GOOGLE TRANSLATOR
In this review, I will make a detailed description of one of the most famous online translators in Internet, that is to say Google translator. Then, we will compare it with other three translators: Yahoo Babel Fish and Reverso.
Google Translate is a language resource which is able to translate texts, web pages and documents into different languages. This online linguistic tool appeared on 2006 and it is one of the most used translators around the world. It was created by Google Inc. There are two versions available of Google Translate. The first one was designed for iPhone users in 2008 and this translator cover about 23 different languages. Then, the second one was developed as an Android version which was divided mainly into two options: “ SMS translation” and “History”.
The incorporation of languages available in the translators was progressive. There were 23 stages. The first combinations were English- French, English- German, and English- Spanish. Nowadays it is possible to find a different translation for the word.
METHODOLOGY
The method used by Google Translator is statistical method translation. This statistical method translation was created due to a bilingual text corpus which contained about a million words. In addition, a second corpora of a billion words is incorporated in the statistical method and the technology which supports this translation tool is SYSTRAN.
USING THE TRANSLATOR
The use of Google Translator is very easy. To start with, we have to choose the languages we want to work with. There are 52. Then we have to paste the text we have chosen to translate and paste on the box. Once we have done it, we press the button “translate” we wait until the translation appears on an open window with the translated version. If we want to translate a document, we simply press the option “translate a document”. It will appear a box with the option “examinar”. Then we have to choose the document and automatically the translator will do its job.
TRANSLATING DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEXTS
When we are working with an online translator, we have to take into account that as an automatic tool it has its advantages as for instance: speed and an easy use when we want to work with a text. However, as it is not a human translation, usually the translations of the original texts are far from being precise, accurate and above they are characterized by a lack of naturalness and coherence.
In order to check the competence of the translator, we have decided to translate two texts of different nature. The first one is a literary text, particularly a poem, in this case a sonnet written by William Shakespeare in 1609. The title of the poem is “ Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”. In the next slides we can see the original text, the translated version and my own translation.
LITERARY TEXT
ORIGINAL TEXT
SONNET 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
TRANSLATED VERSION
Voy a compararte con un día de verano?
Tú eres más hermoso y más templado de arte:
Vientos ásperos agitan los capullos favorito de mayo,
Y el arrendamiento de verano tiene todo demasiado corta una fecha:
En algún momento muy caliente el ojo del cielo brilla,
Y a menudo es su tez de oro dimm’d;
Y todas las ferias de la disminución razonable en algún momento,
Por casualidad o cambiando el rumbo de la naturaleza untrimm’d;
Pero tu eterno verano no se marchitará
Tampoco pierde la posesión de ese owest eres justo;
Tampoco se aplicará la Muerte jactarse wander’st tú en su sombra,
Cuando en las líneas eterna a growest tú tiempo:
Mientras los hombres pueden respirar o los ojos pueden ver,
En tanto esta vida y esto le da vida a ti.
FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSLATOR
Due to the automatic nature of the translator, there is a group of errors which are repeated along the poem. When we are working with a translation tool, we have to keep in mind that it will never be the same as a human translation. In addition, it is not the same to translate a short text with easy grammatical structures and phrases than translating a long text with rhetorical figures. In this particular case, I have chosen a poem from the 15th– 16th century to prove the limitations that translators like Google Translate offer. We have to consider that languages evolve and this particular translator we are commenting on, was created in 2009 so the translation is going to be difficult. In the Basically the main mistakes made by the translator were:
Lack of translation of certain words. Probably the main reason to these mistakes was the “apostrophe”. In Spanish, “apostrophes” do not exist, so it is probable that MT is not able to recognize the words in Spanish, so it is impossible to translate them. We are talking for instance about words like “dimm´d”, “untrimm´d”, “wander’st”.
Word order. Long sentences tend to be translated in a wrong way. For example “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date” or “And every fair from fair sometime declines” which have been changed due to the leghtening of the sentences if we compare Spanish (long sentences) versus English (short sentences). In addition, we have to take in mind that the text translated is poetry so the work done by the translator is more difficult even.
Punctuation. This translator has not made many errors of punctuation. However, we can tell one which is meaningful. This is the case of the interrogative sign, which in English only appears one in opposition to Spanish which is used twice. For example, we have: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Which appears as “Voy a compararte con un día de verano?
Lack of natural language. Although the text translated is a literary text, the tone and the lexicon used is not appropriate, especially the word order.
The other text we have chosen is a journalistic text. We have decided to select this kind of text to compare the translation given by Google Translate according to the nature of texts. The text we have chosen is an article entitled: from the magazine HELLO! written in English entitled: “Pippa Middleton unwinds with former friend in Madrid”. I have also provided the translated text and my own version:
PERIODISTIC TEXT
ORIGINAL TEXT
Pippa Middleton unwinds with former flame in Madrid
16 MAY 2011
After her starring role in the wedding of the century, it was a well-deserved break.
While her newly-married sister jetted off the to the Seychelles for her honeymoon, Pippa Middleton flew to Madrid for some downtime with a group of friends that included former flame George Percy, the heir to the Duke of Northumberland.
Escaping the media frenzy surrounding her since the big day, the brunette beauty relaxed in the capital’s biggest park – the Retiro.
And she took to the water for a boat trip with the eligible aristocrat, whom she dated whilst at Edinburgh University.
But it was not all rest for party girl Pippa, who was keen to sample some of the Spanish city’s nightlife.
She partied in one of the most exclusive nightclubs, Fortuny, where she was spotted with a bottle of champagne in her bag.
And there was no let-up for the party planner the following evening, as she enjoyed an evening at swanky bar The Penthouse, dressed to the nines in a beige peplum skirt and fitted black blazer.
When the 26-year-old emerged the next day, she sported sunglasses as she made her way around the tourist sights with the group.
Pippa and George were flatmates in Edinburgh whilst they were in a relationship, and the pair have been friends for nearly ten years.
Her current boyfriend, broker Alex Loudon, stayed in Britain during her trip.
TRANSLATED VERSION
Pippa Middleton se desenvuelve con la llama antigua en Madrid
16 MAY 2011
Después de su papel protagónico en la boda del siglo, fue un bien merecido descanso.
Mientras que su hermana recién casados de hidromasaje de la de las Seychelles para su luna de miel, Pippa Middleton viajó a Madrid para un tiempo de inactividad con un grupo de amigos que incluyó al ex la llama George Percy, el heredero del duque de Northumberland.
Escapar de la histeria mediática que rodea a su puesto el gran día, la belleza morena relajado en el mayor parque de la capital – el Retiro.
Y se llevó al agua para un viaje en barco con el aristócrata elegibles, a quien de fecha, mientras que la Universidad de Edimburgo.
Pero no todo fue descanso para chica fiestera Pippa, que estaba dispuesto a probar algunos de la vida nocturna de la ciudad española.
Ella fiesta en una de las discotecas más exclusivas, Fortuny, donde fue visto con una botella de champán en su bolso.
Y no había tregua para el planificador del partido la noche siguiente, mientras disfrutaba de una tarde en el bar chic El Penthouse, vestido de punta en blanco con una falda peplum beige y blazer negro puesto.
Cuando el jugador de 26 años de edad, salió el día siguiente, ella lucía gafas de sol como hizo su camino alrededor de los lugares de interés turístico con el grupo.
Pippa y George fueron compañeros de piso en Edimburgo, mientras se encontraban en una relación, y los dos han sido amigos durante casi diez años.
Su actual novio, el corredor Alex Loudon, una estancia en Gran Bretaña durante su viaje.
MY OWN VERSION
Pippa Middleton se relaja en Madrid con su nuevo novio en Madrid
Mientras que su hermana recién casada volaba rumbo a las Seychelles para disfrutar de su luna de miel, Pippa Middleton volaba hacia Madrid por unos días de descanso con un grupo de amigos entre los que se incluía su antiguo novio, el heredero del ducado de Northumberland.
Tratando de escapar de la hysteria de los medios de comunicación que la perseguian desde el gran día, la belleza morena se relajó en el parque más grande de la capital, El Retiro.
Y se metió en el agua durante un viaje en barca con el aristócrata casadero con el que estuvo saliendo mientras estaba en la Universidad de Edimburgo.
Sin embargo, no todo fue descanso para la fiestera Pippa, quién estaba deseosa de disfrutar de la fiesta nocturna de España.
Disfrutó de la fiesta en uno de los clubs más exclusivas, llamado “Fortuny”, donde se la pudo ver con una botella de champán en su bolso.
Y no hubo ninguna interrupción para la planificadora de la fiesta a la tarde siguiente, ya que se divirtió en el bar pijo “The Penthouse” vestida de punta en blanco con una falda plisada beige y una americana negra que le quedaba como a un guante.
Al día siguiente, cuando la chica de 26 de años apareció llevaba puestas unas gafas de sol para disfrutar de las vistas con el resto del grupo.
Pippa y George fueron compañeros de piso en Edimburgo mientras que fueron novios y la pareja ha seguido siendo amiga desde hace diez años.
Su actual novio, el bróker Alex Loudon, se quedó en Gran Bretaña durante el viaje.
FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSLATOR
Lack of agreement. In the text translated there is a problem with agreement, maybe due to the fact, that in English there are no visible marks which express agreement in gender and number except in the third person singular present. Even though, in third person singular the “s” does not indicate if we are talking about a woman or a man. We find many exampleslike “While her newly-married sister jetted off the to the Seychelles” translated as “Mientras que su hermana recién casados” o “the brunette beauty relaxed in the capital’s biggest park” translated as “la belleza morena relajado en el mayor parque de la ciudad”
Confusion between categories. The translator does not recognize words which can be used in two categories. For instance, verbs and nouns. That is the case of the word “party” in “she partied in one of the most exclusive nightclubs” translated as “ella fiesta en uno de los clubs nocturnes más exclusivos”
False friends. The translator has not made a good translation of some words like the adjective “eligible”. In English, the sense of the adjective eligible is ”somebody wealthy”, “a good person to marry with” . However, “eligible” in Spanish means “somebody who can be chosen”.
Problems with the translations of compounds and adjectives. The translator does not make a good job when it has to translate compounds. For instance, “party planner” which means “somebody who loves parties” is translated as “el jugador”.
Punctuation. In Spanish, “dashes” are only used when we want to reproduce a direct speech or a dialogue written. In English, they use a dash in the place of a “comma” so maybe the translator has not been able to reproduce it. For instance, “the capital’s biggest park”- the Retiro” translated as “el mayor parque de la capital- el Retiro”
Lack of certain words: The translator has not been able to translate some words like “peplum”. In addition, proper nouns like “The Penthouse” or “Fortuny” do not appear translated
REVERSO
Reverso is an online free translator which can be only used to translate short texts.In the same webpage there is a dictionary and a conjugation tool. This translator tool uses Reverso Intrenet which has been developed by PROjectMT and Softtisimo. The Reverso translator is a very useful tool for instance, to look for words when somebody receives an e-mail instead of using dictionaries or to eliminate the barriers of language when we are abroad
Reverso online translator offers several language to work with.Basically the most used are the following combinations: English- Spanish, Espanish- English, French- Spanish, Spanish- French, Spanish- German, German- Spanish, Portuguese – Spanish, English- Japanese, Rusian- Spanish etc .
How to translate a short text?
In order to translate we have to follow three different steps. Firstly, we have to paste the text on the translation box and then we choose the language in which we want to translate the text. Once we have made our choice, we press the button “TRANSLATE” and wait until a new window is open with the translation.
TRANSLATED VERSION
SONETO 18
¿Compararé thee hasta el día de un verano?
Thou arte más encantador y más templado:
Vientos ásperos realmente sacuden los brotes queridos de mayo,
Y el arriendo del verano hath todo una fecha demasiado corta:
Algún día demasiado caliente el ojo de brillos de cielo,
Y a menudo es su tez de oro dimm’d;
Y cada feria de la feria algún día disminuye,
Por casualidad o el curso de cambio de la naturaleza untrimm’d;
Pero el verano thy eterno no se descolorará
Ni pierda la posesión de aquella feria thou owest;
Tampoco la Muerte se jactará thou wander’st en su sombra,
Cuando en líneas eternas a tiempo thou growest:
Mientras que los hombres pueden respirar o los ojos pueden ver,
Tan vidas largas esto y esto dan la vida a thee.
FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSLATOR
Personal Pronouns: Contrary to Google translate which has been able to translate pronouns from other century, Reverso has not translated personal pronouns. For instance, “thee” which means “you” in modern English, and “thou” in the following sentences: “Shall I compare thee with a summer’s day?” and “Thou art more lovely and more temperate” translated as ¿Compararé thee hasta un día de verano? And “Thou arte más encantador”.
Incorrect use of past subjunctive. This translator is not able to use the subjunctive in Spanish.In the poem there are several examples which show this problem, like for instance “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see” translated as “mientras que los hombres puedan respirar o los ojos puedan ver”.
Lack of agreement subject- verb. Reverso is not able to translate in a coherent way structures in which agreement is present. For instance, “So long lives this and this gives life to thee” translated as “tan vidas largas esto y esto dan la vida a thee”. “Esto” is a third person singular pronoun in Spanish so it should be followed by a verb in third person singular, not plural.
Problems with words which can be different categories. Again we find problems with words which act as several categories like for instance “shine” which means “to glow”. In this case “the eye of heaven shines” is translated as “el ojo de brillos de cielo”. We have to assume that shines referring to the verb “to shine”
TRANSLATED VERSION
Pippa Middleton desenrolla con la antigua llama en Madrid 16 MAYO 2011
Después de su papel estrellado en la boda del siglo, esto era una rotura bien merecida.
Mientras su hermana recién casada jetted del a las Seychelles para su luna de miel, Pippa Middleton voló a Madrid durante algún tiempo de inactividad con un grupo de los amigos que incluyeron la antigua llama Jorge Percy, el heredero del Duque de Northumberland.
Evitando el frenesí de medios de comunicación que la rodea desde el día grande, la belleza de morena relajada en el parque más grande de la capital – el Retiro.
Y ella tomó al agua para un viaje del barco con el aristócrata eligible, quien ella dató mientras en Edinburgo la Universidad.
Pero esto no era todo el resto para la muchacha de partido(parte) Pippa, que era penetrante para probar un poco de la vida nocturna de la ciudad española.
Ella celebró una fiesta en uno de los clubs de noche más exclusivos, Fortuny, donde ella fue manchada(descubierta) con una botella de champán en su bolsa.
Y no había ninguna calma para el planificador de partido(parte) la tarde siguiente, como ella disfrutó de una tarde en la barra de lujo
FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSLATOR
Literal translation. The translator has used literal translation in some of the words as “date” which means “go out with somebody when you are in a relationship”. In Spanish, “datar” is accepted but now commonly used so it sounds a bit awkward in natural speech.
Use of brackets. This translator uses brackets to explain the meaning of some words which are not very clear. For instance, “she was spotted” translated as “ella fue manchada (descubierta) or “and there was not let-up for the party planner” as “y no había ninguna calma para el planificador de partido (parte).
Context of translation. The translator is not able to select the appropriate meaning of a certain word. It is necessary that a human brain participates in the process of translation, In this text, the word “flame” is used but not with the meaning of “llama” but with the definition of “boyfriend” or “lover”. In this text, the mistake is made in “Pippa Middleton unwinds with former flame in Madrid” as “Pippa Middleton se relaja en Madrid con su nuevo novio”
Confusing translations and change of meaning. This translator tends to change the meaning of sentences and the tone of the context of the text. For instance, in the sentence “after her starring role” where “starring” means something positive, “somebody who has been seen as an important figure” is translated as “estrellado” which means quite the opposite, that is to say, “somebody who is not lucky”.
Misinterpretations of common expressions. In all languages there are certain expressions which are constructed in a particular way depending on their origin. For example, in the this text, the expression “and she took to the water for a boat trip” which means that “somebody has sailed in a boat” has been translated as “y ella tomo el agua” which in Spanish means to “drink water”
Yahoo Bable Fish
This translator is an online language resource which allows to translate short texts (150 characters) and web pages. SYSTRAN is the technologycal system upon which Yahoo Babel Fish is built. The languages of translation are for instance: French, German, Italian, English, Japanese etc
We select the languages we want to work with and then we paste the text in the box. Then we press the button “translate”.
TRANSLATED VERSION
Pippa Middleton desenrolla con la llama anterior en Madrid 16 de mayo de 2011 Después de su papel starring en la boda del siglo, era una rotura merecida. Mientras que su hermana nuevo-casada echó en chorro de a las Seychelles para su luna de miel, Pippa Middleton voló a Madrid para un cierto tiempo muerto con un grupo de amigos que incluyeron la llama anterior George Percy, el heredero al duque de Northumberland. Escapando el frenesí de los medios que la rodeaba desde el día grande, la belleza triguena se relajó en el capital’ el parque más grande de s – el Retiro. Y ella llevó el agua para un viaje del barco con el aristócrata elegible, que ella fechó mientras que en la universidad de Edimburgo. Pero no era todo el resto para la muchacha de partido Pippa, que era afilada muestrear algo del city’ español; vida nocturna de s. Ella partied en uno de los clubs nocturnos más exclusivos, Fortuny, donde la mancharon con una botella de champán en su bolso. Y no había descanso para el planificador del partido la tarde siguiente, pues ella disfrutó de una tarde en la barra ostentosa el ático, vestido a los nines en una falda amarillenta del peplum y una chaqueta negra cabida. Cuando emergieron los 26 años el next day, ella se divirtió las gafas de sol mientras que ella hizo su manera alrededor de las vistas turísticas con el grupo. Pippa y George eran flatmates en Edimburgo mientras que estaban en una relación, y los pares han sido amigos por casi diez años. Su novio actual, corredor Alex Loudon, permanecía en Gran Bretaña durante su viaje.
FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSLATOR
Lack of division into paragraphs. The translator makes its job as a block. The original text was divided into lines or small paragraphs but the translated versions is translated together.
Problems with the Saxon genitive. This translator is unable to translate the saxon genitive which is typical of English language in to Spanish. As a consequence, the text has not translated the following expression right: “some of the Spanish city’s nightlife”. The result has been “el capital parque más grande de s- el Retiro”.
Inappropriate translation of verbs. This translator has not done a good job because it has translated “she was spotted with a bottle of champagne in her bag” which mean that “she was observed or seen while she had a bottle in her bag as “ donde la mancharon con una botella de champán” which means “to get dirty”
False friends. The same as Google Translate and Reverso translator has not made a good translation of some words like the adjective “eligible”. In English, the sense of the adjective eligible is ”somebody wealthy”, “a good person to marry with” . However, “eligible” in Spanish means “somebody who can be chosen”.
Lack of translations of certain words. The translator does not work with certain words as “the next day” which should be translated as “el próximo día” o “flatmates” as “compañeros de piso”.
TRANSLATED VERSION
SONETO 18 Compararé thee a un summer’ ¿día de s? Arte de mil más encantador y más templado: Los vientos ásperos sacuden los brotes queridos de mayo, Y summer’ hath del arriendo de s toda la fecha demasiado corta: Alguna vez demasiado caliente el ojo del cielo brilla, Y está a menudo su tez dimm’ del oro; d; Y cada feria de la feria de declinaciones alguna vez, Por casualidad o nature’ curso cambiante untrimm’ de s; d; Pero thy verano eterno no se descolorará Ni pierda la posesión de ese mil justo más owest; Ni mil wander’ del brag de la muerte; st en su cortina, cuando en las líneas eternas para medir el tiempo de mil más growest: Siempre y cuando los hombres pueden respirar o los ojos pueden ver, Tan las largas vidas esto y éste da vida al thee.
FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSLATOR
Problems with the Saxon genitive. Again as in the previous example “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” as “Compararé thee a un summer ¿Día de s?.
Personal Pronouns: Contrary to Google translate which has been able to translate pronouns from other century, Reverso has not translated personal pronouns. For instance, “thee” which means “you” in modern English, “thou” and “thy”
Confusion of word categories. This translator has a problem with the translation of archaic forms like the verb “art” which in the 16th century was used as the 2nd person singular/plural in “Thou art more lovely and more temperate” because it has been translated as the noun “arte” in “Arte de mil encantador”
I have done an slideshare presentation with images which explains better my analysis:
IN CONCLUSION
Although, I am not an expert in the field of translations I think the three translators I have mentioned before offer great advantages and disadvantages. Undoubtedly, each of the translators is an automatic linguistic tool so we assume that they will probably be imperfect. As we have seen in the examples of the review, all of them show a lot of mistakes which can only be improved by the human brain. The object of our analysis, that is Google Translate, makes a lot of mistakes because it does not apply grammatical rules and change words which seem to be equivalent but they have a different meaning. However, if I had to choose one of the translators we have talked about, I think Google translator is the best. Basically, because the translation which offers can be understood as the mistakes made do not prevent from catch the general meaning. We have analysed both texts and the majority of problematic errors appeared in Yahoo Babel Fish and Reverso. These kinds of errors have made almost impossible for a person who does not have a sound knowledge of English to understand the version which came from the original text. This review shows why I have to this conclusion, with all the examples I have used
SOURCES
- Google Translate. (2011, May 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:37,May 20, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Translate
- Magazine Hello. (2011, May 20). Retrieved 18:37,May 20, 2011 from http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/201105165411/pippa-middleton-madrid-george-percy/1
- Reverso Traductor Online. (2011, May 20). Retrieved 18:37,May 20, 2011 from http://www.reverso.net/text_translation.aspx?lang=ES
- Shakespeare Online. (2011, May 20). Retrieved 18:37, May 20, 2011 from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18.html
- Yahoo Babel Fish. (2011, May 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Enyclopedia. Retrieved 18:37,May 20, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_Babel_Fish
Deusto Reviewer on Language Resources 
