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Free Online German Translation
from Linguee
A valuable new free online German translation
resource based on CONTEXTCurrently in Beta, Linguee is the natural next-step in the development of German-English translation services on the web. Set up by two internet entrepreneurs in 2008, Linguee not only identifies German translations of words and phrases but also demonstrates how these terms are used in CONTEXT. How does this free online German translation service work?The idea is simple.
Linguee takes your chosen search term and trawls through bilingual German and English texts across the web. It then brings up two lists: one of German texts including your search term, and the other English texts including an English translation of this term.
Why so good?
Not only is the range of bilingual sources vast, but you also get to see your term or phrase in a variety of contexts. Linguee recognizes that searchers tend to look for phrases rather than single words and therefore the context in which your phrase appears becomes vital when deciding on the suitability of a particular translation. When using free online German translation consider this……Linguee will pull up everything.
Which means for every great translation out there – drawn from a reputable German-English dictionary / a professional translators’ forum / a well-translated text – you’ll also get some nonsense answers thrown up by machine translations, incorrect translations or “near-miss” translations. Therefore Linguee also invites visitors to judge the answers – each listing is accompanied by a rating of up to 3 stars. If you have time and are confident in your linguistic abilities, you can sign up and judge the translations on their relevance. I think Linguee will be great for………rarer and odder terms or more technical terms, where the original translations are more likely to have been done by professionals. Linguee draws on many EU and patent texts, so there should be good pickings for technical translators.
Just for interest, I compared a few terms from one of my clients’ glossaries to see what Linguee would bring up:
Freiformschmieden – Open die forging
No doubts here, almost complete agreement between all the listed texts
Handelsrohre – Commercial piping / Commercial tubing
Pipes and tubing are fairly interchangeable, according to these lists. A good example of where to check back with the client/the client’s past translations.
Kugelstrahlen - Shot-blasting
No problems there. |
However, the following example suggests that Linguee might be not be so good for translations of common terms: “Mit freundlichen Grüßen” is a common sign-off used in German letters and emails. There are several accepted English translations, including:
"kindest regards”,
“yours sincerely”,
“yours faithfully”,
“with kindest regards” &
“best regards”.
In English, however, these phrases are used in slightly varying ways:
Letters tend to stick to
“Dear Sir / Yours faithfully”
or
“Dear Mr Smith / Yours sincerely”,
whereas “regards”/”best regards”/”with kindest regards” have a more informal tone and are much more commonly used in emails.
You'll need to decide for yourself which is most appropriate for your particular German translation. |
So we should just forget all those other German-English dictionaries?No. I’d still thoroughly recommend an online German-English dictionary like LEO. But Linguee is a valuable addition for cross-checking, for more technical terms, and for examining the context in which a phrase is used. Free online German translation services such as Linguee are becoming the norm – and mobile. You can even download the Linguee application to your iPhone or iPod Touch! Give Linguee a try here. Happy translating!
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