How Well Does Computer Translation Work? Find Out for Yourself
By Alex Gross
http://language.home.sprynet.com
alexilen@sprynet.com
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From this page, you'll be able to connect directly with
Altavista's computer translation program "BabelFish"
and evaluate how well it truly works.
But before we do thatand before this website expresses
any further opinion about the quality of "machine
translation"let's listen to what the promoters
of this program have to say about its quality.
The following quote comes directly from the home page
of BabelFish:
"Why Can't I Understand the
Translation?"
"Translating languages is a
very complex task. The translator works best when
the text you wish to translate uses proper grammar.
Slang, misspelled words, poorly placed punctuation,
etc. can all cause a page to be translated incorrectly."
"Can I Trust the Translation?"
"Machine translation produces
reasonable results in many cases. But you should
not rely on it. As in other areas of life, honesty
pays. If you want to use a translated text always
acknowledge the translator, and append or reference
the original text. This will put the translation
into the right context and will help you avoid embarrassing
misunderstandings."
In other words, what they are saying
rather clearly is that there are still some problems
connected with "machine translation." It
took many decades for the developers of a few such
systems to finally admit even this much. And even
today it isn't too hard to encounter computational
linguists who are still convinced that language and
translation are a "trivial task," one that
can easily be cracked once they have finally "discovered
the key," and there is no way of talking them
out of this.
It is the frequently expressed opinion
of this authorboth in other articles on this
website and in professional presentations to groups
of linguists and translatorsthat the "key"
or the "right method" will never be found.
And that any key or method that will more or less
"work" for certain kinds of texts will fail
to work for others.
But that's enough editorializing...
So let's take a look at our
little evaluation test...
As time goes on, we will enrich this
page with many different kinds of text, so you can
see what kind of results "BabelFish" produces
with legal briefs, medical studies, novels, plays,
poetry, perhaps even some Shakespeare.
But just to be a bit fair and reasonable,
let's start with the kind of text that the makers
of these "MT" programs claim are absolutely
ideal for this purpose: a straightforward business
text, even one with a slight computer slant.
Take a look at the following paragraph
and try to become familiar with it. You'll be seeing
it in quite a few versions as we go along.
The Green Map System is a globally
connected, locally adaptable framework for community
sustainability. Green Maps chart the sites of environmental
significance in urban places around the world. Each
map is created locally in a unique way by mapmaking
teams of all ages and backgrounds. Everyone uses
our collaborativly designed Green Map icons to identify,
promote, and link their home's ecological resources,
along with the places that make the environment
special. See all the Green Maps at our website,
www.greenmap.org. Find out about joining this global
effort to cultivate the interconnections between
nature and culture through Green Maps.
This text has been chosen not only
because it is written in simple, straightforward English
but because it is accompanied by both a Spanish and
a French version that are equally well written and
straight forward in each of those two languages. Although
they are themselves quite likely translations from
the English, they are good translations, good enough
to qualify as original texts in their own right.
We are about to submit the Spanish
version of this same text to BabelFish in order to
see how well it translates it into English. And we
will be able to judge this quite objectively because
we have the original English text just a few mouse
clicks above us.
At this point, our evaluation
test will proceed on two tracks...
- If you want to connect to BabelFish and submit
the Spanish version for yourself, click
here.
- If you would rather save time and see the results
right away, simply go on reading this page.
When we submit the Spanish equivalent
of this paragraph to BabelFish and ask it to translate
the text into English, here is precisely what
it produces (in other words we are not responsible
for any of the mistakes):
The System of Green Maps is a frame
global, and at the same time modifiable on local
scale, to obtain sustentables communities. The green
Maps show environmental sites of importance in the
cities around the world. Each map is locally created
in unique form by groups of all the ages and experiences.
Each one of them, uses the icons of the Green Map
to identify, to promote, and to conectar the local
ecological resources, along with the places that
make of the atmosphere a special place. Visit the
page Web: www.greenmap.org
where it will be able to see the variety of created
maps and like participating in this colaborativo
effort of interconectar nature and culture through
the Green Maps.
Now let's look at them side
by side:
English
Original:
The
Green Map System is a globally connected,
locally adaptable framework for community
sustainability. Green Maps chart the sites
of environmental significance in urban places
around the world. Each map is created locally
in a unique way by mapmaking teams of all
ages and backgrounds. Everyone uses our collaborativly
designed Green Map icons to identify, promote,
and link their home's ecological resources,
along with the places that make the environment
special. See all the Green Maps at our website,
www.greenmap.org. Find out about joining this
global effort to cultivate the interconnections
between nature and culture through Green Maps. |
Translation
from Spanish:
The
System of Green Maps is a frame global, and
at the same time modifiable on local scale,
to obtain sustentables communities. The green
Maps show environmental sites of importance
in the cities around the world. Each map is
locally created in unique form by groups of
all the ages and experiences. Each one of
them, uses the icons of the Green Map to identify,
to promote, and to connectar the local ecological
resources, along with the places that make
of the atmosphere a special place. Visit the
page Web: www.greenmap.org where it will be
able to see the variety of created maps and
like participating in this colaborativo effort
of interconectar nature and culture through
the Green Maps. |
Since some viewers have already read
this text once in its correct form, they may just
imagine that it sounds close enough to the original
and conveys the meaning well enough. But this is because
they are already familiar with the meaning, a kind
of "persistence of memory" illusiontry
reading this text to others and see how much sense
they will be able to make of it.
But for most readers, the problems
of this version will be only too obvious:
- it contains actual errors, for instance "atmosphere"
for "environment" and "frame global"
for "global framework;"
- where it cannot translate a word, it simply throws
in that word in Spanish, for instance "sustentables"
and "interconectar;"
- the full meaning is simply not clear;
- and, of course, it is not even remotely written
in correct English.
Naturally, it is for the reader to
decide how disturbing such an error level may be.
Reading a brief paragraph in this style may not be
particularly painful, but what would it be like if
one were forced to read an entire technical manual
written in this manner? (And yes, it would
be worse than reading technical manuals as they are
currently written!)
At this point there is no need for the author to intrude
his judgment in any way. The whole object of this
exercise all along has been a simple one: Let Readers
Decide for Themselves!
And as a form of "lagniappe"
(here that word is especially appropriate), let's
take a look at what happens when the French version
of this same text is translated into English. It's
a bit more comprehensible, but all the problems noted
above are still very much in evidence.
But once again, let readers decide
for themselve. Here it comes now (with the same
disclaimer about errors)...
While being open on the world, the
green system of cartography is a framework of work
locally adaptable for a durable development of the
communities. The green cards identify the significant
environmental sites located inside an urban framework.
Each card is created locally and in a single way
by multi-field teams of all ages. By using the collective
icons, one identifies, causes and binds the ecological
resources of the medium and the places which make
our environment remarkable. Look at each green card
on our Web site, www.greenmap.org. Initiate you
with the green cartographic system and the manner
of taking part in this collective effort in order
to discover the link between nature and the culture.
Now let's put these two side
by side:
English
Original:
The
Green Map System is a globally connected,
locally adaptable framework for community
sustainability. Green Maps chart the sites
of environmental significance in urban places
around the world. Each map is created locally
in a unique way by mapmaking teams of all
ages and backgrounds. Everyone uses our collaborativly
designed Green Map icons to identify, promote,
and link their home's ecological resources,
along with the places that make the environment
special. See all the Green Maps at our website,
www.greenmap.org. Find out about joining this
global effort to cultivate the interconnections
between nature and culture through Green Maps. |
Translation
from French:
While
being open on the world, the green system
of cartography is a framework of work locally
adaptable for a durable development of the
communities. The green cards identify the
significant environmental sites located inside
an urban framework. Each card is created locally
and in a single way by multi-field teams of
all ages. By using the collective icons, one
identifies, causes and binds the ecological
resources of the medium and the places which
make our environment remarkable. Look at each
green card on our Web site, www.greenmap.org.
Initiate you with the green cartographic system
and the manner of taking part in this collective
effort in order to discover the link between
nature and the culture. |
The overall structure of this "translation"
is better than the one from Spanish, but at the considerable
cost of translating "maps" as "cards"thus
making the piece potentially incomprehensibleand
merging the first two sentences so that neither of
them truly comes through. Plus which, "unique"
becomes "single," "promotes" becomes
"causes," and "find out about joining"
becomes "Initiate you with..."
If you now want to switch to the active track and
submit these or any other texts to BabelFish, you
can start to do so by clicking
here.
Or if you simply want to satisfy your
curiosity about what the Spanish and French texts
look like, here they are.
First the Spanish text:
El Sistema de Mapas Verdes es un marco
global, y al mismo tiempo modificable a escala local,
para lograr comunidades sustentables. Los Mapas
verdes muestran sitios ambientales de importancia
en las ciudades alrededor del mundo. Cada mapa es
creado localmente en forma única por grupos
de todas las edades y experiencias. Cada uno de
ellos, usan los iconos del Mapa Verde para identificar,
promover, y conectar los recursos ecológicos
locales, junto con los lugares que hacen del ambiente
un lugar especial. Visite la página web:
www.greenmap.org
donde podrá ver la variedad de mapas creados
y de como participar en este esfuerzo colaborativo
de interconectar naturaleza y cultura a través
de los Mapas Verdes.
And here the French text as well:
Tout en étant ouvert sur le
monde, le système de cartographie vert est
un cadre de travail localement adaptable pour un
développement durable des communautés.
Les cartes vertes identifient les sites environnementaux
significatifs situés à l'intérieur
d'un cadre urbain. Chaque carte se crée localement
et de façon unique par des équipes
pluridisciplinaires de tous âges. En utilisant
les icônes collectives, on identifie, suscite
et lie les ressources écologiques du milieu
et des endroits qui rendent notre environnement
remarquable. Regardez chacune des cartes vertes
sur notre site web, www.greenmap.org. Initiez-vous
au système cartographique vert et à
la manière de participer à cet effort
collectif afin de découvrir le lien entre
la nature et la culture.
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