Janet Abe, My trek for translation software has been frustrating to say the least. With the help of my Evangelist friends the smoke has cleared somewhat and at the request of many of those who sent me email I'd like to share some of the information I've gathered. First and foremost the main thing I've learned is most translation software is not to be trusted. But some pitfalls can be avoided. Translation is a tricky thing and because of the differences in dialects, slang and other factors, translation left to a machine alone can be disasterous. The best example I've heard so far of translation gone wrong is when "Coke" had it's famous "Coke adds life" campaign. It didn't go over well in China, in fact it translated into "Coke will bring your ancestors back from the dead". It is because of this reason that if you are using translation software for anything else other than as suggestions to word translations and not phrases, you should be wary and have someone that knows the language to proof your work for you. If you would like me to forward you a list of the freelance translators & commercial translating services who have offered their services for a variety of languages, along with other advice on how to find an appropriate translator and what to look for, just e-mail me at & I'd be happy to forward you that info (I won't be able to send stuff till after May 26, I'm on vacation). O.K. Enough babbling, on to the software: Because of what I have learned about translation software I won't personally endorse any of these products, any comments I've written are remarks from the people who e-mailed me. To start I want to show some cool websites for people who may need to translate something once in a while, but not enough to actually buy software. Language Links - Cecilia Falk VERY COOL!!!! includes links to all kinds of glossaries & translation pages including Macintosh & Internet terminology, as well as language translation and everything else under the sun. ARTFL Look up words in simple French/English database containing 75,000 words. Systran Free translation of web page text blocks up to 500 words in 26 languages. Logos Dictionary Freely accessible database of about 20 languages. Eurodicautom Free on-line translation database in 10 languages in specialized subjects and includes abbreviations, definitions, phraseology etc. SOFTWARE: For Pricing & more detailed info, see individual websites. GlobalLink As far as I can tell has the market on translation software including: translators, dictionaries, language learning & Web translators. Two pieces of software that most people buy are "French Assistant" which is apparently really BAD, but cheap. and "Power Translator" which is a better for basic translation and is customizable. SoftLinc SoftLinc has two main translating softwares. Trans-Linc & LEXI. Both are OpenDoc Linguistic tools, with LEXI being the more detailed, it can be purchased at a reasonable price with 13 languages, and spelling, thesaurus & conjugation. I'm not certain, but I believe it can be customized. Word Translator 16+ languages available in specialized areas, is customizeable and has spell checking & Grammer Assistant. Some people who e-mailed me had made comments about "gender" errors as well and errors on French accents. Termium Put out by the Translation Bureau of the Canadian Government. One of the largest linguistic data banks in operation. Been in development for 20 years, has 3 million terms and word combination, definitions, examples of usage etc. It's updated every year so you will have to purcase yearly upgrades to stay on top of things, but if French Canadian is your game, this is your best bet. Transparent Language Offers a variety of translation, learning & grammar software in 12 languages. Frontier The software is actually a development environment for building & developing high performance websites, but the programmer told me it also translates written Danish into spoken Danish. Exceller Software "Key into French" software for English/French translations. Tele-Talent International Voice over translation for video, CD-ROM, films, & audio tapes. O.K., now that I've used up too much space on the newsletter, It's probably time to shut-up. Thanks for everyones help!!!! If anyone has any further questions regarding Translation Software, send me some mail & I'll try to help as best as I can.