Exercises (work in pairs)

Finding definitions & translations on the Internet in mono-/multilingual glossaries & parallel texts

Exercise 1 - Finding glossaries

Using the Google glossary search interface at www.multilingual.ch, find a definition of the English term "jumbo certificate of deposit". (Field: finance)

TIPS:

1)

Remember to use quotation marks to indicate that you are searching for the phrase.

 

2)

If necessary, break down the phrase to broaden your search or add defining keywords to narrow your search, depending on the amount of results found.

 

3)

If you get no results, try the plural.

Exercise 2 - Finding glossaries

Using the Google glossary search interface, find a definition of the German medical term "Gonarthrose".

Exercise 3 - Finding glossaries

Find a definition (in English and then in German, French or Italian) of the English term "whistleblower" relating to company policy.

TIPS:

Consider alternative spelling “whistle-blower”, but make sure the words “whistle” & “blower” are considered in this exact sequence, not just as "these two words anywhere on the page".

Exercise 4 - Finding abbreviations

What does the English abbreviation "OSHA" stand for? (TIP: use either the abbreviation or glossary search interfaces)

Exercise 5 - Finding the missing word

Having trouble with prepositions? Run a Google search specifically targeting a website such as that of the English newspaper The Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk, to find the missing word in the phrase:

in accordance ... the new regulations

Your search criteria: ...................................................................................................................................

Now broaden your search to cover any word in the place of “new” (e.g. relevant/applicable/…)

Your search criteria: ...................................................................................................................................

Exercise 6 - Finding parallel texts on different pages

Using the Google parallel text search interface, find the German translation of "Commonwealth of Independent States".
(Alternatively, search the EU website specifically: http://europa.eu.int / http://ec.europa.eu )

Exercise 7 - Finding translations on the same page

Combine the German Google glossary search interface and the English keyword "UNHCR" to discover the full German version of the English abbreviation.

Exercise 8 - Finding parallel texts on the same page

Searching directly in Google or Google Books (without the WWW Search Interfaces for Translators), use the list of Search Engine Tricks for finding bilingual glossaries/parallel texts on the same page to find a German translation of the English term "whistleblower". Include both spellings and singular/plural.

Alternatively, follow the same procedure to find a translation in French.

Your search criteria: ...................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................

TIP:

If common words such as "das" and "ist" or "est" and "sont" are ignored by Google, force Google to accept them by enclosing them in quotation marks and placing a "+" in front.
E.g. "your phrase" +"das" +"ist".

Exercise 9 - Finding parallel texts on a specific website

In Switzerland there is a so-called "Permit S" for "persone bisognose di protezione" (People in need of protection). Find a German or French translation on the multilingual website www.ch.ch using “site:”.

Your search criteria (directly in Google): .....................................................................................................

TIPS:

1)

Search directly in Google, specifying: "your phrase" site:www.ch.ch.

 

2)

Alternatively, you could go directly to the website www.ch.ch and use the website's own search engine. It may or may not cover more of the site's pages than a general-purpose search engine. Most of the pages on this website are available in various languages.

Exercise 10 - Finding parallel texts on different pages

Using the Italian-French Google parallel text search interface, find the French translation of the Italian "casellario giudiziale".

TIPS:

1)

Pdf files rarely contain hyperlinks to other web pages, so if you are looking for parallel texts using the Google PT search interface with the "SL in URL & language link" technique, avoid opening pdf documents in Google's hit list as they are unlikely to lead to parallel texts.

 

2)

Scan the URLs of the pages found by Google for hints of the existence of parallel texts.

Exercise 11 - Finding bilingual glossaries/parallel texts on the same page

Searching directly in Google (NOT with the WWW Search Interfaces for Translators), use the list of Search Engine Tricks for finding bilingual glossaries/parallel texts on the same page to locate an Italian or German translation of the English term "punitive damages".

Your search criteria: ....................................................................................................................................

Exercise 12 - Finding parallel texts on the same page

Searching directly in Google (without the WWW Search Interfaces for Translators), use the list of Search Engine Tricks for finding parallel texts on the same page to locate a French translation of the German phrase "untersteht schweizerischem Recht".

TIP: To broaden your search, instead of searching for the exact phrase, remove the term "schweizerischem" and replace it with any term by inserting the word wildcard "*" in its place.

Your search criteria (directly in Google): ....................................................................................................