Lost In Translation?
I just tried the Google website Translator app.
It doesn’t always translate to Arabic from English seamlessly.
I checked it out with my son.
He typed, “I would like to have a burger”. The translation was “و اود ان يكون لها برغر
“I would like a burger” brought the correct result, though. It was like this
اود الحصول على برغر
Either try to guess which phrases will work, and which won’t (this needs some experience with the app), or use the option provided (“click to edit and see alternate translations”) Just choose any word with the pointer, it will highlight and you will see different word choices, pick the one you believe is most suitable for what you want to express. One problem, obviously, is that you have to be able to at least read some Arabic.
We tried this too. The first word in the example the app did give the correct meaning (first word choice); for the second word, there was no correct word choice in the list; for the last word the correct meaning was translated correctly (burger: برغر)
I haven’t tried the translator the other way around (Arabic to English) yet.
I have hesitated to allow translation of my blog in any language other than English because I’m afraid what the end result might be. That’s not to say that translator applications are not useful.
Sometimes it is difficult enough trying to get one’s point across without having to worry about a possible language barrier. One has to choose her words carefully; there are possible nuances that some people won’t get. Some folks are just handicapped when it comes to language. There are even those for who basic conversation imposes its hurdles.
There are times, too, when maybe the less said the better, eh?
Da.
Dacbiganye, D, j.
The last word in the Arabic sentence is the English equivalent of "burger|. So, obviously, it is a new word added to the Arabic language, which sounds suspiciously like "burger" in English. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, that explains why the translator app was able to find the correct word choice for "burger" immediately. That would probably happen with most nouns, too. But especially will work for names, or words which are not originally found in the Arabic language.