Why you shouldn’t rely 100% on machine translators

Online machine translators translate word for word most of the time. And if you’ve ever taken a language course, you know that sentence structure differs from language to language, therefore word-for-word translations are rarely correct. While they may be able to translate “green apple” to “green apple” correctly, they fall short if the translations get a bit more complicated. Take a look at this translation from Spanish to English of a segment of a children’s story:

Originally written in Spanish:

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Natalie. She was only three years old, and everyone who saw her fell in love with her. One day, her affectionate mother took her shopping to buy her some new pajamas. However, while they were in the store, Natalie saw her true love of hers, a doll! She did not let her mother buy her new pajamas, saying that she already had some of hers at her grandmother’s house.

Machine translation into English:

Once upon a time there was a very little girl named Natalia. Only he was three years old, and everyone saw that he fell in love with her. One day, her mother lovingly took her shopping to buy her new pajamas. However, while they were in the store, Natalie saw her true love, a doll! She did not let her mother buy her new pajamas, saying that she already had them at her grandmother’s house.

Human translation into English:

Once upon a time there was a girl named Natalia. She was barely three years old and everyone who saw her fell in love with her. One day, her beloved mother took her shopping for a new pair of pajamas. However, while she was in the store, Natalie saw her true love, a baby doll! She refused to let her mother buy her new pajamas, stating that she already had pajamas at Mimi’s.

So you can see in the translation of this short children’s story that the automatic translator bombarded his task as a good translator. I might add that I used one of the best known and used online automatic translators. I won’t say which one because I don’t want to ruin anyone’s business, but this one is on the first page of Google when you search for a translator online. So, in other words, it’s really “reliable”.

You may be thinking that automatic translators work better from English to another language and not the other way around. Let’s look at an example of a business email originally written in English and translated into Spanish using a popular online machine translator.

Originally written in English:

Dear Mr. White,

I am sending you an email regarding your daughter’s grade in her Spanish class. She has always gotten low grades on all of her homework and tests. I recommend that she stay after school for at least an hour, three days a week to meet with a Spanish tutor. I feel this is necessary for her to have a chance to pass this course.

Best regards,

family barns

Assistant Principal at Jordan High

Automatic translation into Spanish:

Dear Mr. White,

I am emailing you reference to your daughter’s grade in her Spanish class. She has consistently scored a low on all of her tests and preparation. Recommending that she stay after school for at least one hour three days a week to meet with a Spanish tutor. I feel that this is necessary for her to have a chance in passing this course.

memories,

Amilia’s Barns

Jordan High School Vice Principal

Human translation into Spanish:

Dear Mr. White,

The email regarding his daughter’s grade in her Spanish class. She has consistently scored low on all homework and tests. I recommend that she stay after school for at least an hour, three days a week to meet with a private Spanish teacher. I think it is necessary for her to have a chance to pass this course.

Sincerely,

family barn

Jordan High School Assistant Principal

If you are using an automatic translator for school or business, you really should reconsider. Using an automatic translator can negatively affect your grade and income! If you’re trying to communicate with foreign customers using an automatic translator, maybe now you know why they didn’t respond or were as confused as ever!