The application can convert about a dozen languages. However, Babel Fish is also known for giving confusing results. It does not recognize idioms, for example.

But Babel Fish can be entertaining. In fact, a popular website called Lost in Translation (tashian.com/multibabel) allows the user to translate a piece of text consecutively 10 times. “I’m a little tea pot, short and stout,” a phrase from a children’s song in English, becomes the ridiculous phrase “They are a small potentiometer, short circuits and a beer of malzes of the tea” after it is translated several times by Babel Fish.

The best, and a more accurate online dictionary, is Word Reference (www.wordreference.com). It has offered free online bilingual dictionaries since 1999. It has a catalog of 120,000 Spanish words with 250,000 translations.

Type a word into the search box, “decir” for instance, and a long list of definitions pops up. You can also hear the word pronounced aloud by a native speaker. Every word includes an example and its translation.

The site also lists idioms and expressions. “Ni que decir tiene,” means “needless to say,” and “!No me digas!” is “really!” according to Word Reference.

The site also includes forums. If you search a word and it doesn’t appear, chances are another person had the same problem and got assistance from other users in the forum. Click on a word’s link to see the original question and other users’ responses.

Other online dictionaries are useful as well, such as Reverso (dictionary.reverso.net/). It is a compilation of technical dictionaries—business, medical, and computer—and it will conjugate any verb.

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ESL WORD OF THE DAY

(Source: www.learnersdictionary.com)

Whistle

Pronounced:
Collegiate Dictionary: wi-səl
Function: verb
Inflected forms:
whistles; whistled; whistling

Meanings:
1 : to make a high sound by blowing air through the lips or teeth
Examples:
[no object] <He was whistling as he walked down the street.>
<He whistled for a cab.>
[with object] <He whistled a happy tune.>
2 [no object] : to produce a high and loud sound by forcing air or steam through a device
Example:
<The teakettle started to whistle.>
3 [no object] : to move, pass, or go very fast with a high sound
Example:
<A bullet whistled past him.>

Idiom:
whistle in the dark or whistle past the graveyard
Status: informal
Meaning:
: to act or talk as if you are relaxed and not afraid when you are actually frightened or nervous
Example:
<He shows a confident manner, but he may just be whistling in the dark.>
Derived forms:
whistler noun [count]
Pronounced:
Collegiate Dictionary: wi-s(ə-)lər
Plural:
whistlers Example:
<I heard a whistler outside my window.>