Which is not to say that person does not, in fact, have a good command of the non-native language in question, just that it requires years of reading, writing and interacting with native speakers to fully understand the intricacies of any language.

This is Labeling Machine Manufacturers perhaps most obvious in observing the difficulties natives from different Spanish-speaking nations often have in understanding each other. For that matter, the same can be said of those who speak English as their native tongue, but with cultural, national or regional differences. Americans from the Deep South and from the New York Bronx have been known to stare at each other in complete lack of understanding as local slang and accents make the other's English practically a foreign language.

The obvious source for translation services human and machine is the search engine. What a search engine will not provide, however, is any indication of how accurate either service may be. The only proof there will be to request a sample translation then take it to someone who is fluent in that language and ask for a list of other sites using their service (then e-mail those webmasters for feedback).

With the rise of the global Internet, the world has truly become decidedly smaller in little more than a decade, to a far greater extent than the previous changes brought on by aircraft, radio and television. And due to the dominance of English-speaking nations in those areas as well as movies and the Internet itself there has been a tendency, even among those who pride themselves on being at least bilingual, to assume everyone online understands English. And, more often than not, American colloquial English.

While that is truer today than at any other time in history more true than with any previous language in history those truly seeking to reach the world with their message or product need to take a wider view. In many cases, perhaps most, that does not mean providing for a host of translations; two or even three carefully chosen languages, may be enough to reach more than 90 percent of the target audience. Each webmaster or site owner will need to make that judgment.

Nor does this apply only to the majority of sites now displayed only in English. It also is true for those written in Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Swahili, French, Italian, German or Outback Aussie.

As the Internet continues to expand into more and more homes and businesses around the world, the need for multi-lingual websites will become more and more prominent. And the opportunities for companies providing solid translation services and for individuals with true multi-lingual fluency will grow along with it.