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august23
13th of February 2008 (Wed), 17:06
Hey guys! Long time no talk! I'm in an International Business class and they made us choose a country to connect with a pen pal. Basically, we have to write to them once a month. However it turns out that my pen pal hardly speaks a word of English. I'm supposed to write to him describing myself and what my daily routine is. I have the thing written out in English, and I was wondering if someone would be kind enough to translate it into Italian for me. It's not that long and shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. So if anyone is fluent in Italian I'd greatly appreciate it!:D
::John::
13th of February 2008 (Wed), 17:07
Try this (http://babelfish.altavista.com/)
august23
13th of February 2008 (Wed), 17:12
Don't those things never translate properly?
mtnphtgrphr
13th of February 2008 (Wed), 17:14
You have to chose your wording carefully but they can do an OK job. I try to avoid words with more than one meaning, and figures of speech or idioms. THey are not the best translation but I have used them in a pinch.
::John::
13th of February 2008 (Wed), 17:15
They'll get the message across.
steved110
14th of February 2008 (Thu), 05:25
Might be worth your while taking a class in Italian - learning languages can be fun and it's a great way to connect with people around the world.

If you did Spanish in school, you'll find it easier as it is also a Latin-based lingo.
blueM
14th of February 2008 (Thu), 08:49
Thought you went to Italy last summer? You should be fluent by now. :)
sevillafox
14th of February 2008 (Thu), 16:48
Try this (http://babelfish.altavista.com/)

Oh, please don't. I teach Spanish and I just tried to get it to translate 2 very simple sentances. It failed miserably.
neil85
14th of February 2008 (Thu), 22:07
just go see if your campus has an italian language class and see if the professor can help you out. or see if he can set you up with a student in an advanced class
condyk
15th of February 2008 (Fri), 02:05
Don't those things never translate properly?

:lol::lol:

So anyway, how are ya gonna understand what what your 'special friend' writes to you?
steved110
15th of February 2008 (Fri), 03:35
Condyk has a point - if you write him in perfect Italian, he's gonna think you speak it well, and you'll have a hard time admitting you can't!

Write him in English, let him worry about a translation - keep it simple!

Have him do the same for you and get a basic dictionary and work through it.

Heck, you even might learn some of the language that way which would be a bonus.