Saturday, October 22, 2011

A new resource

OK, in the past I have been very unimpressed with Google Translate online. However, I've just downloaded the free app for my iPod and it is not bad. Two things that you have to get used to however - the keyboard and the letter for ə. The keyboard is smaller than the Azerbaijani keyboard that I have installed on my netbook. (See my post about Azerbaijani keyboard to find out more about setting up and using your keyboard.) On my iPod there was no option for an Azerbaijani keyboard, so I chose the Turkish keyboard. This works well if you follow the two points below.

The keyboard

To access letters that you don't see, simply hold down the letter that looks most like it. For example, if you want an ö you need to hold down o and then a line of o-like letters will appear. Slide down the line and click on the one you need.

Where's the Ə????

This is a bit strange. Hold down the e and then slide down to the letter that looks like an e with a tail (e with a cedilla).

Takes a little getting used to, but so far the translations from Azerbaijani to English have been accurate.

Update!

The ş is an s with a hat, so the mark is on top, not the bottom. However, I just asked for the translation of maşallah (which I have never found in a dictionary - apart from Dilmanc.) So Google Translate app, all I can say is Maşallah!! (Well done!!)

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