SRF Global Translations Demonstrates the Difference Between Machine and Human Translations

What's the difference between a machine translation by AltaVista's BabelFish or Google Language Tools and a nuanced, professional translation by a literate human at SRF Global Translations? Here's a demonstration.

Machine translations can be quite a hoot. Unless you are depending on them in business. "Misled ladies and horsemen of marketing:" began the advice in the BabelFish translation (to English) of a blog post -- written in Spanish -- by Andres Bianciotto, manager of Area6, Mexico, on his blog, Verborragia, about the recent Chevy Apprentice make-your-own-commercial contest.

Here's Bianciotto's original post, in Spanish:

Chevrolet lanzo una campana al estilo "publicidad 2.0" donde publico en linea una serie de elementos (musica, secuencias de video, imagenes, etc) para que cualquier persona pudiera componer un anuncio sobre la nueva Chevy Tahoe y ganar una pila de premios.

Esta bueno, si esto se hacia bien, Chevrolet podria aprender mucho de como sus clientes (o cualquier individuo interesado en hacerse con los premios) veian y expresaban las caracteristicas del producto.

Lo malo, es que la gente esta produciendo anuncios TAN contrarios, que ahora en GM lloran y los borran.

Despistadas damas y caballeros de marketing y publicidad de GM: no se trata de "dejar que la red forme el mensaje, del que despues nos aduenamos", se trata de hacer un producto u ofrecer un servicio f*&#ing amazing. Asi si uno deja que la gente disene los anuncios.

Mientras eso no ocurra, hagan un anuncio, compren TV y revistas, y taladren el "mensaje" a la gente en la cabeza a fuerza de repeticiones, no de dialogo.

Here's the nuanced, certified translation created by a literate human at SRF Global Translations:

Chevrolet launched a campaign in the style of "Web 2.0", by publishing a series of items online (music, video clips, images), so that anyone could compose a commercial on the new Chevy Tahoe and have a chance of winning from a large pool of prizes.

Well, had this been done properly, Chevrolet could have learned a lot about how its clients (or anyone interested in getting a prize) see and feel about the features of their product.

The problem is that people are coming up with commercials SO hostile, that now people in GM are crying over the feedback and deleting it.

Here's Google's automatic translation:

Chevrolet sent to a campaign to the style "publicity 2,0" where it published a series of elements in line (music, sequences of video, images, etc) so that any person could compose an announcement on the new Chevy Tahoe and gain a battery of prizes.

It is good, if this became or, Chevrolet could learn much of how their clients (or any individual interested in taking control of the prizes) saw and expressed the characteristics of the product. The bad thing, is that people are producing SO opposite announcements, that now in GM they cry and they erase them.

Confused ladies and horsemen of marketing and publicity of GM: one is not "to leave network it forms the message, which later we appropriated ourselves", is to make a product or to offer a service f*&# amazing. Thus yes one leaves people it designs the announcements. While that does not happen, they make an announcement, they buy TV and magazines, and they drill the "message" to people in the head by force of repetitions, not of dialogue."

Here (he he) is the BabelFish translation:

"Chevrolet sent to a campaign to the style "publicity 2.0" where it published a series of elements in line (music, sequences of video, images, etc) so that any person could compose an announcement on the new Chevy Tahoe and gain a battery of prizes.

It is good, if this became or, Chevrolet could learn much of how their clients (or any individual interested in taking control of the prizes) saw and expressed the characteristics of the product. The bad thing, is that people are producing SO opposite announcements, that now in GM they cry and they erase them.

Confused ladies and horsemen of marketing and publicity of GM: one is not "to leave network it forms the message, which later we appropriated ourselves", is to make a product or to offer a service f*&#*g amazing.

Thus yes one leaves people it designs the announcements. While that does not happen, they make an announcement, they buy TV and magazines, and they drill the "message" to people in the head by force of repetitions, not of dialogue."

Got that confused ladies and horsemen?

Google and Babel Fish: Worth What You Pay forThem
Ardian at SRF Global Translations explained:

"The purpose of machine translation is to let people who do not speak the source language get a quick idea about the contents of the text. The results are often funny, because the machine cannot properly construe the metaphoric and idiomatic uses of words, and comes up with silly mistakes.

"Damas y caballeros", for example, is a very common Spanish expression for "ladies and gentlemen"; the Babelfish machine here translates "caballeros" as "horsemen" and the result is funny, because the text is obviously not targeted at horsemen.

The Spanish "pila de premios" is rendered as "battery of prizes", because "pila" also translates as "battery", and the machine often picks the most probable of the various meanings of a word. Babelfish is a free translation program, so one cannot expect much from it. As a rule of thumb, free translation programs should only be used as a preliminary tool, before having the texts translated by human beings.

If you "ladies and horsemen of marketing" find BabelFish and Google translations confusing, email or call Sloan Friedman at SRF Global Translations at 212. 391.7528 for a professional translation. Don't leave English without him.

Related posts:
- How Culturally Biased is Technorati?

- Incorrectly Translated Blog Posts Can Be PR Landmines

04-May-2006 By BL Ochman