The Tower of Babel. Everyone knows the story. It is the metaphorical explanation of why there are so many languages in the world. The tale also states that if man were of one language, nothing he tried to do would be impossible. Maybe the construction around the area would go faster and smoother if it were not for the cacophony of different languages being used. Can you read and interpret the following line? El Internet es un lugar asombroso. No? How about this one? Internet ist ein erstaunlicher Platz. No? Neither can I. Unfortunately, there may be morsels of wisdom buried in those words and we would never know. Maybe the old family Bible, with the mysterious writing in it and handed down for generations contains the directions to your family’s fortune. A kings ransom smuggled out of some country and hidden in another part of the world just before an invasion of your ancestral home. Or perhaps the letters written to your grandfather from the girl in Italy during World War Two would be interesting and poignant if they could be deciphered.
In my own case, I received a letter from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in response to an inquiry sent to her. Probably some Under Assistant Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of Correspondence simply made a mistake but the Queen’s letter of reply was in Dutch. Despite my heritage, I don’t speak or read Dutch. There it was, a royal letter from the leader of one of the world’s most important nations, and I don’t know what it says. I was panic-stricken. There was always the possibility that the Queen was going to appoint me burgemeester (Mayor) of my ancestral hometown of Outdorp. (Ok, maybe not a big chance, but could I take that risk?) What to do? Fortunately, I do have some friends that spend time here in Charlotte County that are Dutch so I thought I will just have them translate the letter for me. Unfortunately, none of them were in town when the envelope with the official stamps and embossing on the front of it arrived.
So there it was, a letter from the Queen of the Netherlands in my hands, probably with an urgent plea to begin some important quest. It was imperative that I know what it said before I slipped on my wooden shoes and went forth for her Majesty, tilting at windmills.
Fortunately, the Tower of Babel has been reduced to a parking lot. It is now possible to understand and communicate with people all around the world. If the need arises to translate a document, there is a very powerful tool at our disposal. Simply fire up your computer, connect to the Internet and go to www.microsofttranslator.com, http://translate.google.com/ or simply type translator in any search engine for many sites that will preform this task . At these sites there are tools to translate specific words from one language to another. For example, the word columnist, translated to Dutch, is kroniekschrijver. But even more interesting is that you can enter an entire block of text and it will translate the document for you. If it is a short passage that interests you, simply type it in. Another Dutch phrase I like is “hij is zeer interessant”. Put that phrase in front of kroniekschrijver and it describes this column. For a longer document, use a scanner to capture the document into your computer then simply copy and paste the text into the translator and behold the mysteries laid bare.
Additionally, the sites have the ability to translate websites. For example: pretend you are planning a trip to Portugal and the website for the Portuguese travelers information bureau is in Portuguese. Simply type in the website’s URL, (http://address) and select the language to convert to and in moments the fog will lift from your eyes and all will be revealed. And best of all, the cost of this service is nada, zip, zero. As an extra bonus, once a word or phrase has been translated to the language of choice, the service will then search the Web using the translated word. Are you doing research on World War Two German places of interest? Search for them in the German language and your results can be translated back to English at the same time.
So for now, Vriendelike Groete. (What did he say, Martha?) Look it up, just like I did.
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