How reliable are computers at translating French? Should you be using Google Translate to complete your French homework? Can you trust a computer to translate your business correspondence or should you hire a translator?
The reality is that, while translating software is helpful, it is not perfect and should not replace learning any new language yourself. If you rely on machine translation to switch between French and English (and vice versa), you may find yourself at the losing end of a conversation.
What is Machine Translation?
Machine translation refers to any kind of automatic translation, including translation software, hand-held translators, and online translators. While machine translation is an interesting concept and considerably cheaper and faster than professional translators, the reality is that machine translation is extremely poor in quality.
Why Can't Computers Translate Languages Properly?
Language is simply too complicated for machines. While a computer may be programmed with a database of words, it is impossible for it to understand all of the vocabulary, grammar, context, and nuances in the source and target languages.
Technology is improving, but the fact is that machine translation will never offer more than a general idea about what a text says. When it comes to translation, a machine simply cannot take the place of a human.
Are Online Translators More Trouble Than They're Worth?
Whether or not online translators like Google Translate, Babylon, and Reverso are useful is going to depend on your purpose. If you need to quickly translate a single French word into English, you'll probably be okay. Similarly, simple, common phrases may translate well, but you must be wary.
"How Do I Get to" in French
For instance, typing the sentence "I went up the hill" into Reverso produces "Je suis monté la colline." In the reverse translation, Reverso's English result is "I rose the hill."
While the concept is there and a human could figure out that you probably 'went up the hill' rather than 'lifted the hill,' it wasn't perfect.
However, can you use an online translator to recall that chat is French for "cat" and that chat noir means a "black cat"? Absolutely, simple vocabulary is easy for the computer, but sentence structure and nuance require human logic.
To put this plainly:
Should you be completing your French homework with Google Translate? No, that's cheating, first of all. Secondly, your French teacher will suspect where your answer came from.
Adults hoping to impress a French business associate should also put a real effort into learning the language. Even if you mess up, they will appreciate that you took the time to try rather than send entire emails translated by Google. If it's really important, hire a translator.
Online translators, which can be used to translate web pages, emails, or a pasted-in block of text, can be useful. If you need to access a website written in French, turn on the translator to get a basic idea of what was written.
However, you should not assume that the translation is a direct quote or completely accurate. You will need to read between the lines on any machine translation. Use it for guidance and basic comprehension, but little else.
Remember, also, that translation - whether by human or computer - is an inexact science and that there are always numerous acceptable possibilities.