1. At least one memory device storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of statistical machine translation (SMT), said method comprising: receiving a word string in a first natural language; parsing said word string into a parse tree comprising a plurality of child nodes, the parse tree representing a syntactic structure of the word string; reordering said plurality of child nodes resulting in a plurality of reordered word strings; evaluating each of said plurality of reordered word strings using a reordering knowledge, wherein said reordering knowledge is based on a syntax of said first natural language and on a plurality of alignment matrices that map first sample sentences in the first natural language with second sample sentences in a second natural language; translating a plurality of preferred reordered word strings from said plurality of reordered word strings to the second natural language based on said evaluating; and selecting a statistically preferred translation of said word string from among translations of said plurality of preferred reordered word strings.