Two errors in translation to and from French

Question

As it happens, within the last 24 hours I've come across two errors in online translation. The first was in the English-French dictionary at

where (sic) is translated as , that is, pound cake.
The second was in the French to English translation of , which is is translated by Google Translate at

t
as . The word by itself is translated as .

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]The second was in the French to English translation of , which is is translated by Google Translate at http://translate.google.com/translate t as . The word by itself is translated as .[/nq]
The programmer seems ****-bent on justifying the bad rep of machine translation. To ***** it up that bad, faut le faire expr=E8s. Only other possible explanation would be a formula that automatically replaces all -eur endings with -or. To do that, too, one has to be ******** up on purpose.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]As it happens, within the last 24 hours I've come across two errors in online translation. The first was in the English-French dictionary at http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/cup%20cake[/nq]
How strange: I've just come from there myself. A useful site but hopeless on Internet-related stuff. (Post, poster, newsgroup, lurker.) The very words online translators usually CAN do.
Ritsu

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The second was in the French to English translation of ... roll>. The word by itself is translated as .[/nq]
[nq:1]The programmer seems ****-bent on justifying the bad rep of machine translation. To ***** it up that bad, faut le ... that automatically replaces all -eur endings with -or. To do that, too, one has to be ******** up on purpose.[/nq]
I would not rely on Google Translate for anything other than a rough guide to non-specialised language in mainstream dialects. My favourite test for translation programs is "Tafelspitz mit ErdÃ¤pfel". Tafelspitz is a Viennese recipe for certain cuts of beef and is normally translated as "soured boiled rump". ErdÃ¤pfel is "Austrian" for potatoes (analogous to "pommes de terre" in French, BTW). Up to now Google Translate has insisted on serving me "board-pointedly with earth apples".

Les

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I would not rely on Google Translate for anything other than a rough guide to non-specialised language in mainstream dialects. My favourite test for translation programs is "Tafelspitz mit Erd=E4pfel"..=2E. Up to now Google Translate has insisted on serving me "board-pointedly with earth apples".[/nq]
I wouldn't rely on it for anything other than more or less entertaining tidbits. Very far from being a rough guide to anything.

The Tafelspitz seems to have passed the test very well: Program not baffled by unusual combinations; correctly assigned "spitz" function to adverbial because it's the only form that would normally appear without an ending in a sentence. A surprising performance.

With a classical test, it doesn't look too bad either:

colorless green ideas sleep furiously

farblose gr=FCne Ideen schlafen w=FCtend
les id=E9es vertes sans couleur dorment furieusement le idee verdi incolori dormono furiously
las ideas verdes descoloridas duermen furiosamente

One dictionary gap in Italian. The 50% judgment call on definite or partitive cannot be called an error. The French phrase instead of "incolore" suggest some sophistication.
Where the dictionary system shows its problems is in back translation. Only German is OK and fits one by one. It was a surprise to see that the dictionary is not 2-ways. Also the program doesn't bother to adapt the unknown words to the English absence of number/gender accord. Suggests that it all really depends on language knowledge of the designer for each pair, and that the into English designer is devoid of such knowledge.
colorless green ideas sleep furiously
les id=E9es width unit sans couleur dorment furieusement the ideas incolori greens sleep furiously
the descoloridas green ideas sleep furiously

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I would not rely on Google Translate for anything other ... My favourite test f=or translation programs is "Tafelspitz mit Erd=E4pfel".[/nq]
[nq:2]Up to now Google Translate has insisted on serving me "board-pointedly with earth apples".[/nq]
[nq:1]I wouldn't rely on it for anything other than more or less entertaining tidbits. Very far from being a rough ... les id=E9es width unit sans couleur dorment furieusement the ideas incolori greens sleep furiously the descoloridas green ideas sleep furiously[/nq]
It's interesting to see how Google's French-to-English translator treats the verb "comprendre":
"Je comprends le fran=E7ais." is translated as "I include/understand French."

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA=20
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]It's interesting to see how Google's French-to-English translator treats the verb "comprendre": "Je comprends le fran=E7ais." is translated as "I include/understand French."[/nq]
Good. Some of these robots that offer all alternative terms, to be selected by single click, are on their way to becoming helpful to translators to get a first draft with the technical terms etc. Otherwise still totally useless to those who don't already know the language. Also note that it was aware of "le fran=E7ais" =3D French.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]It's interesting to see how Google's French-to-English translator treats the verb "comprendre": "Je comprends le français." is translated as "I include/understand French."[/nq]
I wish they offered alternative senses more often, as an option at least.

Systran also renders "Je comprends le français" as "I include/understand French." I wonder if Google might use the same engine but they don't display the "Powered by Systran" logo that Alta Vista's and Apple's implementations do.
I've noticed an amusing problem with the English "used ... to" vs "used to" translating the former into French as if it were the latter. It crops up quite often, e.g. in disclaimers at the close of a message: "Désolé, j'avais l'habitude Google pour traduire ceci." Systran does the same: "Désolé, j'avais l'habitude des poissons de Babel pour traduire ceci." (JFTR the input text was "Sorry, I used {Google/Babel Fish} to translate this.")

Odysseus

Two errors in translation to and from French

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