Google Translate has added Belorussian, yet another language from the former Soviet Union, to its stable of languages. This brings the total number of languages that it can translate to 51, a number which includes all 23 official languages within the EU, as well as 6 of the former Soviet languages – Russian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Estonian, Lativian and Lithuanian.
On their blog, Google do note that, because Belarussian is newly added to their stable, some of the translations may be a little rough at first, but they promise that over time, the translations will improve. I think a large part of this improvement usually comes from user suggestions, so if you feel like giving Google a hand, head over to their site now and give it a try.
I’ve been really impressed with the way that machine translation has improved over the past few years – it’s still far from perfect, but the translations usually seem to make sense these days. I’m actually considering whether it would be worth adding an automatic translator to Siberian Light. What do you think? Has anyone had any experience of adding a translation plugin to a blog? Are there any that you would recommend.
Finally, for fun, I thought I’d see how the Russian and Belarussian translators dealt with this article. First the Russian translation:
Google Translate ??????? ???????????, ??? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?????????? ?????, ?? ?????????? ?????. ????? ???????, ????? ????? ?????, ??? ????? ????????? ?? 51, ?????, ??????? ???????? ? ???? ??? 23 ??????????? ????? ? ?????? ??, ? ????? 6 ?????? ????????? ????? – ???????, ??????????, ???????????, ?????????, Lativian ? ????????? ??????.
?? ????? ?????, Google ????????, ??? ??????, ?????? ??? ??????????? ???????? ??????? ??????????? ?? ?? ??????????, ????????? ?? ????????? ????? ???? ??????? ?????? ???????, ?? ??? ???????, ??? ? ???????? ???????, ???????? ????? ??????????. ? ?????, ??? ??????? ????? ????? ????????? ?????? ????????? ?? ????????????? ???????????, ??????? ???? ?? ?????? ???? Google ???????, ??????? ?? ?? ???? ? ????? ???????????.
? ??? ????????????? ????????? ???, ??? ??? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ?? ????????? ????????? ??? – ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????????????, ?? ???????? ?????? ???????, ?????? ? ??? ???. ? ????????????? ????????????? ?????? ?????? ?? ???????? ?????????????? ?????????? Siberian Light. ??? ?? ???????? ???-?????? ???? ????? ?????????? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????? ?????????? ??, ??? ?? ?? ?? ????????????.
???????, ??? ????????????, ? ????? ??????????, ??? ??????? ? ??????????? ?????????? ??????????????? ? ???? ???????.
And, second, the Belarussian translation:
Google Translate ????? ?????????, ???? ????? ???? ? ?????? ????????? ?????, ?? ?????????? ????. ????? ?????, ???????? ????????? ????, ??? ????? ????????? ?? 51, ???, ???? ??????? ? ???? ??? 23 ????????? ???? ? ?????? ??, ? ??????? 6 ????? ???????? ???? – ??????, ??????????, ?????????, ?????????, Lativian ? ????????? ?????.
?? ????? ?????, Google ??????????, ??? ??????, ???? ??? ????????? ?’???????? ??????? ??????? ?? ?? ?????????, ????????? ? ?????????? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ?????????, ??? ??? ????????, ??? ? ????? ????, ????????? ?????? ??????????. ? ?????, ??? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ?????????? ?? ?????????????? ????????? ???? ???? ?????? ???? Google ????, ????????? ?? ???? ? ?????? ????????????.
? ??? ???????? ??????? ???, ?? ????? ?????? ????????? ??????????? ?? ??????? ???????? ????? – ???? ???? ?????? ?? ????????????, ??? ????????? ???????? ???????, ????? ? ????? ???. ? ???????? ????????? ??????? ????? ???? ? ?????? ??????????? ??????????? Siberian Light. ??? ?? ???????? ??????? ??? ?????? ??????????? ????????? ??????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??, ??? ?? ? ?? ????????????.
???????, ??? ?????????????, ? ??????? ??????????, ?? ?????? ? ????????? ??????????? ??????????? ? ????? ?????????.
What do you think?
{ 10 comments }
Pathetic! For years I’ve been watching the automated translators. Thet are still what they have been: useless attempts to replace a living person.
I am completely bi-lingual (Russian, then English), with Ukrainian being the distant third. The Russian article translation is VERY rough. You would not want it in your blog, not if you are expecting intelligent readers visiting it. I suspect, Belorussian translation being even worse. Yes, you can get it automatically translated if you are trying to get a very simple point across, like explosion on hydro-electric station or any other pure factoid. But people mostly come to blogs for more than that. I personally get immediately turned off if a web site offers a multi-lingual option using automated translation. Even if the main language version is very appealing, I quit using it, feeling disrespected by a cheap offer.
Best regards.
I don’t subscribe to Alex’s views, hence my inclusion of a WP translation plugin on my site called Global Translator from N2H. I think it’s a very useful thing to have on a site, especially one which has international visitors, not all of whom may have a good understanding of English. I personally know one who doesn’t understand the English on my site, but reads the machine-translated Russian instead. I fail to see how by doing so I am “disrespecting” my other readers.
Though machine translation remains sub-par for most purposes, the improvements are rapid and impressive. At the pace it is going, I expect to see highly competent machine translations within another decade, concurrently with the emergence of a “semantic web”.
I think this is hilarious. I clicked on your site, I got a Google message that your page is in Russian, was prompted to translate it and got this:
Google Translate ????? Belarusian, yet in ????? ???? W byloga Savetskaga Sayuza, H ?????????? Language Society. ????? chynam, Orthodox kolkasts Language Society, INTO ????? ????????? yes 51, ???, yakoe ??????? ® syabe ??? 23 ????????? Language Society ® within the EU and ??????? 6 old ???????? Language Society – Ruska, ??????????, Belarusian, Estonian, Lativian i ????????? movah.
At ????? blog, Google adznachayuts, INTO else could we do, why we have that the Belarusian ?’???????? ??????? dadanyya at ix ?????????, nekatoryya W ?????????? could be the rough ????? napachatku, However, they abyatsayuts, INTO W tsyagam hour, will unfurl ????????? palyapshatstsa. I think that the big chastka getaga palyapshennya zvichayniy pastupayuts hell ?????????????? prapanovy Tamu ???? Hochatse Dats Google side, navedaytse ix site i daduts pasprabavats.
I ??? ???????? urazhany tym, jak needs this Machinery List ????????? palepshylasya in the recent ???????? ????? – It is far yet in hell ????????????, Ale ????????? zvichayniy likely to stay, Sins ® getyya dni. I ???????? razglyadae ??????? varta was used dadats ??????????? perakladchyk Siberian Light. INTO you think? ??????? ??? vopytu razmyashchennya ????????? ??????? for the blog? ??????? ??, INTO you were not ????????????.
??????? for zadavalnennya I ??????? paglyadzets, jak i Ruska Belarusian perakladchyk razglyadatstsa s article of geta.
Fun stuff, they just invented a new language. Too bad they can’t recognize Belarussian and translate it.
On a serious note, I find Google translate is an improvement over its predecessors, which sent me packing to do it all myself when I’d look at the results. Google translate is quite helpful for languages you don’t know at all and, for me, is a cheat sheet for those I do. They are not meant, I don’t think, to be quality professional translations, but rough estimations which are either better than nothing or a rough draft that must be finessed. I guess it all depends on if you are just trying to understand something, or are looking for a polished work.
It’s easy to complain about the quality, but I think online translation programs are one of those small Internet miracles. The language barrier is now a picket fence where it used to be a brick wall.
Alex, did you ever read any of Kommersant’s old articles that had been translated into English? The translations verged on the comical. I suspect most translations are awkward on some level for the native speaker to read.
I’ve noticed an increase in the of people reading articles on Siberian Light via Google Translate, so there is definitely a market out there for this. Even though, as you say, the translations are rough at the moment.
One for me to think about…
I agree with Alex. Translation is my job, and I have sometimes used online translators as an experiment to see if it makes my job easier. Usually, it makes it more aggravating. In addition to the obvious errors and misreadings, automated translation destroys the continuity of a text, so there is no sense of flow from one idea to another; you wind up having to rewrite it to get a coherent whole. I only find it useful for 2 things: 1) getting a rough idea of what something says; 2) as a source of howlers.
?? ?????. ???? ???????, ????? ???? ????? ???? ??????. ? ??? ?? ????? ????????? ????????? ??? ????????. ?????? ??????? ? ??????????? ?? ??????? ??? ?? ??????, ????? ????? ?????? ???? ? ?????.
According to Google, I said: Is not necessary. Who wants to let them through Google read. And so very ugly look of these transfers. But translated from Ukrainian to Russian as if nothing good speaker close to each other.
As other interpreters/translators, I personally do not think machine translation is anywhere near being capable of replacing a real trained human. It will replace lots of those that claim to be translators but offer nothing but word for word rendering. I just found this gem on a Russian translation company’s web site. Describing simultaneous interpretation, they write: “interpreter is in isolated cabin”. Those that know Russian can easily discern what the original was. That was not done by a machine.
Anybody knows how machine translators work – by words or do they actually have some artificial AI that looks for meaning? To me, one of the fundamental principles of good translation/interpretation is never translate words, only meaning.
Yeah, the translation falls flat on its face when Google mistranslates “stable” in the first sentence, using the meaning of the adjectival form of the word. It’s definitely not perfect, but it would nonetheless be worth adding a translator. I sometimes include Russian-language tags in my posts at EagleandtheBear.wordpress.com, and whenever I do, I see a sharp surge in traffic from Russian-speakers, many of whom have far from flawless English. A translation plug-in would give them at least a rough idea of what’s going on at the parts they don’t understand (sometimes their comments indicate serious miscommunication). As a matter of fact, I’m going to think about adding a translation plug-in myself …
Automated translation works using “machine logic”
Do not think any automated translation service would be able to provide accuracy in the near years.
But there is definitely big progress.
The TechScribe websites use Google Translate. Sometimes, translations are not good. However, the translations are sufficiently good to be useful.
For an evaluation of the fluency and the accuracy of machine translation into Spanish, see http://www.international-english.co.uk/mt-evaluation-en-es.html.
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