"Translation": Help & Hints


Not 'translations', but help in understanding . . . if you really need it.

Introduction and Warning

This rather large web site brings to you hundreds of pages of information, most of which unfortunately in English only.
But it's a big world out there and there are many people and groups around the world who have a real interest in the matters under discussion here at The Commons, but are not necessarily able to grasp the content of so much material in English. Happily, we are able to offer some modest help in this respect -- not a magic wand solution but a rough machine translation capability that can be of help, if you have the desire, wit and flexibility to make good use of it.

The Systran engine we are presently using to this end can help you get a feel for the content of this Web site in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese or Russian, which you may not otherwise be able to access. In order to see how to do this easily for an entire site, click any of the icons shown here to get a rough translation of this page.

Cautionary Note:
Bear in mind that what you can generate here are crude, word for word, machine translations only (hink of them as 'hints' rather than "translations") -- and that they will be as useful to you as you chose to make them. But if you find yourself confronted with a wall of unfamiliar words in a language you do not know and a true thirst for getting some kind of idea of what the whole thing is about, a machine translation can help you get a first rough understanding of its thrust and content. Then, if you are interested enough, you may find it useful to print out both the original and that very rough machine translation and read them in parallel. Or get a real translation. But before you actually set out to use this handy tool, please do take a moment to review the following short section on Working with machine translations. A few minutes there will serve you in good stead.

Tips:
  • When you ask for the translation, please be patient. It may take a minute or so (if you have a high speed connection) to get the full text for a longer page.
  • When you get your machine translation, we advise you compare it directly with the original by clicking the "View Original Language" link on a translated web page. Reading the two side by side is a great help for those curious enough to work at it.


To get translation help for the entire site

  1. Click here and this will take you to the opening page of the site.
  2. At that point a javscript window will pop up, from wihch you can select the language into which you wish to translate the page and eventually the entire site.
  3. Once again we propose that you read the translated page and the English language original in parallel.
  4. From that point on as you call up each page, the text will be given in the chosen language.
  5. For various reasons (don't ask) the automative page transition works only for the top menu and contents on the central text area of this particular site of The Commons. Notably, the content of the left menu does not call up translated text.
  6. Your option there can be to put the Altavista Toolbar which puts a translation link onto your browser's tool bar. For that please click here.

Back to top

@CarShare Home @CarShare Forum Send E-mail
Copyright © 1994-2004 EcoPlan, Paris, France.® No rights reserved.
Last updated 26 March 2004
Site Map    What's New    Search