "Translate" button, you will see the results. There should be a story in English - not in very good English admittedly, and with some Italian words here and there, but you should be able to get the main idea of the story.

Step Four: Send email. Send me an email where you tell me in one sentence the main idea of the story as you understand it. Make sure you use this subject line for the email: TechTip Translation.

When you have sent in the email, you can enter this tip on your GoogleDocs Checklist and then do the Gradebook Declaration for Extra Credit. Here is the text of the Gradebook Declaration you will complete: