Translation – help on the Internet and elsewhere

 As a translator, dictionaries and in particular, specialist dictionaries, are really important. They must be comprehensive, updated and relevant.

It is difficult to find the right ones here, particularly those required for technical terms, so the Internet is a real boon. Checking through dictionaries is compulsive, as with any dictionary hours can be spent just browsing the odd or unusual words …  it’s hard to just find the right expression or word and continue with the task in hand.

Here are a few links to sites I regularly use:

Google Scholar  is a good source of articles about translation and specialist dictionaries

Onelook provides a range of services, including a basic translation tool but this does come with the following warning:
Please note:

The translator will not produce a perfect translation. In most cases it should adequately convey the general sense of the original; however, it is not a substitute for a competent human translator.
http://www.srf.dk/ordboguk.htm is an excellent source of useful terms relating to tax – now if I could only find an equivalent one for soft-ware and computing technology… is an excellent source of useful terms relating to tax – now if I could only find an equivalent one for soft-ware and computing technology…

Another excellent source of information is the library – both online and actual – I use both extensively, particularly my local one in Nakskov which really is good.

Apart from searching the net generally for the whole word or phrase there are several sites that can be good, but equally many that are outdated, obsolete or actually contain the wrong definition of the translated words so as always with the Net it is a matter of being careful.

And there is still the good old hard-back book. I use Roget’s thesaurus to find synonyms, alternative phrases or expressions, the big Encarta and a good selection of other reference books in my work.

I am very impressed with the Vinterberg & Bodelsen Dansk Engelsk (part of Gyldendal’s Red Dictionaries series) for their coverage of botanical terms – it’s excellent for this subject.

I would really appreciate information on any good links on this topic.