When people want to convert English to Spanish or vice versa they often use a Spanish English dictionary.

Many Spanish students in high school and college have a copy of this dictionary. For years they have been on the web too. Generally they are considered translation services. But the idea is the same.

AltaVista came up with the first version of a Spanish English dictionary online as a translator. It was like having the science fiction Star Trek's Universal translator Right at your fingertips. One button press could translate almost any text.

As a Spanish English dictionary it wasn't perfect. Sometimes the translations were so bad they were complete gibberish. Translated text was easily spotted.

Some people considered this problem with the Spanish English dictionary to be a good thing. It was handy for a quick rewrite. This is how people did it. Enter the text to translate from Spanish to English. Then reenter the English text and translated back into Spanish. The text was changed. It often needed just a small amount of editing.

Now many other sites have a better Spanish English dictionary. Google is one example. When text is entered there to be translated to a new language, the result can be processed through the service again with the same text as original being returned. People who want to rewrite something in the same language are disappointed. It does result in a better translation.

There is a more detailed Spanish English dictionary. It provides definitions in addition to the translation. Start with a word like freeway. The result shows that the Spanish equivalent is autopista. The English definition is given – a broad roadway that accommodates high-speed traffic. There is a lot more for the word autopista. This includes expressway, freeway, highway, and even the UK motorway. Now click an English word to see its definition. The English versions of autopista all mean something similar.

The days of the book form of these handy tools are coming to an end. Online versions are easier to search, and the results can be quickly incorporated into documents written on the computer. Even so, the Spanish English dictionary is popular.