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Free online translator = Free German Translation!! |
Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?
Probably because, usually, it is.
Why?
Well, let’s get one thing clear....... there are 2 types of translation.
1. Automated, machine translation,
i.e. using a free online translator or purchased translation software
2. Human translation,
i.e. one translated for you by a qualified, human translator
These are some of the most popular free online translators you'll find on the web:
Babel Fish Translator
Google Translator
World Lingo
Paralink
Now “free” must be the most overused word on the web.
Online, as offline, there is "no such thing as a free lunch". A language translator is offered for precisely 2 reasons:
1. As a LEAD IN to selling professional translation services (you realise the limited quality of your English translation and therefore you are encouraged to purchase a human translation),
or
2. As a low cost ADD ON which is offered by internet service providers who are addressing an international audience in order to provide a little added value.
But don’t get me wrong - the internet is multilingual by nature, so a free online translator certainly has a role to play.
Use a free online translator for:
• A “gist” translation – i.e. a rough idea of what the German text is about. Then you can decide if it is a text you need to have properly translated or not.
• Emails or short notes.
• Blocks of text on a German language website.
• A few odd German words or phrases.
• Translating a text for your personal use - but not one you plan to publish or pass off as your own work (listen up, students!).
| TIP!: Most free online translators only let you translate a few lines of text at a time anyway, so you might often find that a free online German dictionary is all you need. |
You need a human translation when:
• Your German translation will reflect on you or your organisation.
If the translation is bad, you will look incompetent. It will also be clear that you don’t think highly enough of your audience/customers/business partners etc. to bother providing them with a properly translated text.
• Your German translation will be printed.
Money spent printing inadequate or incorrect English is simply money wasted.
• Your German translation needs to be adapted for its English-speaking audience.
Certain German terms (organisations / institutions /customs etc.)may need to be explained or paraphrased rather than simply translated (often they shouldn’t be translated!). This is referred to as “localisation” and is often offered as a translation service in itself.
• Your German translation needs to be legally valid!
Some translators are officially certified by the courts (Gerichtlich beeidet – legally sworn) and their English translations of German texts or documents are accepted as official documents – frequently required for translations of passports, contracts, certificates etc.
• Your German translation deals with a specialist topic (e.g. engineering, IT, medicine or law) and will be read by a specialist audience (e.g. lawyers, doctors).
Not only will a free online translator be inadequate but your human German translator should also be specialised in your particular field.
(Want to know more about what makes a human translation “good”? Then read more here.)
OK, so you've worked out that a free online translator will be fine for your needs.
Try one of these free translators and see the results for yourself:
Babel Fish Translator
Google Translator
World Lingo
Paralink
For fun, I’ve run a couple of paragraphs of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol through the free online translators above - and run the authorized German translation through to see how closely it gets back to the English original.
OK, you wouldn’t do this in everyday life, BUT it demonstrates that translation is not a mechanical process in which words are simply “exchanged” for one another!
Here's the passage taken from "Alice":
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis CarrollChapter One: Down the Rabbit-HoleAlice 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. |
And here is the passage from the Christmas Carol:
A Christmas Carol, by Charles DickensChapter One: Marley's GhostOh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. |
Click on each of the free online translator links above to see the results!
I’ve also put together a list of free translation websites offering free translations, so bearing in mind that they are “free”, take your pick!
| TIP!: Don’t confuse free online translators with translation software which is used by professional translators and does a very different job - helping compile glossaries, matching up blocks of translated text, and greatly improving the consistency involved in translating large texts. |
As so often happens, just as I am writing this page my husband’s office receives the following email in reply to a request for product information.
The text has been translated from Czech into English by a PC translator (it says so proudly at the bottom of the page!) Naturally it has provided certain amusement in the office.
Good morning,
enclosed send price list consignments for international intercourse. Awards in language English find on our pages
Yours truly
That's quite enough of that, I think!
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