The Universal Translation Dictionary: FDicts

Slashdot reports today that FDicts, "the all free dictionaries project focuses on maintaining free dictionaries (now more than 90 with more than 3,300,000 translations)."

Photo credit: Andrés Giordano

FDicts is short for Free DICTionarieS and what it has achieved is the aggregation in one online resource of a large number of the free dictionaries available out there. By doing this FDicts has created both a uniquely valuable language translation resource that anyone can tap into as well as a potential clearinghouse for translators and language experts from any part of the world.

FDicts is now designing a new system which will unite all individual language-to-language dictionaries into one universal dictionary for all languages. The new universal dictionary will also be soon made available for free under a GPL license.

 

 

Not only.

FDicts is looking to expand his dictionary base and is open to receive new submissions and additions to its already wide collection.

At present, FDicts hosts 3,305,162 translations - 8,720,000 words (approx) in 43 languages and a total of 97 free dictionaries.

The site integrates a Forum, a bookmarking facility that works with all major browsers, customization of the FDicts site look and feel, and a free chat area. It also allows end users to switch the language interface of the site to any among over 18 different languages.

In full wiki-style, contributors and voluntary supporters of this project can register and help out in the editing, revising and correction of some of the dictionary content made available.

Since FDicts hosts so many dictionaries and no one can maintain them all at the same time, volunteers who can correct mistakes in a dictionary can simply register as contributors and the FDicts staff will then send them short list of translations that need to be reviewed/corrected. Once done and sent back, the revisions will be put back into the main dictionary again by the FDicts staff.

The opportunity for contributing free support to the language dictionaries is also an opportunity to show one's own skills and abilities while increasing credibility and exposure to other work opportunities.

Being listed with good scores on the Validators page offers certainly an opportunity for further networking and job calls to may capable translators who have no direct access to rich local markets.

You can find the complete list of FDicts accessible dictionaries here:
http://www.fdicts.com/dictcnts.php

Update Dec 22nd 2006:
The service is not available anymore. Thanks to reader Joachim who kindly reported this today, at the original URL an-ad based info and search service has taken its place. I do not support this type of site which provides only redirection to other sources.