Re: [HCDX]: Free Translation sites

["Mike Brooker" <aum108@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
>http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran
>
>One way to judge the accuracy of these sites is to translate a paragraph
into a different language then try and translate it back. It shows that
these programs may not be particularly good when it comes to handling
grammar!
>
I have a degree in Translation from Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON
<http://www.laurentian.ca> and have worked off and on as a French translator
since 1985.  The following is not strictly DX-related, but allow me to add
my comments regarding online translation sites.

Machine or computer translation is ***extremely*** primitive, and is
unlikely to replace human translation anytime soon.  IMHO not before the
middle of this century.  Although computers can greatly assist a translator,
such as online/CD ROM dictionaries or glossaries that can save much time
wasted looking up words in paper texts, they not only have difficulty
handling grammar (you often come up with a stilted "me Tarzan you Jane"
pidgin), but they can't distinguish colloquialisms or idiomatic expressions.
If you try to translate "it's raining cats and dogs" into French using a
machine translator, you might get something literal like "il pleut des chats
et des chiens".  Gramatically possible, but such an expression for heavy
rain does not occur in French.  It would be utterly meaningless to a French
speaker, who might imagine that felines and canines are dropping out of the
sky.

These free translation sites might do for a quickie translation of a web
page, but don't use them to send a letter to a native speaker of the target
language, or a reception report.

Of course, human translators are not perfect either.  Professional
translators should work only INTO their native language.  For a native
speaker of English, that means translations should only be done from the
source language (French, German, Swahili, or whatever) into English.  While
Quebecers complain of "Anglicismes" that have infected their language, I
have seen numerous "Frenglish" phrases in English translations of Quebec
government documents: "this project was subventioned by... "(ce projet a été
subventionné par...),  "inscription modalities" (registration procedures, in
French: modalités d'inscription), and my favourite mis-translation, for
"union dues": "syndical cotizations" (in French: Cotisations syndicales).

73
********************************************************************
Mike Brooker
99 Wychcrest Ave.,
Toronto, ON  M6G 3X8
CANADA
(416) 536-7406
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