System and method for interactive translation

• US 7,389,221 B1
• Filed: 07/17/2000
• Issued: 06/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Original Assignee: GlobalEnglish Corporation (Pearson plc)
• Inventors: Silliman, Scott T., Richter, Peter A., Pearson, Brent E., Neff, Samuel N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Edouard; Patrick N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SPOONER, LAMONT M
• Application Number:
  US09/617,169
• Time in Patent Office: 2,892 Days
• Field of Search: 704 1- 10, 700 1- 20, 707 3- 5, 715/536, 345/733, 345/790, 345/789, 345/791, 345/792, 345/793, 345/794, 345/795, 345/796, 345/800, 345/804, 345/635
• US Class Current: 704/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation

Abstract

The present invention provides an interactive system and method for effective and convenient language translation. The system and method provides a translation window that is opened in conjunction with a web page window containing web pages hosted on the internet. The translation window and web page window are automatically adjusted in size and position so that they fit on one user-viewable screen without overlapping. The translation window is linked to a translation dictionary database accessible through the internet which provides accurate and comprehensive definitions of the words that are identified to be translated.

Claims

1. A system for language translation, comprising:

a translation window that is created by a program associated with a primary web page and is opened in conjunction with a web page window containing a secondary web page, wherein the translation window and the web page window are automatically positioned and sized so that the translation window and the web page window fit on one screen without overlapping, wherein the translation window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window being positioned and sized;

an input field for a user to provide information in a first language;

a translator that is linked to a translation dictionary database; and

an output field comprising information in a second language corresponding to a translation of the information in the first language.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the translation window comprises the input field and the output field.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the translation window comprises a translation direction field.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the input field accepts as information a word or a phrase in the first language.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the input field accepts as information one to five words at a time.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the input field accepts as information a single word at a time in the first language.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the translator accepts a search modifier from a group of search modifiers comprising exact match, contains, and starts with.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the input field accepts information via an input format from a group of input formats comprising typed input, drag-and-drop input, and right-click mouse input.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the secondary web page is replaced by a tertiary web page in the web page window while the translation window remains open, and wherein the web page window containing the tertiary web page and the translation window fit on a screen without overlapping.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the translation window and the web page window are not initially frames.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the program is provided in a JavaScript language.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the program comprises a first function to open a new browser window for the secondary web page and a second function to determine a translation direction choice of the user.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the program comprises a function to determine whether the user has selected a supported translation language.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code stored at the primary web site.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the program comprises code stored at the primary web site.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code invoked by selecting a link at the primary web site.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts the user to select a translation language.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the translation language is at least one of Spanish, Italian, German, French, or Portuguese.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the program allows the user to cancel selecting a translation language.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the program further prompts the user to input a URL for the secondary web page.

21. The system of claim 1 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts the user to input a URL for the secondary web page.

22. A system for language translation on the internet, comprising:

a translation window generated by a program associated with a primary web page, wherein the translation window is opened in conjunction with a web page window containing a secondary web page, and wherein the translation window and the web page window are automatically positioned and sized so that the translation window and the web page window fit on one user-viewable screen without overlapping, wherein the translation window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window being positioned and sized;

an input field for a user to supply one word in a first language;

a translator that is linked to a translation dictionary database accessible through the internet; and

an output field comprising one or more definitions of the one word in a second language.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the program comprises code stored at the primary web site.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts the user to input a URL for the secondary web page.

25. A method for language translation comprising:

providing a translation window that is generated by a program associated with a primary web page;

opening the translation window in conjunction with a web page window, the web page window having a secondary web page;

automatically adjusting the size and position of the translation window so that the translation window and the web page window fit on one user-viewable screen without overlapping, wherein the translation window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window being positioned and sized;

receiving input information in a first language;

translating the input information from the first language to information in a second language; and

outputting the information in the second language.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein receiving the input information from the first language and outputting the information in the second language are performed via the translation window.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing a translation direction field.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising accepting a search modifier from a group of search modifiers comprising an exact match, contains, and starts with.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising accepting input information from an input format from a group of input formats comprising typed input, drag-and-drop input, and right-click mouse input.

30. The method of claim 25, further comprising maintaining the web page window with any web page hosted on the internet.

31. The method of claim 25, further comprising executing the program associated with the primary web page to translate the input information from any web page hosted on the internet.

32. The method of claim 25 wherein the program comprises code stored at the primary web site.

33. The method of claim 25 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts a user to input a URL for the secondary web page.

34. A system for language translation, comprising:

a translation window that is created by a program associated with a primary web page and is opened in conjunction with a web page window having a secondary web page, the translation window and the web page window being automatically positioned and sized so that the translation window and the web page window fit on one screen without overlapping, wherein the translation window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window being positioned and sized;

an input field for a user to provide information in a first language;

a translator that is linked to a translation dictionary database; and

an output field comprising information in a second language corresponding to a translation of the information in the first language.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the web page window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window and the web page window being positioned and sized.

36. The system of claim 34 wherein the program comprises code stored at the primary web site.

37. The system of claim 34 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts the user to input a URL for the secondary web page.

38. A system for language translation on the internet, comprising:

a translation window generated by a program associated with a primary web page, wherein the translation window is opened in conjunction with a web page window having a secondary web page, the translation window and the web page window being automatically positioned and sized so that the translation window and the web page window fit on one user-viewable screen without overlapping, wherein the translation window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window being positioned and sized;

an input field for a user to supply one word in a first language;

a translator that is linked to a translation dictionary database accessible through the internet; and

an output field comprising one or more definitions of the one word in a second language.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the web page window is not laid out as a frame prior to the translation window and the web page window being positioned and sized.

40. The system of claim 38 wherein the program comprises code stored at the primary web site.

41. The system of claim 38 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts the user to input a URL for the secondary web page.

42. A method for language translation comprising:

providing a translation window that is generated by a program associated with a primary web page;

opening the translation window in conjunction with a web page window, the web page window having a secondary web page, wherein the translation window is not opened from a frame layout;

automatically adjusting the size and position of the translation window so that the translation window and the web page window fit on one user-viewable screen without overlapping;

receiving input information in a first language;

translating the input information from the first language to information in a second language; and

outputting the information in the second language.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein the program comprises code stored at the primary web site.

44. The method of claim 42 wherein the program comprises JavaScript language code and the program prompts a user to input a URL for the secondary web page.