Airport Lines

[Guest msclonly]

No comprende!

 

 

 

 

}(

[imrthr]

>If you understand Portuguese you can read the Rio papers

>on-line:

>

>http://oglobo.globo.com

 

As usual, Tri came through with useful information for those of us who know a little Spanish and/or Portuguese and who like to keep aware of certain current events in Rio & Brazil.

 

Taking Tri's website even further, one does not have to possess a command of Portuguese to benefit from the information contained in the articles of oglobo.globo.com. This is accomplished by doing the following:

 

1. Go to oglobo.globo.com

 

2. Using your basic knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese, scan the articles that appear in the daily newspaper Oglobo

 

3. Select the article you wish to understand; then highlight the article; then right-click your mouse and click "copy"

 

4. Open another window then go to http://www.systranbox.com/systran/box (This is a free translator program found on the web)

 

5. Paste the article that you copied from 3 (above) and select "Portuguese to English" (the instructions on the program are easy to follow)

 

6. Click "translate" - - - - Whamo - the article is translated for you into English

 

This translation program works with many languages in addtion to Portuguese.

 

Another use for the program is for those of us who send email to our new found friends in Brazil; we can write the message in English and then translate it to Portuguese then paste our message to the email.

 

I realize that for some this process is too confusing or tedious. However, if you learn how to do this, you will find it rewarding as it will allow you to communicate without a working knowledge of the foreign language.

 

By the way, there is a current article in the globo discussing the resumption of the strike in Brazil. Try the program, you will like it.

 

Cheers

[Guest YFSC]

>6. Click "translate" - - - - Whamo - the article is

>translated for you into English

 

...or, more precisely, into something which resembles English, sometimes to a greater degree and sometimes to a lesser degree, depending on the sentence. x(

 

Usually you can get a pretty good idea of what the meaning is, but beware of the fact that sometimes the translator will give you something that makes no sense at all, because of having chosen the wrong one of several meanings for a word. x(

 

The same is true for going the other way, into the foreign language. Your sauna boy or other correspondent will usually be able to figure out what you wanted to say, but sometimes they will have no clue, or will think you said something else entirely. x( :+

[trilingual]

Good point. The available translators differ in quality. I haven't tried Systrans, but I've used Altavista a few times, and its Portuguese translator is very weak. It can't handle common expressions or even many conjugated verb forms. Their French translator seems much more powerful and accurate.

[Guest YFSC]

Tips for Using Online Translators

 

A few tips for using online translators:

(Disclaimer: This is by no means a complete list of possibilities, and following the things on this list does not guarantee that translations will come out correctly.)

 

1. Be sure that everything is spelled and typed correctly. People can usually figure out what a misspelled word should be and can filter out typos, but computer programs generally can't. For example, if you spell there "ther" the computer will think it's a word that it doesn't know; if you spell it "their" the computer will translate it as the possessive instead of the pointer.

 

2. Be sure not to leave out a word inadvertently. When composing at the keyboard it's easy to leave out a small word like "of" or "and" or "or."

 

3. Avoid using slang or colloquial expressions, especially the latest hot ones. The computer probably doesn't know them. The more formal your input, the more likely that your output will be correct.

 

4. Avoid folksy expressions that have a special non-literal meaning in *our* culture, for example "that dog won't hunt." The computer will probably translate the words accurately, but it will make only literal sense to someone in another language. They will think you are talking about a canine that refuses to try to find game.

 

In order to get a feeling for what your correspondent may be looking at when you use an online translator, try this:

Put an English text into the translator (more than just a sentence or two), and translate it into something else.

Then take that output and translate it back into "English."

 

You'd be surprised at some of the things you get. Some of them are even very funny.

[trilingual]

RE: Tips for Using Online Translators

 

The other tip is to use very short, direct sentences. Don't use complex sentences with clauses separated by commas, for example. It may sound like baby talk, but that's what computers seem best at. For example, enter: "I will arrive in Rio on January 3. Can you meet me at the airport?" instead of "I'm arriving in Rio on Jan. 3d; can you be at the airport to meet me?"

 

Even using the short sentence technique I've noticed that AltaVista's Portuguese translator chokes. Hopefully SysTrans is better!

[CarloRio]

No more lines at the airport

 

Good news for our merry M4Mers...

 

Today the federal police strike ended... therefore there won't be any more long lines and no need to arrive at the airport 4 hours before departure time.

 

Enjoy your stay in Brasil without any lines....

 

Um abraço,:-)

[Guest Gringo]

RE: No more lines at the airport

 

Could you please give me the details of the settlement reached with the Federal Police. Wonderful news!!!