These programs translate word for word.  So, if you had a sentence such as 
"He escaped by the skin of his teeth.", your translation would say 
literally that, and it would have absolutely no meaning to the French, 
Hispanic, or German person.  When students try to cheat on their homework 
using these services or software packages, it does not go unperceived, and 
they are brought up short (Oh! How would you translate that?) very quickly.

Hope this helps.  If you need help with translating to or from those three 
languags, we here in Foreign Languages and Literatures would be happy to 
assist.

Lala

At 08:53 AM 11/17/2005, Melissa Anyiwo wrote:
>I recently discovered that Word 2005 can translate words and phrases into
>French, Spanish and/or German (I'm sure it does many others but...).  I was
>wondering if anyone in cyberspace knows how effective this tool is (I know
>very little Spanish and no French but needed an 'official' translation of a
>popular phrase).  Could I use it to translate something and not get laughed
>at for my poor use of French?
>
>I suppose if you didn't know about it and it is great, it might be worth
>noting since it may serve as yet another way for students to cheat at their
>homework.
>
>Thanks
>Melissa

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"No hay libro tan malo que no tenga algo bueno."
         -Miguel de Cervantes- Don Quijote de la Mancha
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"I divide all readers into two classes:  Those who read to
remember and those who read to forget." -William Phelps
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Oralia Preble-Niemi, Ph.D.
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Foreign Languages & Literatures
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