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Question - Translators
Ok, so I know this really isn't a really language question. Maybe it is.. I'm not sure..
Anyways. I've heard that when reading something Japanese, never use an online translator. Someone told me that they are very wrong most of the time, and completely confusing. Is this true? How bad are online translators when dealing with something Japanese? |
You heard it right. On-Line translators are almost useless if not completely so. Just try copying a passage from a Japanese website and put it through one and see if the result in English makes much sense to you.
Only very short and grammatically correct sentences using absolutely no colloquial or slang expressions will be translated pretty well....if you're lucky. Forget about J-rock lyrics or e-mail letters from Japanese friends. |
they basically just translate the words it has within it's dictionary to the english equivalent, where there can actually be more than one. the grammar is always a mess. it might help you to have some idea what it is about but automatic translators are never any good.
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It's thanks to online translators (or we call "machine translation") that I can make a living being a paid, human translator.
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One problem with online translators is that they never, ever, ask for context.
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If you understand grammar fairly well and it's just the vocab and kanji that are a problem, use Jim Breen's Translator to translate big groups of words in to English. It keeps the sentence structure and gives you definitions for all the words. I find it really helpful.
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I sometimes used Babelfish to give me a quick sense of a passage when I started translating. It is of minimal value overall though.
Jim Breen's "translate words" is pretty much essential as is the dictionary. ALC is also good for checking grammar. |
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