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Why do people think you could actually translate with Google translate?
We have many questions here where people ask for a short translation. 'Use translate.google.com' is always at least twice amongst the answers. It's true that machine translation can help to grasp the meaning of a sentence - it even happens once in a while that a one-liner is translated in an acceptable quality. However, you can almost never use an automatic translation in a homework or a letter or something.
Trying to help with reference to Google translate is certainly nicely meant but it's completely counterproductive. Pasting an automatic translation as an answer makes it only worse as looks like would know what you are actually talking about.
The questioner is looking for answers not for random collections of words in a foreign language.
What is your take on this?
@James: I agree that automatic translation tools are an amazing accomplishment.
@Rauji: Did you try translate.google.com? ;-)
6 Answers
- MacBryanLv 78 years ago
People who use Google Translate (or similar) are point trolls. There are two simple requirements for an accurate translation (assuming the translator has a decent education): near-native knowledge of the source language and native knowledge of the target language. I only offer translations into languages of which I am not a native speaker when the other efforts are disastrously wrong, and I always point out that I am not a native speaker.
- 8 years ago
Very well said. Even when I translate text between my friend in France to English, I sometimes can't even understand what it translates to because the sentence is so literally converted it's not decipherable of the English language.
Personally, I think the only people to answer translation questions are people who studied the language or natives of the language.
- Anonymous8 years ago
I think people should actually know the language to translate something for a person that really wants to know, google translate absolutely sucks
- 8 years ago
i only use google translate to get an idea of how to say something or what something means. When you translate a sentense using google translate it actually makes a difference if you put a period or not. Thats why i ask real people not computers. Btw, any one know what "慰安婦" means?
Source(s): personal experience - How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- Randy PLv 78 years ago
I can't understand it. And when they post the translation of something into English, and it is obviously garbage, and they are an English-speaker themselves, I *really* can't understand it.
I also can't understand why they think they've done something the original poster couldn't have done themselves by copying and pasting into Google Translate. Do they think the person asked because their copy-paste function doesn't work and needed someone to do that for them?
- JamesLv 68 years ago
Probably because the Google search tool and other products of theirs are amazing inventions, and there's obviously some very smart and talented people working there. They probably assume that Google Translate must be mindblowing, then.
