Online Translation Mini Project
Online translators can be a blessing or a curse. If you don't speak a foreign language fluently, an online translator can
give you a gist of what something means. However, the translation will be likely full of errors and strange wording. This
mini-project will give you an understanding of why it's not good to use an online translator.
For example, if you want to translate this sentence “I love you very much, honey” into French…This is what you get
according to different online translators:
Translator Machine
Bing
Reverso
FreeTranslation
Babylon
Google Translate
Translation
Je t'aime beaucoup, miel.
Je vous aime beaucoup, le miel.
Je vous aime beaucoup, le miel.
Je t’aime beaucoup , le miel.
Je t'aime beaucoup, le miel.
SUMMARY: All five automatic translators took the word "honey" literally, rather than as a term of endearment, and
three of them compounded the error by adding the definite article. The same three translated "you" as vous, which
doesn't make much sense, given the meaning of the sentence. Reverso did particularly bad with its reverse translation the word order is atrocious.
True translation: Je t'aime beaucoup, chéri.
Assignment: Translate the following sentence using all 5 of the translators listed below.
1. Copy the sentence into a Microsoft Word document.
I like chewy noodles in my soup.
2. Skip two lines and paste the resulting translation from each site into this table on your Word document.
Translator Machine
Bing
Reverso
FreeTranslation
Babylon
Google Translate
Translation
3. An appropriate translation for the sentence “I like chewy noodles in my soup” is J’aime des nouilles al dente dans
ma soupe. Compare this appropriate response to the five translations you recently completed. In this
context, the word for chewy would be al dente because noodles that are chewy would not be too cooked,
somewhat like al dente for pasta. The online translator does not know the context of your sentence and
sometimes translates every word literally.
Skip a line and explain why you think it would be obvious to the teacher if you used an online translator for a project or
homework.
4. After your sentence, skip two more lines and copy the following in ENGLISH
"I understand Mademoiselle SANABRIA's policy on online translators. I agree that I will not use an online translator for
assignments in her class, without her prior knowledge and consent. By signing below I acknowledge that if I use a
translator on my assignments that I will be dealt with according to Baltimore City College's policy on cheating."
5. Skip a line and sign and date your assignment.
6. Email me your assignment at sanabria.french@gmail.com