Computers are not as good at Translating Foreign Languages as Humans
As soon as the earliest computer was created, developers have labored hard to produce top quality language translation software programs. The aim was to get rid of the normal communications hurdle that language presents, and make it no longer essential to utilize interpreters. Regrettably, the outcome of these endeavors even now leave a lot to be desired, and lots of people today question why that is.
Languages
Languages by their very nature have intricate structures. Any person who has tried to learn a foreign language is fully aware that it is not just a matter of learning the words that make up the language. Words have to be combined into phrases and sentences. Many words cannot be simply translated into another language, and the same thing applies to sentences. Learning the meanings of specific words is difficult enough, and the difficulty is compounded by the need to assemble the words into a meaningful sentence.
Context
The same word might have a variety of definitions, and the interpretation depends on the complete phrase along with the context in which it is utilized. This is an exceptionally complicated issue for software engineers to handle. The issue is particularly severe with languages, such as English, that are abundant in colloquial and slang phrases. The result is that applications often produce translations that happen to be baffling and even incomprehensible. The issue is made even worse once you consider that words in a language could have a completely different interpretation when utilized in another region that speaks the same language. For instance, the Spanish word "coche" has a different meaning in the south of Spain, where it refers to a car, than it does in parts of South America., where it means a bus or coach. You can see the problems a business might have if it intended to do a transaction for a car, and the individual who read it thought the transaction was for a bus.
Purpose of the Translation
Even though computer produced translations have several weaknesses, you will find situations when they may be satisfactory for what individuals want. It is all down to the reason that the translation is needed.
Personal or Casual
Use An online translation program may be sufficient if you are translating a web page or a document just to get some idea of what the content is saying. You can use free services like Google's Translator. The translated text is unlikely to be perfect, but it will often be good enough to let you understand the text.
Business
Whenever the translation is needed for commercial reasons, simply having a sense of what is being stated is just not sufficient. A company communicating with clients, vendors or manufacturers who talk another language will need a degree of translation precision that computerized solutions are not able to produce.
Test a Computer Translator
You can obtain a very clear understanding of the weak points of web based translators by performing some basic assessment. Open up an online translation application and key in a fairly basic phrase that includes no strange words. Key in something similar to "why don't we get back to basics" and convert it from English to French. Then, copy the translation the online translation software produced and convert it back into its original language. The odds are that you won't end up getting the original phrase. One particular translation tool translates it back into the English as "why do not we go back to basics." While this is not a completely different meaning to the original phrase, it is grammatically incorrect.
Conclusion
While computer translators are becoming more sophisticated all the time, they are still unable to translate from one language to another with 100% accuracy. Who knows, there may come a time when they will be able to do that. Right now, the fact is that human translators are far better than automated translators. When accurate translations are required, it is still necessary to employ people to do those translations. Only people have the skill and the knowledge to translate text so that the meaning and the context remain unaltered.
As soon as the earliest computer was created, developers have labored hard to produce top quality language translation software programs. The aim was to get rid of the normal communications hurdle that language presents, and make it no longer essential to utilize interpreters. Regrettably, the outcome of these endeavors even now leave a lot to be desired, and lots of people today question why that is.
Languages
Languages by their very nature have intricate structures. Any person who has tried to learn a foreign language is fully aware that it is not just a matter of learning the words that make up the language. Words have to be combined into phrases and sentences. Many words cannot be simply translated into another language, and the same thing applies to sentences. Learning the meanings of specific words is difficult enough, and the difficulty is compounded by the need to assemble the words into a meaningful sentence.
Context
The same word might have a variety of definitions, and the interpretation depends on the complete phrase along with the context in which it is utilized. This is an exceptionally complicated issue for software engineers to handle. The issue is particularly severe with languages, such as English, that are abundant in colloquial and slang phrases. The result is that applications often produce translations that happen to be baffling and even incomprehensible. The issue is made even worse once you consider that words in a language could have a completely different interpretation when utilized in another region that speaks the same language. For instance, the Spanish word "coche" has a different meaning in the south of Spain, where it refers to a car, than it does in parts of South America., where it means a bus or coach. You can see the problems a business might have if it intended to do a transaction for a car, and the individual who read it thought the transaction was for a bus.
Purpose of the Translation
Even though computer produced translations have several weaknesses, you will find situations when they may be satisfactory for what individuals want. It is all down to the reason that the translation is needed.
Personal or Casual
Use An online translation program may be sufficient if you are translating a web page or a document just to get some idea of what the content is saying. You can use free services like Google's Translator. The translated text is unlikely to be perfect, but it will often be good enough to let you understand the text.
Business
Whenever the translation is needed for commercial reasons, simply having a sense of what is being stated is just not sufficient. A company communicating with clients, vendors or manufacturers who talk another language will need a degree of translation precision that computerized solutions are not able to produce.
Test a Computer Translator
You can obtain a very clear understanding of the weak points of web based translators by performing some basic assessment. Open up an online translation application and key in a fairly basic phrase that includes no strange words. Key in something similar to "why don't we get back to basics" and convert it from English to French. Then, copy the translation the online translation software produced and convert it back into its original language. The odds are that you won't end up getting the original phrase. One particular translation tool translates it back into the English as "why do not we go back to basics." While this is not a completely different meaning to the original phrase, it is grammatically incorrect.
Conclusion
While computer translators are becoming more sophisticated all the time, they are still unable to translate from one language to another with 100% accuracy. Who knows, there may come a time when they will be able to do that. Right now, the fact is that human translators are far better than automated translators. When accurate translations are required, it is still necessary to employ people to do those translations. Only people have the skill and the knowledge to translate text so that the meaning and the context remain unaltered.
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