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Archive for the ‘Dictionaries’ Category

Knowing that no online translation tool is perfect, we hesitated a bit before writing this article. So we have performed tests to assess a number of them based on two well-known texts, written in plain but vivid language, and beyond the narrow confines of ordinary conversation. For translation from English to French, we used a sample of Winston Churchill’s speech, known as “We Shall Fight on the Beaches. » For the translation from French into English, it’s the first verse of the song “La Boheme” by Charles Aznavour that has served us as a model.

Here are the automatic translators that we found the most faithful. But keep in mind the Italian expression “traduttore, traditore” (translator, traitor) when you visit!

Google Translate is a free multilingual service that allows for instant translations. It can translate words, phrases, web pages and texts of up to several thousand words in any combination of supported languages. This service also allows you to hear the pronunciation of words, phrases and sentences.

http://translate.google.com/#

Worldlingo is another multilingual translation tool. According to statistics, it has an accuracy rate of 70-75%, which is excellent for this type of software. There you can translate texts, documents, emails and websites. However, the free translation is limited to 500 words. On the other hand, it is possible to get unlimited translation and even the services of a professional translator for a fee from the site.

http://www.worldlingo.com/

Finally, Reverso is the third translation tool that we propose today. It can check the spelling of text before doing the translation to increase its accuracy and it is possible to hear the source text. Although it also seems possible to listen to the translation, this could not be verified in our tests. The site also offers, for English and French languages, sections on grammar, conjugation, spell checking, general dictionaries and thesauri as well as several bilingual dictionaries.

French page including accented vowels : http://www.reverso.net/text_translation.aspx?lang=FR

English Page : http://www.reverso.net/text_translation.aspx?lang=EN

To experiment with different translation tools or to hear « La bohème »  about which we talked about earlier, do not hesitate to consult the posts which will appear on the blog GoFrenchGo this week.

See you soon,

The Bon Français team

To follow the posts of the last week relating to vocabulary, we offer to you today three visual dictionaries.

The first, whose reputation is well established, is called simply Le Visuel. It is said that it “shows, says, defines and explains.” The online version allows you to navigate through 17 themes by clicking on the thumbnail or to use the search query to go directly to the section you want. This visual dictionary addresses of 800 subjects and includes 20,000 word definitions and realistic illustrations, all with audio files.

http://www.ikonet.com/fr/ledictionnairevisuel/

Le Visuel is also available in English. You can access this visual dictionary it by clicking the link below: http://www.ikonet.com/en/visualdictionary/

The second very interesting free resource is the Dictionnaire Visuel en ligne (visual dictionary online), a multilingual tool that translates the words of your choice with links to Google translation and to Babylon’s dictionary while showing a dozen images from Yahoo, so you can often see all the meanings of a word in a single glance.

http://www.dictionnairevisuel.net/

To conclude, here is Le corps humain virtuel (the virtual human body), a product of QA International, as is Le Visuel. Clicking the following link will allow you to explore the human anatomy with images in three dimensions. The site offers 10 systems and tracts to discover and 2000 words pronounced and defined in the box that appears when you click on a specific area of the image.

http://www.ikonet.com/fr/sante/corpshumainvirtuel/corpshumainvirtuel

Have a good week

Spelling, syntax, vocabulary, and the use of the words : the three following sites will help you to write impeccable French, whether to translate or to compose directly in Molière’s language.

Office québécois de la langue française

The home page of the Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec’s Office for the French language) contains many resources including Le grand dictionnaire terminologique (The Large Terminological Dictionary), a repository of linguistic troubleshooting help, a virtual library, and loads of interesting links. You will also find a section of language games and many specialized or bilingual glossaries. http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/

Termium Plus

Termium Plus is a bilingual English-French website containing a Spanish section as well. It is the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank specialized in translation and interpreting. This site’s French section contains among other things Les clefs du français pratique (The Keys to Practical French), ConjugArt (The Art of Conjugation), an analogical dictionary to find French equivalents of hard to translate English terms, and an invaluable co-occurrences dictionary giving the list of adjectives and verbs suitable for a given noun. http://www.termium.com/

Trésor de la langue française informatisé

This web site provides a spellchecker. Enter a word as you pronounce it, without accents or hyphen to get its correction and a comprehensive definition with its etymology and history, its pronunciation and even statistics of its use.  http://atilf.atilf.fr/tlf.htm

Have a good week !

Bonjour,

Dictionaries of synonyms also called thesauruses or thesauri are excellent tools for intermediate or advanced learners who want to better their French vocabulary or the quality of their writing in that second or foreign language.  

As there are not so many good dictionaries of synonyms online, it is important to add them right away in your list of favourite sites to have them handy at the time you really need them.

Here are a few suggestions for good online dictionaries of synonyms:

http://www.lexilogos.com/english/french_dictionary.htm

http://www.synonymes.com/

http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-synonyms/

And remember that your comments and suggestions are always welcome.