Übersetzung
[=Translation]
- www.freetranslation.com
Free online translation service provided by Transparent
Language. More of a fun toy than a useful tool
at this point, but it can only get better, and you
can at least use it to get some ideas of what the
proper translation of something might be. Works
German-English and English-German, and you can also
choose several other languages. Here's an example
from English to German as a warning: The very simple
sentence "I'm tired and I have a cold" came back as
"Ich werde ermüdet und ich habe eine Kälte"
[instead of "Ich bin müde und ich habe eine Erkältung"].
Still, it's impressive that this exists at all, and
nice that it's free.
- Babelfish
Besides German, you can also go to this site for Italian,
Spanish, Portuguese and French. Will also translate
German webpages for you, if you type in the URL.
See the discussion of www. freetranslation.com for
warnings on the limitations of such sites; here, the
phrase "I'm tired and I have a cold" came back as
"Ich bin müde und ich habe ein kaltes" [instead
of "Ich bin müde und ich habe eine Erkältung"].
- Systran
Handles the same languages as Babelfish. Will
also translate German webpages for you, if you type
in the URL. See the discussion of www. freetranslation.com
for warnings on the limitations of such sites; here,
the phrase "I'm tired and I have a cold" came back
as "Ich bin müde und ich habe eine Kälte"
[instead of "Ich bin müde und ich habe eine Erkältung"].
- Lingo24: Allows you to choose between the translation services provided by Google, Altavista and 10x/Dictionary. Click on the appropriate link for German ==> English or English ==> German
Wörterbücher
[=Dictionaries]
- Pons
online dictionary You will find a link to this online dictionary above the link to LEO in the left hand navigation bar on the German 101-326 webpages. This online dictionary comes very close to providing the
lexical and semantic information in a paper dictionary,
as opposed to just returning a word list from which
you need to draw your own conclusions. Though the LEO online dictionary may still include more translations of rare/obscure words, you're significantly less likely to choose a mistaken translation for an expression you're looking for if you use Pons than if you use LEO ==> VERY highly recommend!
- BEOLINGUS (TU Chemnitz)
This dictionary does an excellent job of listing the collocations (i.e. typical word combinations) and different classes of meaning of each word, and also provides some convenient verb conjugations. ==> Highly recommended!
- LEO English/German Dictionary Especially good for technical vocabulary. LEO is fast and easy to use. Results are in the form of a list of words and you have to use your judgment to decide which word from the list is the best choice, but it's often possible to click for further info. If you scroll down the results list, you'll also see useful collocations (i.e. typical word combinations) for the word you're looking for. Pons is superior in terms of making it easy for you to find the right word or expression when you're looking for everyday language, but LEO is also an amazing resource. You will find a link to it below the link to Pons in the left hand navigation bar on the German 101-326 webpages. Note that by clicking on the sound/info [i] emblem to the right of a word, you usually have access to its pronunciation (Aussprache) and to its conjugation (i.e. all the forms of a verb) or declination (i.e. all the forms of a noun; in particular, its plural and Genitive forms). ==> Highly recommended!
- bab.la This online dictionary offers good translations (for multiple languages besides German-English), lists relevant collocations, and provides a sound icon allowing you to hear each word pronounced. The site also offers vocabulary trainers, quizzes, games and a language forum, and the opportunity to add or share content. ==> Recommended!
- KudoZ Technical Translation Database This site lets you search a variety of databases for translations of technical terms in a wide range of technical and professional disciplines.
- QuickDic
Online This online dictionary works quickly as
its name indicates, and is somewhat customizable.
It's greatest strength relative to other online dictionaries
lies in its emphasis on the variety of possible translations
of a given term. It is not good at helping you
choose between the basic alternative meanings of a
word (e.g. for "incidental," it comes up with "folgend,"
"gelegentlich," "zufällig," and "zugehörig,"
with no explanation as to which one to use when),
but it is excellent if you're searching for idiomatic
usages of a word: e.g. searching for "cold" returned
140 matches (12/9/00) ranging from 3 terms for "cold"
itself (without explanation as to which to use when)
to expressions for "are cold" (though "to be cold"
would have been clearer), "cold comfort," "cold front,"
and "cold sweat," for example. 250,000 entries 12/04
- Student Online German English Spanish Dictionary Returns somewhat arbitrarily sorted word lists, but includes 2,000,000 words; at the bottom of each list of results, you get a fun quotation (e.g.: "boy: a noise with dirt on it") [Not working 8/7/07, but hopefully that was just an aberration]
- New
English-German Dictionary (TU Dresden) Download
the dictionary or search online. Somewhat like LEO; more than 200,000 entries 7/06
- ODGE.de Online Dictionary German English. 210,000 entries 7/06
- WinDi Multilingual Dictionaries Free online multidirectional dictionaries in 7 languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), including complete verb conjugation and grammar (agreements in gender and number of nouns and adjectives, German declensions). If you choose the "Deutsch" login, choose "Mehrsprachig" on the next page to get to the dictionaries.
- Logos
Multilingual Dictionary Click on "New Dictionary"
to get to a totally cool (though not yet very reliable) multilingual online dictionary:
enter a word in English, German, or any other language
and get its equivalents in up to 30 other languages.
Entries are constantly being added.
- Dictionary.com
Choose the "German" link under "Other Dictionaries"
to get an impressive and up-to-date compilation of
available online German dictionaries.
- One
Look Dictionaries Browse their dictionary list
for fun, or do a search for "German"; you'll be amazed
what's out there. They even list a dictionary
of rheumatism terms....
- lingo24.com This site provides an interesting online English-German translation tool that lists sample professionally translated sentences as a way to give you a feel for the different possible meanings of a word. Fewer entries than most online dictionaries, but an interesting resource for choosing the appropriate translation of more common words. The site also provides a German language paraphrasing tool.
Deutsch-Deutsch Wörterbücher
Synonymwörterbücher
[=Thesauruses]
- Wortschatz
Deutsch Amazing site that will give you lists
of synonyms and related words for any word you enter,
as well as usage examples and information on usage
frequency. The usage examples and frequency information
are also available in several other languages: English,
French, Dutch, Sorbian (not Serbian), Estonian and
Icelandic, as of 8/2004
Redewendungen
[=Idioms]
Slang/Jugendsprache
- BBC: Cool German Very user-friendly. Organized by topic. For each topic, you see and hear a series of expressions, including brief explanatory notes on their meaning and use.
- Lexikon der Jugendsprache Created by 8th grade students in a Gesamtschule in Duisburg in 1997. Becoming somewhat dated, but a useful source of some common slang expressions.
- Detlev Mahnert: Neue Trends in der Jugendsprache This page contains general information on "Jugendsprache," as well as a variety of concrete examples (especially of "Kanakisch," a recent genre of slang with Turkish-German origins), and, at the bottom of the page, an up-to-date list of some basic slang expressions.
- PONS
Wörterbuch der Jugendsprache A selection of 350 or so current slang expressions, updated annually, and compiled by
PONS on the basis of a contest in schools.
Very professionally done and up-to-date, but omits
most of the simpler words like "geil," "checken," "ätzend" etc. that you'll probably want to learn first, and that even older Germans would be likely to understand. Sometimes the entire dictionary is available online, sometimes you can only see excerpts or e-cards with selected expressions. You can order the book for 2 Euros + postage. To get to the webpages for this dictionary, go to www.pons.de, then click on "Speziell für...Schüler/Studenten," then on "Wörterbuch der Jugendsprache."
- Warmduscher-Galerie A few years ago, a craze for creative ways of calling someone a "wuss" evolved in Germany, taking creative advantage of the ease with which compound nouns are formed in German. A "Saunauntensitzer," for example, is a wuss because s/he sits on the lowest tier of seats in the sauna, where it is not as hot. This link takes you to an illustrated gallery of such words that includes, for each item, the German term, a descriptive English translation, and a picture. To see it, go to www.pons.de, click on "Speziell für...Schüler/Studenten," then on "Wörterbuch der Jugendsprache," and finally on "Warmduscher-Galerie."
- Exercises on the first (2001) version of the "Wörterbuch der Jugendsprache" Click through these exercises to get a sense of some of the entries in the 2001 version of the "Wörterbuch der Jugendsprache." Note the "zurück zur Vokabelliste" link no longer works.
The following links are provided here because they include some interesting slang terms, but many of the entries are very obscene/offensive ==> please do not visit these links in class, unless your instructor has specifically asked you to! If you're an instructor and the presence of these links causes problems in your class, please email me and I'll remove them!
Other
- Wie
sagt man? A compilation of responses from the
AATG Listserv to questions about items difficult to
find in ordinary dictionaries. Contains lots
of very practical and fun info, though it's not always
absolutely reliable.
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