During MIX09 which was held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas from 18 – 20 March 2009 Microsoft announced their Microsoft Web Page Translator Widget. Those attending MIX09 were given a code to try out the Microsoft Web Page Translator widget. In addition anyone who wishes to try out the widget can register with Microsoft as they will be offering further invitations in the future as they become available. Currently the widget offers machine based translations in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Microsoft aims to add more languages in the future.Adding the widget to a web page is just a very simple matter of copying and pasting a few lines of java code to your page. Any visitors to the page can using a very simple interface translate the content of the page into another language. This Microsoft Web Page Translator widget looks to be a very useful utility for schools, as there is no costs involved and can be used in both commercial and non-commercial websites. Some uses in schools might include:
Classes creating web content who are involved in partnerships such as E-Twinning with classes in another country
Schools involved in Comenius collaborations with schools in other countries
Providing information about the school to the parents of pupils who are learning English as an additional language
http://blogs.msdn.com/translation/archive/2009/03/18/announcing-the-microsoft-translator-web-page-widget.aspx