The Internet and its impact on globalization has changed the way we communicate around the world. Boundaries have become virtually limitless and large distances are instantly accessible.

These changes let us get acquainted with other people and languages: but how do we communicate with people in foreign countries?

Here are some tools and tricks to help overcome language barriers.

Gmail Translator

Among many widgets, Gmail provides a translator letting you translate emails written in a foreign language to any other language.

To activate it follow this procedure:

1. Login to your Gmail.

2. In the upper-right part of your screen, click Settings.

3. Now, under Settings, click the Labs tab.

4. A list of Gmail widgets should appear. Look for the Message Translator widget and enable it.

5. Go to the email you want to translate. You will see a tool located at the beginning of the email box letting you translate any foreign text to whatever language you wish! Note that with any online translation, grammar may not always be accurate.

Microsoft Translator for Microsoft Office

If you receive a lot of emails and documents written in foreign languages and you use the Microsoft Office suite, there is an add-on provided directly by Microsoft that will add "Microsoft Translator" through the Research task pane for Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007, including Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Word. To download, click the link below:

http://www.microsoft.com

Translate via the Web

If you don't have a lot of time to download, install and understand how a software translator works, you can try Nicetranslator.com: a simple but effective online tool that lets you translate "on-the-fly" using copy-and-paste in its text field.

http://www.nicetranslator.com

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