Has Google's translation tool deteriorated?

[Trusted Writer]

I don't know about you but in my experience Google is lacking of single-word translations or it is returning absolutely innacurate words based on word phonetic rather than real meaning.

As sometimes I need to double check a word translated between two languages, I realized about this problem since a while back and, ironically it is babel.altavista.com the online facility returning the appropriate translation.

I say ironic because I began my Internet experience with altavista.com as my main search engine years back before switching to Google, but now I'm wondering about whole text translations that I don't require since my knowledge in languages avoids me get laughable results.

I know all the automated translation services are not 100% accurate but Google is becoming leader in Tarzan-like spelling for such task despite it was among the most accurate translation tools sometime in the past

[iWrite]

Well, the extreme use of slang may have a lot to do with it.

[Pinoguin]

I've been using it to translate german to english and had little problem so far

[Trusted Writer]

Yes, I have tried single words from English to either German, Spanish of French or vice versa and I`m getting the wrong terms in return or it simply gives back the same word introduced with no translation.

iWrite may be right pointing to slang as one of the sources conflicting with translations, but when the tool returns the same word and you know it has to be a different one makes me think of a broken engine

[my_misyel]

Mostly terms will several meaning are not accurate when translating.

[RunningClam]

The quality of Google translations is hardly depends on the languages. German -> English, French -> English are very good to excellent. Spanish -> English is a bit worse. Chinese -> English is the worst.

[Trusted Writer]

I have found another fact just now when it comes to Spanish.

While Google main search engine seems not to make difference seeking a word whether you forget accentuation or not, the translation engine does not always recognize a term if you omit the accent

[iWrite]

Originally Posted by Trusted Writer

I have found another fact just now when it comes to Spanish.

While Google main search engine seems not to make difference seeking a word whether you forget accentuation or not, the translation engine does not always recognize a term if you omit the accent

You should be telling Google this, then.

[prince4life]

I have had many problems using their translation tools. I have given up on it for a while until everything is properly rectified. I don't think their tool is up to standards at the moment.

[joebert]

The only thing I use Google translation for is when some sites (usually forums) request registration to read a thread teased about on the front page or found through a Google search. Webmasters have a habbit of letting a Google referer right in & Google translate just happens to send a Google referer. If the site is already in English it doesn't matter which to/from languages I pick because it will just spit the English words out as-is.

Other than that, I use Babelfish for my translations.

[Trusted Writer]

Originally Posted by iWrite

You should be telling Google this, then.

Do you think they care?
I have submitted AdSense feedback on sites violating the TOS and receiving a thank you message a few days after, but offerder sites are not banned, and we are talking about sites with XXX content.

If this situation involving money is being ignored, I don't believe they pay attention to improve a freebie

Originally Posted by prince4life

I have had many problems using their translation tools. I have given up on it for a while until everything is properly rectified. I don't think their tool is up to standards at the moment.

So true, as my thread's title states, Google translations is severely deteriorated.

Originally Posted by joebert

The only thing I use Google translation for is when some sites (usually forums) request registration to read a thread teased about on the front page or found through a Google search. Webmasters have a habbit of letting a Google referer right in & Google translate just happens to send a Google referer. If the site is already in English it doesn't matter which to/from languages I pick because it will just spit the English words out as-is.

Other than that, I use Babelfish for my translations.

This explains why translations in those sites seems weird.

I believe Babelfish has been always accurate or closer to the matching translation but most of us switched to Google when the monster was growing healthy

[InfoSmith]

it's a machine translate, how good can it be

[Trusted Writer]

Hey, that is true and brings to my mind the old ODP's motto: Humans do it better!

[Lurznm]

It's not that accurate or grammatically perfect but still it can help to translate to the extent of understandable by the users
.

[joebert]

I've always thought it's a little funny how you can translate a paragraph through multiple languages and end up with meaningless jibberish a few languages later when you try to translate it back to your own language.
No matter what translator you use.
If it was math, that would be considered a serious flaw.

Point being I don't think it's possible, even by a human, to get everything right all the time.

[chaitanya.seo]

Yes, you can say it's not accurate, but not bad too...

[Trusted Writer]

Yes, I'm not discussing it is bad at all when you are not knowledgeable in the pair language because it gives you an acceptable idea of the original content.

The poblem results from your knowledge making you aware that such is not the meaning of the words. In fact some sentences are returned with one or two non-translated words in a few case.

[Flightlevel]

Although the translation is ant totally accurate, it can sometimes give us a fair idea what the word already means.

[lzy]

Use babelfish, it's much better.

[lk1st]

Google translator is very useful, but it can not translate like a human translator.