GBMUD Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 In planning for a small jaunt through the Alps this summer I have bought a book, Grossen Alpen Strassen Führer, which details scenic drives through the Alps, both on sealed and on unsealed roads. So far so good but it is all in German, of which the only words I know is the words for 'Hovercraft' and 'Sausage', and it is quite a hefty volume. In order that I can get some idea of the sort of details given in the written sections, is there anyone who would be able and willing to translate a few paragraphs for me? Beyond that, any suggestions for getting the rest translated for free or cheap? It would be a mammoth task to ask anyone to do it, even the relevant sections for this trip. I did hit on the idea of scanning, using OCR and then Babelfishing it, but only got as far as OCR before it turned out that the OCR does not understand German. Any suggestions for one that does do German - with an English UI? Any other ideas? Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pugwash Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 "Grossen Alpen Strassen Führer" ummmmmmmmmmmm Hitler is alive and well and living in the Alps? where exactly did you get this book? (ps to add to your German Schmetterlink means butterfly- see now you know 3 words- bargain!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipx2 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Scan the paragraphs/pages you're interested in, get an OCR s/ware to convert them to text (freewares available) then feed the result in one of the online translators on the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Chris if its only a few bits then you can always scan them and mail me. No problem there mate. My Portugese may be carp nut i'm not married to a German for nothing! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 ps laecherlich = ridiculous jugendherberge = youth hostel Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz = law governing the monitoring of the labelling of beef products Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz = law governing the monitoring of the labelling of beef products Makes Welsh look easy! Have a try at the attached IMG.pdf Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Just thumbing through this book, some of the pictures are absolutely awe inspiring! Top Gear did not find the best road! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 That looks like a cool book Chris! Worth the effort. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldorf Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 The first paragraph is a poetic discription of some mountains in the Dolomites. The second is quite interesting. It says this route (to the cable thingy) is closed to all motor vehicles during the day (between 9 am and 6 pm) in july and august. There is a shuttle every hour though. They also mention a speed limit of 20 km/h. It seems to be a crowded region in summer. The roadreaches a peak without many turns. The third paragraph says one can only drive on the SP97 mountain road if one has a key to open the gates on this public road. People in the Alps don't like the sound of motor vehicles. My German is rather rusty (and so is my English), and I only understand half of the text. But it seems the text carries lots of interesting information as to where you can or can not drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 This symbol appears in my book too and I cannot find it in the key or on the web... Any ideas? Thanks Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipx2 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 HINT: Péage is a word in French. A quick test on one of the paragraphs. After OCR (it can be done better on the machine attached to the scanner): Rollepass ~, 1972 m. Die Rollepass-Straße im engeren Sinn ist der 43 km lange Streckenabschnitt der SS.50 zwischen Predazzo (1014) im NW und Fiera di Primiero (717) im S; sie bewaltigt von Predazzo zum Scheitel einen HU von 958 m von der Passhohe hinab nach Fiera di Primiero betrachtliche 1255 Hohenmeter! Eines ihrer besonderen Merkmale ist der Kurvenreichtum. Die mit 12 Kehren ausgestattete Anlage auf der NW-Rampe genugt heute nicht mehr den Anspruchen, welche man an eine wichtige Durchzugstraße im Alpenraum stellt. Die max. Steigung betragt zwar nur 9%, doch trifft man immer noch enge und unubersichtliche Kurven bei Fahrbahnbreiten von knapp 5m an, SG 2. - Die Sudrampe hingegen wurde in den vergangenen Jahren modernisiert; hier schwanken die Breiten zwischen 6 und 8 m. Steigungen bzw. Gefalle sind durch nahezu 30 Kehren gut ausgeglichen und uberschreiten 11% nicht, SG 1-2. - Stets wechselnde Ausblicke auf die vielgestaltigen Turme Spitzen und Wande der Pala erhohen den Fahrgenuss auf dieser landschaftlich besonders reizvollen Route. After a Google translation: Role Pass, 1972 m. The role-pass road in the narrow sense of the 43 km long section of the route between SS.50 Predazzo (1014) in NW and Fiera di Primiero (717) in the S and they tackled from Predazzo the apex of a HU 958 m from the High pass down to Fiera di Primiero considerable 1255 meters high! One of its special features is a wealth of the curve. The Return equipped with 12 plant on the NW-ramp is no longer enough to claim, which is an important passage route in the Alpine region. The max. Although slope amount to only 9%, but we are still close and complex curves in road widths of nearly 5m, SG 2nd -- The Sudrampe contrast, in recent years modernized, where the width varies from 6 to 8 m. Steep slope or are sweeping through nearly 30 well-balanced and not exceed 11%, SG 1-2. -- Always changing views of the peaks and multifaceted towers walls of the Pala increase the driving pleasure on this particularly attractive scenic route. Not too bad for freeware tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Good job CIPX! I cannot get the OCR packages I have found to work that well, which one are you using? I know what Péage means in the French context but this appears to be German - the whole book is written in German - and the roads referred to do not appear to be the sort of roads where one might naturally expect to find a toll. I guess that there could be a culture of building private roads and then charging for them, anyone know if this is the case in the Alps generally? There is a similar sign - with different words meaning 'Customs: Stop' , I wondered if it might mean something similar - though it is often shown in non-border areas in the book... The black bar across the middle appears to mean 'STOP'. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 This is the book you were saying about whilst we were away isn't it, Mark ? Maut means Duty. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipx2 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 There's a very long time since I used OCRs, I didn't have one installed so I did a quick search that brought up these: - http://www.topocr.com/ - http://softi.co.uk/freeocr.htm Downloaded both (for the 2nd you need to find a different place to get it, try ftp://5156rj:5156rj@d.5156rj.com:10000/2/10/freeocr24.rar ) but only installed the 1st one which is what I used. I enhanced a bit the image you provided but it should be easier to you since you have access to the source (try to do better on the page egdes and increase the resolution a bit, try 50%). The road signs in Europe often have the French translation underneath. There is an historic agreement on that, I won't get into this. The main word (MAUT in this case) is in the local language and then there's the French translation underneath. As long as you memorize the French words, you will be able to understand all the sign you're not used to. Try translating with google the word Maut from german and Peage from French. Both translate to Toll. That is what the sign means, Toll Gate/Barrier. It doesn't necessarily have to be a toll road, could be the point where you to pay to enter a reservation, use a tunnel, cross a bridge etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 OK some useful words Kerhen = hairpins (bends) Sperren = to close gesperrt = closed Maut-peage = toll payable (many roads in the alps are kept up by private groups/local residents and they charge a fee for you to drive them) zoll = customs schotterweg = gravel track eng = narrow kurvenreich = loads of bends Steigung = gradient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipx2 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Are you sure "kurvenreich" doesn't translate more sexy than that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1G UP Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 babelfish for translations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 I learned my German from Commando comics so I fear I will not be a lot of use as mine is mostly limited to "Himmel" and "schweinhund" etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipx2 Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 No worries, the only thing you need to remember is to ask "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" and not to take "Nein" for an answer As a matter of fact Germany is the only country in Europe where I'm always expecting having trouble when trying to speak English (I don't speak German - some words here and there, most of them due to the similarities with other languages). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 I learned my German from Commando comics so I fear I will not be a lot of use as mine is mostly limited to "Himmel" and "schweinhund" etc ... and not forgetting the classic "Achtung Spitfeuer !" Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 The first paragraph is a poetic discription of some mountains in the Dolomites. Surely the first time poetic has been used to describe a sentence in german! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 ... and not forgetting the classic "Achtung Spitfeuer !" Mo Tut tut tut It was "Schpitfeuer" Also don't forget "Hande hoch Tommy" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 I thought you only got a schhhhhhhhhh with schweppes Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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