Latvian to English Web Translation?

May 1, 2007 1:47 PM

Any good online Latvian translators? Like Google or Babelfish, unfortunately they just don't do Latvian. I know you have to go human for any decent translation. But I'm just trying to do very rough translations of some web pages for work, to see if they're worth investing the dough and time in having someone translate them.
posted by caveatz to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

I can't imagine machine translation R&D would have much return on investment for Latvian - which is probably why you aren't seeing anything on-line. I've checked my usual sources - and can't find anything either. Into English translation is pretty cheap - if you really want it - I think you're going to have to pay to have it translated.
posted by Wolfie at 3:02 PM on May 1, 2007

I use (and really like) Babylon 6 for Latvian. This is a software program ($59) from Babylon.com which translates any language with control+right-click!
For Latvian, it does a good job for single word and idiom/phrase translations. Also download Latvian to Russian and there are double as many translations and you can then click on the Russian word for Russian to English translation.

Babylon dictionaries are available for most languages and are included in the one-time price. Babylon makes translation easy for single words, phrases, idioms, and (like Babelfish) for sentence or paragraph text translation (not for Latvian), but without having to cut and paste into a separate page. For all languages! Basic dictionaries are free and generally come up automatically (especially if you choose that language in MyDictionaries), although I have found that it is even quicker if you download the dictionaries you use the most to your own computer.
posted by kapec at 6:33 PM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

(is it possible to string together these single-word translations into coherent sentences? i would have thought that the grammar might make it a bit more complicated than that...?)
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:31 PM on May 1, 2007

and caveatz: how much text is in these pages? and how many pages? i might consider doing a rough translation for you :)
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:33 PM on May 1, 2007

Babylon is only a tool; a rough knowledge of the type of grammar of Latvian is potentially a time-saver. Exactly, string the translated words together on a second line, do the guessing game, and fill in the blanks later. I haven't run into any howlers, but it can be amusing sometimes. Or you will develop a language-learner's sense of humor or patience. Oh, and time does seem to slow down.
posted by kapec at 6:05 AM on May 2, 2007