Reading the script on old documents can be a challenge.  Genealogy Today has a nice article concerning deciphering old documents.  Also check out the handwriting link on this site.

Even more challenging is reading the script from a different language.  I find Germanic script very difficult to decipher.  The Hungarian Language [Magyar] is also difficult for me. 

Translating From a Different Language

The documents of an area will be in the language of the area.  For instance the early Catholic Church Records from French Prairie in Marion County, Oregon will be in French.  The Priests and the people spoke and wrote French.  Many of these early records were translated by M. Leona Nichols and published  beginning on page 256 in "The Mantle of Elias".  The same translation was used in "Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest."  The second included the Native American records, the first omitted them.

The Tools

Dictionaries.  Find a two way dictionary.  French/ English, English/French.  In church records you are looking for the words: baptized, married, died, buried, mother, father, godmother, godfather, witness, occupation, resided, grandfather, grandmother, born, legitimate, illegitimate, natural, child, girl, boy, infant, missionary, priest, signed, who has not known how to sign, undersigned, the numbers, the names of months, etc. 

Magnifying Glass.  Making it bigger can help in figuring out what was written.

On-line translation tool.  I have found this one very useful.  This one also looked like a good bet.