Can Translation Services be trusted?

[Ucy]

Imagine you give one of your Bitcointalk posts to a Translator to translate into a foreign Language you don't understand, and after translating, you take back the original post and ask the Translator to translate the translated post back to the language it was translated from... he/she translates it back but it turn out very different from the original post. Example:
You get a translator to translate the short post below into a foreign language I called "Kir":

- Original post:   "The cat needs something to eat. I'm going to get Linda to feed her."

- Post translated to Kir language:  Ta' kir ilum ko wol sucrum cim sin Linde dum melwzua

- Translated post translated back to English: "The cat was hungry and she ate Linda"



That^ is similar to what I discovered about a translation service I often rely on... though I never really trusted it 100%. It basically misinterpreted the true meaning of the original post. That could create misunderstanding, cause problems, plus other consequences

[boyptc]

The translation is funny, that must be from google translate. Upon availing of translation services, you should only ask those people who are living in a native language and have probably good to best English language.

In that standard, you'll be fleeing from those people that seem to offer translation services but are only getting translations from automated software like Google translate freely.

[Renampun]

I think the translation software or site only provides 80% grammar accuracy...
sometimes the language that is formed when we try the translator site/software is not right at all but it really helps me every day. I am actively using a translator so that I can make posts here. otherwise, it will be very difficult for me to write in English as it is today.

[BADecker]

Do cats wash their food before they eat it?     

[cabron]

But how did you translate it back to English? If you use google translate then certainly its not the way to check whether its translated properly. The best way I think is to hire another Kir speaker to see whether its real. Google translate can't be trusted.  There are languages that have a different way of saying it that google translate will simplify it to its worse structure.

[Ucy]

The translation is funny, that must be from google translate. Upon availing of translation services, you should only ask those people who are living in a native language and have probably good to best English language.

In that standard, you'll be fleeing from those people that seem to offer translation services but are only getting translations from automated software like Google translate freely.

The bolded actually what I'm planning to do.

I'm also considering getting multiple human translators to translate thesame post/writeup in order to compare them for consistency. Alternatively, I will get another person to retranslate a translated post back to the original language it was translated from to see how correct and reliable it is.

[bitterguy28]

That is why we have those legit and trusted translator in this forum , Look at the bounty managers , they have been collecting their own team of translator for future use.

because they believe that not everyone will do the work honestly so they are assessing and collecting those good job and contacting them over and over again.

[boyptc]

The translation is funny, that must be from google translate. Upon availing of translation services, you should only ask those people who are living in a native language and have probably good to best English language.

In that standard, you'll be fleeing from those people that seem to offer translation services but are only getting translations from automated software like Google translate freely.

The bolded actually what I'm planning to do.

I'm also considering getting multiple human translators to translate thesame post/writeup in order to compare them for consistency. Alternatively, I will get another person to retranslate a translated post back to the original language it was translated from to see how correct and reliable it is.

That's also a good idea of hiring several people to compare which is which or someone you can hire to be a copywriter which will check the translation if it's correct or not. At the beginning it will make you double cost.

But once you've built up your trust to your copywriter then he can actually be your translator afterwards. That's a very good idea of yours.

[Ucy]

I think the translation software or site only provides 80% grammar accuracy...
sometimes the language that is formed when we try the translator site/software is not right at all but it really helps me every day. I am actively using a translator so that I can make posts here. otherwise, it will be very difficult for me to write in English as it is today.

Ofcourse, that is what I suspect also . But skilled human translator will be able to solve the grammar issue and give you a better translation. Proper understanding of the feeling/expressions of a writer is part of the reasons program made by humans can't be as good as humans. I would understand what someone is trying to convey in a writeup, whether he/she uses the proper grammar but programs can't solve this problem yet as far as I can tell.

[big_octopus]

Yes, sometimes translators fail if you communicate in a language other than your native language.  You can use different services with contextual translation to better understand what is being said in each case. For example, this service: https://context.reverso.net/translation/. Or any other.

[Ucy]

I think the translation software or site only provides 80% grammar accuracy...
sometimes the language that is formed when we try the translator site/software is not right at all but it really helps me every day. I am actively using a translator so that I can make posts here. otherwise, it will be very difficult for me to write in English as it is today.

Ofcourse, that is what I suspect also . But skilled human translator will be able to solve the grammar issue and give you a better translation. Proper understanding of the feeling/expressions of a writer is part of the reasons program made by humans can't be as good as humans. I would understand what someone is trying to convey in a writeup, whether he/she uses the proper grammar but programs can't solve this problem yet as far as I can tell.

Just tried translating an article on physorg.org from English to French and translate the translated article back to English to prove the grammar theory, the result still not that great.

I used French in this case because it's a more common language than the language I translated to yesterday.

Yes, sometimes translators fail if you communicate in a language other than your native language.  You can use different services with contextual translation to better understand what is being said in each case. For example, this service: https://context.reverso.net/translation/. Or any other.

Will probably try that out.
 I notice it has few languages compare to the popular translators.

[decodx]

I would approach this situation like this: When you hire a translator, arrange payment only after the translation is checked with a third party - another translator or proofreader. You can agree to use a middleman (escrow) and that you will not pay him if he does not meet the quality.
Once you get the translated work, you can ask the online community (even on this forum) to check a few random sentences or paragraphs to make sure no machine translation has been used (this can be easily recognized by any native speaker).
After that, you simply approve the payment to the translator.
That way, you don't have to pay double service and you'll have public evidence if it's a bad quality translation so no one will be able to accuse you of attempted fraud.

[Bob Senpai]

I think that without knowing at least the basic foundations of the required language, it will not be possible to translate completely correctly. Therefore, if you need to use some other language, then you can just figure out the basics of this language in 10-20 hours and this will be enough for you to roughly understand the structure and basis of the language.

[Ucy]

I would approach this situation like this: When you hire a translator, arrange payment only after the translation is checked with a third party - another translator or proofreader. You can agree to use a middleman (escrow) and that you will not pay him if he does not meet the quality.
Once you get the translated work, you can ask the online community (even on this forum) to check a few random sentences or paragraphs to make sure no machine translation has been used (this can be easily recognized by any native speaker).
After that, you simply approve the payment to the translator.
That way, you don't have to pay double service and you'll have public evidence if it's a bad quality translation so no one will be able to accuse you of attempted fraud.

I think the translation service will be voluntary. I may tip the translators or give rewards if necessary.
I hope to get correct translations using the methods I listed above, with little to no error, even if I'm using unqualified translators

[jrrsparkles]

Not everyone in offering the translation services are masters in both languages even if they are masters still the change csn be obvious because you can tell the same statement in multiple angle so it may not look exactly what you have given for them to translate.

[decodx]

Not everyone in offering the translation services are masters in both languages even if they are masters still the change csn be obvious because you can tell the same statement in multiple angle so it may not look exactly what you have given for them to translate.

I don't think that the problem is if the translation is not completely in line with the original, but that the meaning of the translated text is not completely lost. Like in the funny example that Ucy showed.

I can see that it can be a big mess. Especially if it's a serious matter.

[Ucy]

Not everyone in offering the translation services are masters in both languages even if they are masters still the change csn be obvious because you can tell the same statement in multiple angle so it may not look exactly what you have given for them to translate.

 I think a honest translator can do a good job even if he/she is not grounded in both languages. The difficult-to-translate parts/words could be marked or underlined.

Not everyone in offering the translation services are masters in both languages even if they are masters still the change csn be obvious because you can tell the same statement in multiple angle so it may not look exactly what you have given for them to translate.

I don't think that the problem is if the translation is not completely in line with the original, but that the meaning of the translated text is not completely lost. Like in the funny example that Ucy showed.

I can see that it can be a big mess. Especially if it's a serious matter.

Ofcourse. The problem is that the non-human translation service I have used so far changes some or the entire meaning of a writeup. If it doesn't, I wouldn't be too bothered. The changes or mistranslation is just too much to be considered safe.

[peter0425]

I can't stop laughing reading the example from OP if that is what translation is all about ?i'm sure businesses will stay on their Local sections and only in this english threads lol.
At one point i have tried translation from Google , Our local to english and when i read the outcome ? yeah OP is correct 

But for the Good and knowledgeable Local members , I'm sure they will create the best translation as long as it is their mother tongue or main language.

The only problem that i find in translation services are those who offers to translate specific language but when you check His post History it turns out that he is not that language speaker though there are some people i met that can speak more than 3 languages but there is no much better if a local guy you will hire for the Job.

[decodx]

I can't stop laughing reading the example from OP if that is what translation is all about ?i'm sure businesses will stay on their Local sections and only in this english threads lol.
At one point i have tried translation from Google , Our local to english and when i read the outcome ? yeah OP is correct 

Well, I'm sure machine translation will get better in the future as artificial intelligence and neural networks evolve. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have universal StarTrek-style translators. But, unfortunately, we are still far from it.

[billy27]

They are not 100% correct but they are surely helpful.