Why do people still use these useless on-line translation services when it's obvious they don't work?

Question

They are OK for single words but for phrases, sentences and paragraphs they're useless.

Try this...

1) Type in a simple sentence in English like

"I get fatter every day."

2) Translate it into, say Portuguese (or a language of your choice).

3) Copy the answer down then translate that answer back into English.

What result did you get?

Was it what you originally typed in?

Did it even make sense?

Try different languages and compare the results...

Tell us your findings.

If a simple phrase like this is beyond them imagine the gobbledygook you'll get when you try to translate a whole paragraph, especially one containing homonyms like grave, can,bank pupil,broke..

" As I walked along the bank of the river to my father's grave I saw a tramp whose pupils were dilated. 'Can I have some cash for a can of beer?' he asked.'No', I said, 'it could have grave consequences for you, besides, I have to get some from the bank, I'm broke'."

If anyone can be bothered to translate this into another language and then back again the results could be interesting?

What's the point of on-line translators if they're so incompetent?

Why do people still use them and recommend them?

Answer 1

because they are better than nothing and perfectly acceptable for simple words and getting the basic meaning of short sentences.

they are not intended for translating war and peace and preserving all the nuances and contexts

Answer 2

They are free.  

Answer 3

I have never used on-line translators before.

And never use forever.

Answer 4

I tried this with Italian and Chinese, using the so-called babel fish; the results are really quite amusing.

"I get fatter every day" becomes

"Ottengo giornaliere più grasso" which translates back to:

"I obtain every day more fat person"

In Chinese I get:

我每天胖。which translates back to:

"I am every day fat."

With an extended text, we see quite how useless these things really are:

"As I walked along the bank of the river to my father's grave I saw a tramp whose pupils were dilated. 'Can I have some cash for a can of beer?' he asked.'No', I said, 'it could have grave consequences for you, besides, I have to get some from the bank, I'm broke'."

becomes in Italian:

"Come ho camminato lungo la banca del fiume al mio father' tomba di s ho veduto un vagabondo di cui le pupille sono state dilatate. ' Posso avere certi contanti per una latta della birra? ' lui asked.' No' , Ho detto, ' potrebbe avergli conseguenze gravi per, inoltre, devo ottenere alcuno dalla banca, I' m. broke'"

which translates back to:

"As I have walked along the bank of the river to mine father' tomba of s I have seen a wanderer of which the pupille they have been expanded. ' I can have sure cash for latta of the beer? ' he asked.' No' , I have said, ' it could avergli serious consequences for, moreover, I must obtain some from the bank, I' m. broke'"

In Chinese, we get:

我沿河的河岸走了到我的father' s墳墓我看見了學生膨脹的流浪者。 ' 我可以有一個罐頭的一些現金啤酒？' 他asked.' No' 我說， ' 它可能有您的严重后果，其外，我必須從銀行得到一些， I' m broke'。

which translates back to:

"My river bank along the river walked to mine father' the s grave I saw the hobo who the student inflates. ' I may have canned food some cash beer? ' His asked.' No' I said that ' It possibly has your serious results, besides, I must obtain some from the bank, I' m broke' ."

Enough said!

Answer 5

They're only dictionaries, not meant for translating entire pages. You need either specialised CAT software for that, which is very expensive, or a skilled translator, which you can find through translation networking sites like acquarious.net or proz.com.  

Answer 6

I can understand ur frustration.

I'm a student who is currently learning Japanese. At the start of learning the langauge, I tend to rely on on-line translator to learn words and the more I use the more I realized its programming fault and its gibberish wordings that makes nonsense to those who understand.

There are still many people who still use them - either have no one to advice them not to or use them with precaution (like me). I only translate word for word and double check with friends who understand Japanese to make sure I got the correct term (pretty embarrassing if you got the wrong phrases which you think is correct).

As for people who simply post on-line translator phrases on Yahoo answers and such forum, they are simply users who want to earn the puny 2pointers.

Forgive the ignorance and childish behavior of the puny 2pointers earners.

However, there are truly people who can understand the language which you are seeking for and can give you good advice. Those people who help with goodwill and not for the puny 2 pointers are the TRUE TREASURE of this community. Cherish them =)

Last but not latest, have fun in this community while helping or learning another language =)