I recently bought translation software that is proving very
unsatisfactory in translating emails---outgoing from English to
Spanish and incoming from Spanish to English.
What is the best translation program for my needs?

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Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 16 Jun 2003 14:51 PDT

I agree with owain-ga and give you a free option:
www.freetranslation.com

Hi sailingtraders,


thanks for an interesting question.


My research has led me to agree with the opinions of livioflores-ga
and owain-ga: no machine translations can compete with a human
translation.

Fortunately, there are decent machine translations available.  

The best I've found is Systran Premium, which retails for $759:
URL: http://www.systransoft.com/Products/Premium.html
For a comparison of the different products in the Systran line, see
the following:
URL: http://www.systransoft.com/Products/Comparison.html

A discussion from Google Groups includes the opinion of a spanish
professor on translation software:
URL: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=EDTECH%2597042601451223%40MSU.EDU&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dspanish%2Btranslation%2Bsoftware%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3DEDTECH%252597042601451223%2540MSU.EDU%26rnum%3D2

A company called WorldLingo offers subscription-based email
translation services that are recommended by Microsoft:
URL: http://www.worldlingo.com/products_services/email_solutions.html

Additionally, WorldLingo offers translation by humans with instant,
free quotes:
URL: http://www.worldlingo.com/microsoft/human_translation.html

And free machine translation:
URL: http://www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

The standard in free machine translation is Altavista's Babelfish:
URL: http://babelfish.altavista.com/

An extensive directory of free machine translation services is offered
by About.com:
URL: http://spanish.about.com/cs/onlinetranslation/


If it's an especially important document, I'd consider going with a
human translation.  Spintra offers same-day translation service:
URL: http://www.spintra.com/

Other same-day translation providers:
URL: http://spanish.about.com/cs/translators/


I hope you find this information useful, and feel free to request 
clarification.  If you do require clarification, please allow me to
provide it before you rate this answer.       
        
Hoping I was helpful,       
        
not_you-ga     
     
     
Search Strategy (on Google): 
"translation software"
"spanish translation software"
"translation software reviews"
"spanish translation software reviews"
"translation services"
"live translation services"

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Clarification of Answer by not_you-ga on 19 Jun 2003 14:15 PDT

Hi sailingtraders,

to answer your question more narrowly, I'd say it depends on volume of
email, sensitivity of communication, and the time factor.

If you send many emails, a per-email service like WorldLingo may
become very expensive.  In that case, you'd be better off going with
the Systran software: one price regardless of how many emails you'll
be translating.

However, if your Spanish-speaking clients expect you to offer very
fluent Spanish emails and/or you deal in contracts where a slight
miscommunication could mean a significant loss of profit, I'd go with
a human-translation service like that offered by WorldLingo.

Lastly, the time factor: Systran software will translate within a
matter of seconds.  Human translation can be achieved the same day,
but it's not going to be instantaneous.  If communications are
extremely time-sensitive, go with Systran.

Also don't rule out the possibility of a combined-methods solution. 
If I were you, I'd use Systran for routine communications and then
employ WorldLingo's human translators for emails that will make or
break important deals.

Thanks for the great rating, and please feel free to ask for more
clarification!

Have a good day,

not_you-ga

Researcher provided a very complete answer to my question. Thanks.

Unfortunately all translation software is very limited in what it can
do, compared to an experienced human translator.

Dear not_you_ga:
Thank you for your help.  We do business with people in Mexico and
send and receive emails several times a week.  We need translation
services at least same day--both for outgoing and incoming.  With this
additional information, would you narrow your response to our
question?  If your answer is "no", that's fine---you've provided us
with alot of help.
We will wait for your response before closing out this question and
rating the response.
Thanks