ASK THE COMPUTER?
Computer language translation isn't ready for prime time. Here's a simple offer email I might send to a home exchanger who speaks my primary language, English:
"We would like to trade our house for your beautiful home."
So far, so good. Now here is the same sentence "translated" into Spanish by Google:
"Nos gustar�a que nuestra casa de comercio de su hermosa casa."
This is a mess. It makes no sense grammatically and it doesn't communicate what we are trying to say. The idea of "trading" homes has been lost, as the computer assumed we were talking about some sort of business deal. You can see that this sentence is poorly constructed when we translate it back into English:
"We would like our home trading his beautiful home."
Oh boy. Use an automatic language translation site at your own risk. No, the only way you should even consider using automatic language translation is if your foreign language skills are pretty good and you want to get a guideline for composing your message in the other language, or double check your work writing a foreign language email.
PENNY WISE?
So what's the alternative? Most free translation sites offer human translation for a fee. Is that a good idea? Depends on how much money you want to spend on a brief email. One site quotes a fee of $40 for a human translation of 266 words. Having someone competent translate each email to -- of from -- a foreign swapper will add up fast at $40 per pop.
SPEND MONEY TO SAVE MONEY
One alternative is to use the human translation just to add descriptive text to your listing. If you are looking for a swap in France, for instance, you can have a human translator put key parts of your listing into French. It is hard to underestimate how much more attractive your home will be to foreign language speakers if they can immediately understand all the amenities that your are offering.
It might also be useful to have the human translator create a brief offer email you can send out to get foreign exchangers interested. Include a line apologizing for the fact that you do not speak the language of that country and listing the languages you do speak. The swappers who are interested in your home will have a heads up that they will need to write to you in another language or find a friend who can.
Does $40 seem expensive for translation services? Remember that you can't get one night in decent hotel room in most American, Canadian or western European cities for triple that price.
CHEAPER SECRETS
There are alternatives to spending even a nickle on translation services. Let's explore those next time.
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