MERLOT Languages and Translation

MERLOT continues to improve our internationalization and language translation functionality.  We are happy to announce new functionality allowing members to view members or materials in different languages. MERLOT users can specify their language preference, translate any MERLOT page into a different language or identify MERLOT materials written in other languages. Also, in the MERLOT Advanced member search, you can declare the languages you speak and read and post them to your profile as well as identify other members that speak a specific language.

Users Specify Language Preferences
MERLOT members have the ability to restrict material searches to a specific language by specifying a preferred language on their profile page. Once logged in, on your profile page, select a language from the drop down on the right side. If you do not select one, English is the default.

Search hit lists are returned in the language specified in your profile page. If you wish to see all results, not only those in your preferred language, that option is presented to you at the completion of your search

Translate MERLOT into any language
The MERLOT website can be translated into over 30 different languages. This is being done by Microsoft Language Translator (http://www.microsofttranslator.com/). And while the translation is not perfect, Microsoft Translator is constantly being improved. As a result, our translations are only as good as what Microsoft provides.

The translation menu in MERLOT can be found in the bottom left of the footer, on any page in MERLOT. To translate a page in MERLOT to another language, simply select the target language from the drop down menu in the footer and click the arrow. .

The MERLOT page will automatically be translated into the language you select. MERLOT will remain in that language until you select English again.

Even when MERLOT is translated into another language, you can search and browse MERLOT, join MERLOT, contribute materials, add a comment, or create learning exercise in translation "mode." Please note that if you select a new language after logging in to MERLOT, you may be required to log in again.

Identify MERLOT materials written in other languages
MERLOT provides the ability for users to contribute materials to the collection in over 400 different languages. The feature, which is part of the Contribute wizard (Step 3), easily enables the selection of languages derived from the ISO Code list found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-2_codes.

Google Translate - view materials found in MERLOT that are not in English
Have you ever want to see a web site in a different language? Ever want to contribute a material to MERLOT that's in a different language but don't know what the words mean. Although MERLOT cannot translate the materials you link to from our site, you do have the ability to translate the pages. Well with Google Translate, you can enter text and specify the language you want to translate to, and Google will do the rest. You can also enter a URL and have that web page translated into the language you specify.

Add Languages You Speak and Read to your MERLOT Member Profile
MERLOT allows members, on their profile, to declare the languages they speak and read. In addition, level of proficiency can also be stated to include Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced or Superior. To add this information to your profile, go to your profile page and click the EDIT to the right of the Languages title box. You can add as many languages and proficiency levels as you wish.

Search for MERLOT members speaking a specific language
Using the MERLOT Advanced member search, a user can identify other MERLOT members that speak their language. Keep in mind that this will only locate members that have completed this optional field on their profile page. To identify such users, on the Advanced member search page, begin typing the language you want to find users. Select from the drop down and click Search. You will be taken to a results page listing all the users that match that criteria in MERLOT.

Questions about MERLOT translation should be directed to Barbra Bied Sperling, Manager of Technical Development at bsperling@calstate.edu or the MERLOT Webmaster at webmaster@merlot.org.