Scrambling to finish our Spanish before class starts, scratching our head at a convoluted paragraph-sentence, or even double-checking those multilingual"I love you" posts on Tumblr - we've all been there, hoping that Google Translate (GT) will provide a quick solution.
And it does provide something, but I doubt you could call it a solution.
Google Translate is a tool, not a translator. And in order to learn your language with a machine translation, you have to understand how it works best.
1. Realize GT is a guide, not a dictionary - First, understand that GT will not necessarily give you a real translation for a word or phrase. Sometimes you'll get synonyms, which may not be quite what you're looking for. Sometimes, you'll get a word that technically means the same thing, but the context in your target language (TL) is completely different. If you're translating into your mother tongue, you can wiggle around until you find the right translation, but if you don't know the context in your TL, you'll end up with a lot of mistakes.
2. Don't use GT as a beginner - It's more useful if you're at least at the intermediate level. By this time, you'll have a better grasp of grammar, and you'll be more likely to catch any mistakes. You'll also be able to recognize a larger vocabulary, which makes weeding out your options easier.
3. Don't use full sentences - Using words or short phrases will most likely increase the chance you'll find what you need. The problem of context comes in with larger chunks of text, and it will come out as an awkward literal translation, rather than something that's actually useful.
4. Reverse translation cannot be trusted - This goes into GT's issue with context. Even when translating into your native tongue, there's a good chance that idioms and long sentences will become convoluted and literal. If you just assume whatever it gives you is correct, and just fix the flow of the sentence, you run the risk of mistranslating the entire idea.
5. Cross-reference with the internet - If you don't recognize a lot of the options GT is giving you, taking a moment to step back and google the terms, especially if you're translating into the TL. See what context it might be used in, or if any online dictionaries come up with something different. This can save you a lot of headache later, while also giving you more exposure to the language.
Using GT isn't necessarily bad - dictionaries aren't always correct, either. But it's important to use tools wisely, even if it takes more time. These procedures can make all the difference - not only in what you turn in for class, but also what you retain.
And it does provide something, but I doubt you could call it a solution.
Google Translate is a tool, not a translator. And in order to learn your language with a machine translation, you have to understand how it works best.
1. Realize GT is a guide, not a dictionary - First, understand that GT will not necessarily give you a real translation for a word or phrase. Sometimes you'll get synonyms, which may not be quite what you're looking for. Sometimes, you'll get a word that technically means the same thing, but the context in your target language (TL) is completely different. If you're translating into your mother tongue, you can wiggle around until you find the right translation, but if you don't know the context in your TL, you'll end up with a lot of mistakes.
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| Idioms are one of the most difficult items to translate...and it may be best to cross-reference! |
2. Don't use GT as a beginner - It's more useful if you're at least at the intermediate level. By this time, you'll have a better grasp of grammar, and you'll be more likely to catch any mistakes. You'll also be able to recognize a larger vocabulary, which makes weeding out your options easier.
3. Don't use full sentences - Using words or short phrases will most likely increase the chance you'll find what you need. The problem of context comes in with larger chunks of text, and it will come out as an awkward literal translation, rather than something that's actually useful.
4. Reverse translation cannot be trusted - This goes into GT's issue with context. Even when translating into your native tongue, there's a good chance that idioms and long sentences will become convoluted and literal. If you just assume whatever it gives you is correct, and just fix the flow of the sentence, you run the risk of mistranslating the entire idea.
5. Cross-reference with the internet - If you don't recognize a lot of the options GT is giving you, taking a moment to step back and google the terms, especially if you're translating into the TL. See what context it might be used in, or if any online dictionaries come up with something different. This can save you a lot of headache later, while also giving you more exposure to the language.
Using GT isn't necessarily bad - dictionaries aren't always correct, either. But it's important to use tools wisely, even if it takes more time. These procedures can make all the difference - not only in what you turn in for class, but also what you retain.
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