Question about goggle translation:

[Judy Judy Judy]

I have a friend that I send emails to from time to time and she speaks primarily French and so I thought it might be fun to send out emails in French to her. So I use google translation to change my English into French and send it that way. But when she receives the emails they always say something totally different than that of what I was actually saying. Why is that? Does anyone know of a website that translates word for word what you are writing?

For instances I said : How was the game today ? And it translated in google to : Comment était le match d'aujourd'hui? Which comes out : How was the game OF today? It seems to change what you are saying ? Any ideals why ? That wasn't the best example but anyways just curious.

 

[Zeldy2]

Well French is my mother tongue so I would say that internet translators in general translates word for word without taking care of the grammar. English and French have very different grammar so using a translator for words or small expressions might be useful, but it won't work for a whole sentence, especially if it's a long and complicated one. I'm learning Japanese and our teacher told us to NEVER use internet translators for our works since it never translates correctly due to grammar mistakes too.

Hope I could have helped you a little!

 

[FireDancer]

Google Translate is really meant to translate words or phrases, not sentences or language. In that capacity it is a pretty accurate tool.

They are working on it and getting it better but computers aren't at the point yet where they can understand all the complexities of a single spoken/written language let alone translating from one to the other properly. The only way to get it really accurate is to have someone who speaks both translate for you.

 

[Gigi22]

I wouldn't use internet translators, period. Someone at my workplace didn't know enough French to write a memo, and used an internet translator. It wasn't pretty. Fortunately, I intercepted the memo before it was sent, or he would have been reprimanded.

About 100 years ago when I was in university, I took a compulsory translation course. Translating from one language to another is not a skill that can be easily learned. It is very challenging.

 

[Judy Judy Judy]

Okay thanks for all the insight. Now I understand why on fb I can hit the translate bing and none of it still makes any sense.

 

[punkin]

A funny exercise is to write something in English, translate it into French (or any foreign language) and then, translate it back into English. The results are usually hilarious.

 

[Judy Judy Judy]

Punkin my friend did that for me with what I wrote her, needless to say it was a jumbled mess, haha. Seens like to me there use to be a website that translated full conversational text.

 

[FireDancer]

Okay thanks for all the insight. Now I understand why on fb I can hit the translate bing and none of it still makes any sense.

The problem with computers and language in general is context. Google is actually getting very good at understanding context. For example, in Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) the speech to text engine will go back on the fly and change words like no to know or they're to their based on the context of the sentence.

As an example, in France you can say "nice job" by saying "chapeau" but the literal meaning of the word when translated is hat. It is much like saying "hats off" in English. If a computer were to do a translation, at least as it sits now, it would get to chapeau in a sentence and translate it to hat even if in context it obviously should be nice job.

 

[Judy Judy Judy]

What website is the best to use when trying to translate? Or are they all about the same ?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Translating between languages is one of those ultimate problems that computer scientists are trying to find ways to solve. Language is ultracomplex in syntax but even moreso in meaning.

For example, Google translator will turn the French phrase "le petit mort" into "the little dead", but I can tell you that's NOT what it means.

 

[topolino]

I'm an instructor, interpreter and translator of Italian and I always advise against translating software.

The simple answer, like others have alluded to, is that languages have far too many nuances for a computer to be able to decipher.

You need someone who is competent in both languages, that is, native proficiency or near native proficiency. To achieve near native proficiency in a language that isn't your own takes literally years of experience.

 

[topolino]

I wouldn't use internet translators, period. Someone at my workplace didn't know enough French to write a memo, and used an internet translator. It wasn't pretty. Fortunately, I intercepted the memo before it was sent, or he would have been reprimanded.

About 100 years ago when I was in university, I took a compulsory translation course. Translating from one language to another is not a skill that can be easily learned. It is very challenging.

And interpreting, especially simultaneous interpreting, is even more difficult. You must listen to one language, interpret mentally, and then speak in the other language all at the same time.

 

[Sorsha]

Translating between languages is one of those ultimate problems that computer scientists are trying to find ways to solve. Language is ultracomplex in syntax but even moreso in meaning.

For example, Google translator will turn the French phrase "le petit mort" into "the little dead", but I can tell you that's NOT what it means.

LMAO - as a HUGE fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's "Anita Blake" series of books, this nearly made me spew coffee onto my keyboard. Long live Jean-Claude, the uber-sexy French speaking vampire!!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

LMAO - as a HUGE fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's "Anita Blake" series of books, this nearly made me spew coffee onto my keyboard. Long live Jean-Claude, the uber-sexy French speaking vampire!!

I have no idea what that is.

But I took 5 years of French. And I remember 5% of what I learned, since I haven't use it since high school.

 

[pogo791]

Don't knock Google Translator - it's actually surprisingly good, and in my experience, the best internet translation program currently available. (It's also free, which is a big plus!) Not only that, but Google is constantly updating and expanding the text base.

In my job, every now and then I get a foreign text in front of me (German, Dutch and French, in particular). I can just barely make out the gist of what is being said. However, by throwing the texts through Google, I usually can figure out what is being asked for, and can take it from there.

That said, Google Translator has its limits. Like FireDancer says, it works with words and phrases. (Flightless Duck, I love that 'le petit mort' example. ) You can use it to get a feel for what is being said, but please don't rely on it to give a good translation.

I once received a legal document sent from Europe. Whoever had sent it had kindly attached a translatíon into English - done, apparently, by computer. The text contained a few references to "The Poultry Court". It took a while for the penny to drop. Since the case also had links to legal proceedings in Istanbul, I finally figured out that the reference should have been to "the court in Turkey".

 

[LadyZolt]

My husband is an ER nurse, and he's been trying one of those apps on his iPhone that does translations. Well, he was trying to ask the question, "Do you want to harm yourself?" and somehow the translator decided he wanted to ask, "Do you want to arm yourself?" Totally different meaning than what he was asking!

There's the old joke that goes: A man was testing a computer translator and typed in "Out of sight, out of mind" and translated it into Russian and then back into English, and out came "Invisible insanity."

 

[pogo791]

There's the old joke that goes: A man was testing a computer translator and typed in "Out of sight, out of mind" and translated it into Russian and then back into English, and out came "Invisible insanity."

And another one where "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
came out "The wine is good, but the meat is not."

 

[emer95]

This thread is highly entertaining! I am off to translate some phrases to French, and then back into English!

 

[leebee]

For example, Google translator will turn the French phrase "le petit mort" into "the little dead", but I can tell you that's NOT what it means.

There's also "mon petit choux"; not as racy, but nobody here wants to be called a cabbage-head!

DD's french high school class did an exercise where they translated a phrase of their own choosing from english to french to english, using an online translator. DD said it was hysterical, and Madame says after doing that she NEVER has an issue with kids "cheating" via online translators!

My high school french is is about 35 years old but I remembered enough to get us a cab to the train station, rent a car, order food, and get us around small towns and Paris. Of course, the French might still be laughing at my accent and butchering of their grammar, but I was pretty proud that I could understand and make myself understood! It's been awhile...!!