Google Translate: from here to there and back (I do not speak Русский)
20100320 at 09:05 round-trip n.: from here to there and back again
The live translation feature in Google Translate works quite well, but it would be even better with live round-trip translation. The state-of-the-art in automatic translation is very good now, but I find the round-trip lets me refine the original text, and decrease the “information loss” in the translation.
Information loss in this context can be considered the difference (or delta) between the source and the round-trip. Making the complete round-trip interactive makes re-phrasing and re-wording easier, and I can easily adjust what I am trying to say based on the results.
The results are improved because adjusting the source either
- makes it less ambiguous or more similar to the target language, or
- brings it closer to a well-translated or common phrase in the target language.
The linked text and images take you right to Google Translate with this example data pre-loaded.
Sudden Internet fame is unpredictable. What is predictable is the temptation to use his fame to push some political or nationalist message. Poor Mr. Trololo!
Внезапная слава Интернету непредсказуемо. Что является вполне предсказуемой соблазн использовать свою славу интернет доставить некоторые политические или националистические сообщения. Бедный мистер Trololo!
Round-trip:
Sudden fame internet unpredictably. What is predictable temptation to use his fame to bring the Internet, some political or nationalistic message. Poor Mr. Trololo!
Before the final two illustrations, I will break to introduce Mr. Trololo. He discusses his Internet fame here (in Русский of course)
Video:
Illustrations:
figure 1
figure 2
article | tagged communications, google, language, translation 
