how can I converse with someone via email.

There is very little change in the translation facilities between Office 2007 and 2010.

Right click on a word and select Translate and then when the Research pane opens on the right hand side, select German from the To dropdown in the Translation section of the pane.

Another thing to do is from the Translation dropdown in the Language section of the Review tab of the Ribbon, click on the Choose Translation Language and select the Mini Translator language and the document translation languages.

If you do not have the above options, you may need to go to the Windows Control Panel and click on the Programs - Uninstall a Program link and then in the Uninstall or change a program dialog, select Microsoft Office [suite name] 2010 and then click on Change and then select the Add or Remove Features button and click on Continue and then expand the Office Shared Features item by clicking on the + and likewise with the Proofing Tools item that will appear and click the arrow for Translation Core Files and select Run from my Computer