“Why not use automation to translate simple documents?” Technology and the Internet offer excellent tools and resources to translators - Google Toolbar even translates individual words as you draw the mouse pointer over them. But a real translation … one that accurately conveys in another language the true meaning of your original foreign document? To get that you still need a human brain to process the meaning and express it faithfully and fluently, avoiding the pitfalls that even the smartest computer system cannot avoid. Look at a couple of "test samples" from one of the most popular Internet automatic translation engines: |
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English “The pectin preservative in jelly is obtained usually from apple pulp.” Auto French Translation « Le préservatif de pectine en gelée est obtenu habituellement à partir de la pulpe de pomme. » Back to “English” via computer “The pectin condom in frost is usually obtained starting from the apple pulp.” English “The board of directors told the managers they could forget about a Christmas bonus that year.” Auto French Translation « Les directeurs de conseil ont dit les directeurs qu'ils pourraient oublier une bonification de Noël qui année » Back to “English” via computer “The directors of council said the directors* whom they could forget an allowance of Christmas who year” |
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