Translation Tools

ISN’T IT GENERALLY AGREED THAT PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATORS UNDERSTAND MACHINE TRANSLATION TOOLS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE (“AFTER ALL, THEY SHOULD DO”)?

I sometimes wonder if anyone who has read my previous comments on here has agreed that I am fascinated by how machine translation tools work. Because I am. I think you will enjoy reading this comment if you are one of those people.

One thing I have noticed about Google Translate: take a piece of writing – any phrase or sentence – and put it in the entry box in the Google Translate translation tool, then translate it into any language you want. Now move the cursor over the text of the translation language. When you see that a bit of the text in the translation text has been highlighted in yellow, you will also see that a bit of the text of the source language has also been highlighted in yellow: the particular word(s) that the word(s) highlighted in the translation text is / are a translation of. I’ve never noted any other translation tools do this – but I guess that’s Google for you. I mean, people who work for Google are renowned for being particularly bright, huh? Of course, a word to the wise: even if you’re using Google Translate, don’t accept what the suggested truth of a translation provided by a machine translation tool is unconditionally, however far from loopy it may seem. I guess I’m talking about a kind of a critical attitude that is comparable with that exhibited by anyone who doesn’t believe everything they read or hear in the media; even if what I’m saying here is based purely on academic reasoning rather than social attitudes or, indeed, social competence. But I do wonder if this is something that could help one learn a new language (and in however convoluted a way, and however this might be defined exactly).

One thing I did as part of my writing of this comment was pay someone 20 Euros to translate a short article about Orlando into Greek, which I don’t speak – I don’t even know any of its most grammar rules or anything. This is the text of the original:

“We recommend all couples take the time to visit Orlando. The romance of the tropics strikes a spark all by itself, but there’s also a marvelous array of intimate excursions for two. The Kraft Azalea Gardens, for starters, provide a lush backdrop for romantic strolls. Don’t miss thousands of late winter azaleas in this gem along Lake Maitland.
For duos who love to dance, Orlando’s the perfect nightspot! From salsa clubs to The Roxy, you’ll find plenty of dance floor action while you’re here. Head for International Drive to find just the right rhythm, and don’t forget the seven dance clubs right on the Disney properties!

Here’s another idea: candlelit dinners beckon from many of Orlando’s restaurants. You can even take an evening trip on the Rivership Romance. This cruise winds for more than three hours along the St. John’s River. Enjoy their great cuisine, entertainment and dancing as well as scenic views by moonlight.

One last tip for Orlando romance – check out the city’s numerous day spas, including the Disney venues. Many offer luxurious packages for couples; the perfect way to relax with someone special.
There’s one more group that’s going to love Orlando. Seasoned “senior” vacationers will find plenty to enjoy in Central Florida. Definitely explore the beaches – you’ll find some great ones within an hour’s drive, including Cocoa Beach, Siesta Key and Clearwater.

And why not enjoy Disney as adults? Imagine getting to choose what you’d like to do, all day long, without having to humor the kids! The shows, including Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba, are just part of the multi-sensory experience.

You’ll find plenty of fascinating shops, restaurants and entertainment in Orlando and its suburbs, too. Uptown Altamonte in Altamonte Springs features street entertainers and lots of shopping possibilities. Here’s another hint: Old Town in Kissimmee is a great place to take the grand kids. Whether it’s fine dining, watching entertainers or outdoor adventure, older travelers can enjoy it all in Orlando.”

And this is the Greek translation of it that I received for my 20 Euros:
“Πιστε?ουμε ?τι ?λα τα ζευγ?ρια πρ?πει να βρουν χρ?νο να επισκεφτο?ν το Ορλ?ντο. Ο ρομαντισμ?ς του τροπικο? τοπ?ου απ? μ?νος του ε?ναι αρκετ?ς για να αν?ψει τη σπ?θα αλλ? υπ?ρχει και μια θαυμ?σια σειρ? οικε?ων εκδρομ?ν για δ?ο. Οι κ?ποι Kraft Azalea Gardens προσφ?ρουν ?να ονειρεμ?νο σκηνικ? για ρομαντικο?ς περιπ?τους. Μη χ?σετε τις χιλι?δες αζαλ?ες στα τ?λη του χειμ?να σε αυτ? το στολ?δι κατ? μ?κος της λ?μνης Μ?ιτλαντ.
Για τα ζευγ?ρια που λατρε?ουν το χορ?, στο Ορλ?ντο υπ?ρχουν τα πιο τ?λεια νυχτεριν? κλαμπ! Απ? σ?λσα κλαμπ μ?χρι το νυχτεριν? κ?ντρο Roxy, θα ?χετε πολλ?ς επιλογ?ς για ξεφ?ντωμα σε π?στες χορο? κατ? την παραμον? σας εδ?. Επισκεφτε?τε το κλαμπ International Drive για να βρε?τε το ρυθμ? σας και μην παραλε?ψετε τα επτ? ντ?σκο κλαμπ στις εγκαταστ?σεις της Ντ?σνε?!
Μια ακ?μη ?μορφη ιδ?α ε?ναι η εμπειρ?α εν?ς δε?πνου υπ? το φως των κερι?ν την οπο?α θα ?χετε την ευκαιρ?α να βι?σετε στα πολλ? εστιατ?ρια του Ορλ?ντο. Μπορε?τε ακ?μη και να π?τε μια βραδιν? εκδρομ? με το Rivership Romance. Η κρουαζι?ρα αυτ? διαρκε? π?νω απ? τρεις ?ρες κατ? μ?κος του ποταμο? Σαιντ Τζον. Απολα?στε την υπ?ροχη κουζ?να, την ψυχαγωγ?α και το χορ? αλλ? και τη μαγευτικ? θ?α κ?τω απ? το φως του φεγγαριο?.
Μια τελευτα?α πρ?ταση για ρομαντικ?ς στιγμ?ς στο Ορλ?ντο – επισκεφτε?τε τα αμ?τρητα spa της π?λης, περιλαμβ?νοντας τους χ?ρους spa της Ντ?σνε?. Πολλ? προσφ?ρουν πολυτελ? πακ?τα για ζευγ?ρια. Ε?ναι ο τ?λειος τρ?πος να χαλαρ?σετε μαζ? με ?να ξεχωριστ? ?τομο.
Υπ?ρχει και μια ?λλη κατηγορ?α ταξιδιωτ?ν που θα λατρ?ψει το Ορλ?ντο. Οι ?μπειροι «βετερ?νοι» ταξιδι?τες θα ?χετε στη δι?θεσ? σας αμ?τρητες απολαυστικ?ς δραστηρι?τητες στην Κεντρικ? Φλ?ριντα. Πρ?πει οπωσδ?ποτε να επισκεφτε?τε τις παραλ?ες – θα βρε?τε αρκετ?ς υπ?ροχες παραλ?ες σε απ?σταση μ?ας ?ρας με το αυτοκ?νητο, περιλαμβ?νοντας τις παραλ?ες Κοκ?α Μπιτς, Σι?στα Κι και Κλιαργου?τερ.
Γιατ? να μην απολα?σετε την Ντ?σνε? και ας ε?στε εν?λικες; Φανταστε?τε να μπορο?σατε να επιλ?ξετε αυτ? που θ?λετε να κ?νετε, καθ’ ?λη τη δι?ρκεια της ημ?ρας, χωρ?ς να πρ?πει να σκεφτε?τε τη διασκ?δαση των παιδι?ν! Οι παραστ?σεις, περιλαμβ?νοντας την παρ?σταση La Nouba του Cirque du Soleil, αποτελο?ν μ?νο ?να μ?ρος μιας εμπειρ?ας πολλ?ν αισθ?σεων.
Στο Ορλ?ντο, αλλ? και στα προ?στι? του, θα βρε?τε μια πληθ?ρα καταπληκτικ?ν καταστημ?των, εστιατορ?ων και χ?ρων ψυχαγωγ?ας. Στα β?ρεια προ?στια του Αλταμ?ντε στην περιοχ? Αλταμ?ντε Σπρ?νγκς μπορε?τε να απολα?σετε τους καλλιτ?χνες δρ?μους καθ?ς και πολλ?ς εξορμ?σεις για ψ?νια. Μ?α ακ?μη συμβουλ?: Η Παλι? Π?λη στο Κ?σιμι ε?ναι το τ?λειο μ?ρος για να π?τε β?λτα με τα εγγον?κια σας. Ε?τε επιλ?ξετε να απολα?σετε ?να εκλεκτ? δε?πνο, τους καλλιτ?χνες ? μια περιπ?τεια στην ?παιθρο, οι ταξιδι?τες μεγαλ?τερης ηλικ?ας θα περ?σετε υπ?ροχες στιγμ?ς στο Ορλ?ντο.”

I want you to note that I paid for this Greek translation even though I could have had it translated into Greek using a machine translation tool like Google Translate for free. That said, because I don’t speak Greek, I am in no position to judge its quality (and yes, I did make the payment before having it checked by someone else – after all, I only ordered this Greek translation for the purpose of this comment). But my question is this: with me being a native speaker of English, would it be wise for me to translate it back into English using a machine translation tool for the purpose of judging its quality? If I did this, would I learn more about the translation competence of the Greek translator to offer good Greek translations (and should this be specifically defined as translations into Greek in general or translations from English into Greek in particular?), or more about the ability of the machine translation tool to do the same?

Now, this is something I actually do for the purpose of thoroughness in my work as a translator: after I have written what seems like a wise choice of words for a given expression or phrase in the original, what I do is I highlight individual words in the original as I re-read what I have written in the in-development translation: my highlighting of words in the original in this way has the purpose of notifying / reminding me which words in the original have been translated (if not directly, then they have definitely been taken into consideration) – it also prevents me from failing to translate anything in the original, unintentionally omitting it. But I can believe quite easily that this approach doesn’t work in every situation – you do get words in languages that have more than one meaning in another one, and this practice also doesn’t help me to get terminology correct. But at least I’m usually confident that, if I do write something that is not correct terminology, my particular choice of expression in the given case would help any reader with a developed knowledge of the correct terminology to understand the terminology that should have been used in its place.

But, in my willingness to explain and elaborate on things that just elude machine translators when it comes to translation work: I now list my latest collection of these translation work-related anecdotes, such as I have mentioned in previous comments…

In a translation project I did of a press release about fashion and fashion exhibitions, French to English, I originally translated “défile” as “parade” rather than “show”, mainly because I agreed that fashion models “parade” clothes on catwalks. But, on no suggestion other than my own intuition, I would eventually replace “parade” with “show”. How do you explain that?
In similar, I ending up writing this in my translation: “ ‘we never stopped; we always had to go further, experiment,’ recounted the creator, who left the diva last year, being exhausted by the frenetic pace of her metamorphoses – a dozen a day. In order to be able to better concentrate on his new, ambitious mission…” – note the comma after “new” – would this to some suggest that the previous mission (the Lady Gaga one) was not too ambitious? Would she be insulted by that?

In a project of a German to English translation of a contract agreement written in German, I saw this in the original: “Diese Qualitätssicherungsvereinbarung ersetzt alle früheren Vereinbarungen, die zwischen den Parteien getroffen wurden”. And this is the particular way I phrased what I put for it in English: “This quality assurance agreement replaces all earlier agreements concluded between the parties” – NOT “that were concluded between the parties”. If they “were concluded between the parties”, people could be left wondering exactly WHEN these agreements were concluded between the parties if you ask me; I mean, such information could prove important. But “that have been concluded between the parties” also definitely works.
In some German to English translation transcription work I did not too long ago, I heard someone say “Wie gesagt” in the original as they were making a certain point. Even so, even though my mother tongue is not German, I originally took as it as a question “wie gesagt?” – an abbreviated question – meaning like “How do I say this?” or “How could this be explained (coherently)?”, do you know what I mean?

The German word “Zentrale” has a certain figurative meaning in English: “switchboard” – I suppose that a switchboard does play a certain “central function” in a phone system sometimes – it’s just that the “central” bit is oblique. Of course, I realize that this is not the only word of its kind in German (and likewise for other languages, more likely than not).
When I wrote the sentence, “No wooden pallets may be used and no cardboard boxes may be stored behind the yellow line” as a translation of something, even I found myself asking whether or not I should a comma after the word “used”, or even if that actually mattered – would it have made a difference?

What is actually meant by “Außentür” in German? “Outside door” and “exterior door” deserve to be labelled as fitting translations, but it is somewhat vague? A door that separates an indoor area from an outdoor area? Or how about a door that opens outwards?

In my translation of a certain tourism article from French to English, I translated “Le Château abrite dans sa cave des millésimes exclusifs et accueille un club œnologique” as “In its basement the Château has exclusive vintage wines, and it hosts a winemaking club”. Presumably it doesn’t specifically host the wine club in the basement and only the basement, hence the comma after “wines”.
In the same tourism article: “La Citadelle n’a cessé de voir son architecture modifiée à travers les siècles”. I translated it as “The Citadelle has not stopped seeing its architecture changing over the centuries”, but should I have put “changing” or “changed”? Is it for sure that it is still changing (or not, as the case may be)?

For a number of weeks I have been translating questionnaire responses which constitute customer reviews on Nokia and Smartphone products, from French to English. I saw “vos conquérants” (“your conquerors”) where it should have been “concurrents” (“your competitors”). But I just got to thinking: anyone could deliberately spell it as “vos conquérants” as if to purposefully imply like, “Your competitors are better than you”. My idea.

I have also seen this in these questionnaire responses: “Mon tel a un écran trop petit”. I actually would insist that, when translating such a sentence into English, something like “My phone has a screen that is too small” or ““My phone has an excessively small screen” in my eyes counts as literal translation, even though it really doesn’t look that unusual at all. If you have to question what I mean by that, then consider how much more “normal” and “natural” “My phone’s screen is too small” sounds.

Another thing I have noted in the ASAP questionnaire responses: With “Il est finalement trop volumineux”, I eventually actually translated “volumineux” as “voluminous” – rather than “large” – it’s not like we’re actually talking about the size of the device!