http://www.dancohen.org/blog/posts/no_computer_left_behind said:
>   Google researchers have demonstrated
>   (but not yet released to the general public)
>   a powerful method for creating 'good enough'
>   translations—not by understanding the grammar
>   of each passage, but by rapidly scanning and
>   comparing similar phrases on countless electronic
>   documents in the original and second languages.
>   Given large enough volumes of words in a variety
>   of languages, machine processing can find parallel phrases
>   and reduce any document into a series of word swaps.
>   Where once it seemed necessary to have a human being
>   aid in a computer's translating skills, or to teach that
>   machine the basics of language, swift algorithms functioning
>   on unimaginably large amounts of text suffice. Are such new
>   computer translations as good as a skilled, bilingual human being?
>   Of course not. Are they good enough to get the gist of a text? Absolutely.
>   So good the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency
>   increasingly rely on that kind of technology to scan, sort, and mine
>   gargantuan amounts of text and communications
>   (whether or not the rest of us like it).

sounds like something you might find interesting, michael.
of course, a "good enough" translation probably wouldn't be,
not for literature, where the realm of creativity is instantiated,

but could it work as a "first pass" that would do the bulk of the
"heavy lifting", so a person knowledgeable in both languages
could come in and spend relatively little time smoothing it out?
well, it's certainly possible, i would think.  and maybe probable.
especially if progress on the technique proves to be forthcoming...

-bowerbird