Web based translators have come a long way since the time they first appeared. Years ago, they would just translate text word by word, not regard any idioms, double meanings and other, making the translated text practically useless. Much of that has changed, and Google Translate can now render pretty good translations of websites. But there are still limits. When should you get a human translator involved?
Here is a quick guide.
This can be done using Google translate
Translating newspaper clippings, short articles and blog posts. as long as the content is not too specific, and not too important to you.
Translating basic short phrases like greetings. For example, I was amazed by a Dutch friend who sent me and my wife a greeting card with a Chinese well wish. He must have translated it with Google translate and copied the characters from the screen. I thought it was a very thoughtful gesture.
Getting the gist of e-mails in a foreign language. I would never rely on an automated translation for 100%, but pasting the text into Google translate can give a good clue of the content and whether (costly) manual translation is warranted for the e-mail
... But you should engage a human interpreter in the following cases:
Translating for active use. Writing something in one language, and pulling it through Google translate may result in an understandable translation, but sentence order and grammar will be off to some extent. It will definitely show that the text was machine translated, and the translated result will be off. If you need to communicate with someone in a different language, it is better to make do with whatever language you have in common. If you have no language in common, call in professional (human) help.
Translating very specific, or important content. Such as legal documents, technical specifications, user manuals and scientific articles. Although sometimes I have the impression that user manuals for certain products have been translated by Google Translate!
Translating spoken language. This is really the next frontier and technically very much different from translating text, which is far more standardized. Advances are being made with voice recognition too, but you better check back in another five years before applying any of the technologies.
Conclusion
Google Translate is a great way to get the gist of materials that are written in a language that you do not understand. But if you need translations for a specific purpose, the content is specific, or you are going to e-mail or publish the translation, rely on good old fashioned human interpretation.
And if you are going to need to speak a foreign language often, why not take up a language course? On our website, we offer an overview of Singapore language schools.
Do visit our blog for many more resources and articles about language learning.
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