This is true, although a web translation can be useful as a starting point. 
My favourite example of a web translation was using Babelfish to decipher a 
long mesage from a hotel in Germany which contained many words that I didn't 
know. When I looked at the translation I was puzzled to see the phrase 
"Larva Irish Republican Army". This turned out to be the translation of 
Madeira, the Portuguese island where the hotel had a branch. "Made" is the 
German word for larva, and IRA is of course the Irish Republican Army. (This 
error has since been fixed.)

I might suggest that anyone who wants a long article translated should 
consider contacting a professional translation service, or at least offer to 
pay for the work. It's a tedious job, especially when not in one's field, 
and it is difficult to find volunteers for it.

Bill Silvert

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patrick" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: English-German Translation


Dear Laith,

web translation is probably not a good idea. It may be useful as a basis,
but especially in the case of scientific texts, revision by a human that has
an understanding of the matter is imperative. Web translations at times can
be very misleading.