Bing Translator

Testing Microsoft's Bing Translator to see what a free online translator can do

This article is part of my machine translation series which tests the abilities of free online translators Google Translate, World Lingo, Paralink, and Bing

Microsoft Bing translator

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (Chap.1)

Lewis Carroll’s "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is a children’s classic which many of you will have read.

Here I've put an excerpt from Chapter One through Microsoft's Bing translator - first the English original to evaluate the German translation, and  then the authorised German translation by Antonie Zimmerman to see what job Bing does of turning it back to English.

See what you make of the results.

Step one:  Putting the authorized German translation through the Bing translator to see if we come up with an English version which bears some resemblance to the original text.

ORIGINAL

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'
So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her."

BING TRANSLATION:

"Alice began to get bored; She had been sitting on the shore with her sister for a long time and had nothing to do. She didn't like the book her sister read; Because it was neither pictures nor conversations in it. » And what good are books, «Alice thought,» without pictures and conversations? «
She just thought (as best she could, because she was sleepy and stupid from the heat) whether it was worth the effort to get up and pick daisies to do a chain with it when suddenly a white rabbit with red eyes ran close past her. "


First impressions of the Bing translator

Your first reaction to this translation may be "Oh dear", but - as a professional German translator - I still find it amazing that a computer programme can come up with an English translation of a German text at all!

And if you're interested, I also did this test 5 years ago, when the Bing translator was still Yahoo Babelfish, and there is a noticeable improvement.

Microsoft's Bing translator has produced a gist translation of good quality - I get a very good idea of what the text is about, so I can decide what to do next.

The next step is to put the English original through the Bing translator and ask it to provide a German translation, and compare this to the authorized German translation of the above passage by Antonie Zimmermann.

Here's what we get:

AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION

"Alice fing an sich zu langweilen; sie saß schon lange bei ihrer Schwester am Ufer und hatte nichts zu tun. Das Buch, das ihre Schwester las, gefiel ihr nicht; denn es waren weder Bilder noch Gespräche darin. »Und was nützen Bücher,« dachte Alice, »ohne Bilder und Gespräche?«
Sie überlegte sich eben, (so gut es ging, denn sie war schläfrig und dumm von der Hitze,) ob es der Mühe wert sei aufzustehen und Gänseblümchen zu pflücken, um eine Kette damit zu machen, als plötzlich ein weißes Kaninchen mit roten Augen dicht an ihr vorbeirannte."

BING TRANSLATION

"Alice an, sehr müde zu werden, bei ihrer Schwester auf der Bank zu sitzen und nichts zu tun zu haben: Ein oder zwei Mal hatte sie in das Buch hineingeschaut, das ihre Schwester las, aber es hatte keine Bilder oder Gespräche darin, und was nützt ein Buch , ' thought Alice ' ohne Bilder oder Gespräch? '
So überlegte sie sich in ihrem eigenen Kopf (so gut sie konnte, denn der heiße Tag machte ihr das Gefühl sehr verschlafen und dumm), ob die Freude, eine Gänsekette zu machen, sich die Mühe wert wäre, aufzustehen und die Gänseblümchen zu pflücken, als plötzlich ein weißer Kaninchen mit rosa Augen lief  In ihrer Nähe."


My verdict on the Bing translator?

Not bad in getting the meaning over, but not something you'd hand in as a piece of your own work!

At the risk of sounding school-marmey, if you'd like to know more about what makes a German translation good then check this out.

I think these translations show just how subtle and complex language can be.

Translation programmes are improving fast and becoming increasingly useful, but I don't believe that they will ever match the beauty and coherence of a well thought out translation. There will always be a need for a good human German to English translator!

Why not try Microsoft's Bing translator yourself?

TIP! These texts are taken from the Gutenberg Project, the first and largest distributor of eBooks, and are copyright free. The Gutenberg Project is also one of my recommended sources of free German translations for German translation students, providing copyright-free English and German versions of classic texts.

  Joanna

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Joanna Scudamore-Trezek

I'm a German to English translator living and working in Vienna, Austria. I turn German texts into clear and accessible English, allowing clients to present their stories, ideas and information to a completely new audience. My business and marketing clients rely on me to get their message across clearly and effectively.  How can I help you today?

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