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The internet is changing the translation industry in ways that could not have been predicted twenty years ago. At present, the world of translation is in a state of flux. Technology to translate blocks of text exists but is notoriously unreliable and can produce some humorous results. Tools such as Altavista's free Babelfish translation site are great if you wish to get the gist of a piece of foreign text, but you wouldn't want to rely on Babelfish to translate a legal document. This technology is, after all, in its infancy and appears to be heading toward's Star Trek-style portable translation devices which we can sensibly assume will become a part of mobile phone technology in forthcoming years.

At present, the largest change made to the world of translations by the internet has been the use of email to send documents to and from translators. If you are using a firm in England for your Italian translations and French translations, it takes no longer to send and receive the work than if you were using a company in the Far East. This is a great change from years gone by, when documents would either have to be sent by courier or by traditional mail. One effect of this is that translators can work from home or, indeed, anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

There are a number of websites which can give you rapid quotes for translation. Among the most in-demand services at present are Chinese translations and Arabic translations. Demand is apparently high for these languages because they have unique alphabets and are not generally taught in British schools, while the other European languages are seen as 'easier' to translate. It is also significant that Arabic states and China are dominating international headlines in the 21st Century as political and business interchange grows between continents.

The dominant business language of the first part of this century remains English. As a result, there are people in almost every small to medium-sized business around the world with a reasonable grasp of the language. Demand for a professional translation service for English is still high, however; particularly in the fields of legal and technical translation, which require a specialist vocabulary. While incorrect technical translations can raise a smile - think of Japenglish home appliance instructions - there really is no excuse when there are so many excellent translators to be found on the web.

Many translators offer various speeds of service: if you pay more, you receive your translated document more quickly. It is worth shopping around as quotes can vary hugely, but it is worth bearing in mind that the quality of translation can also vary. If you find a firm with whom you are happy, why change for the sake of a few dollars?