Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Google’s New Translations

Google switched to a new translation system for the remaining language pairs on the Google Translator which were so far provided by Systran. The translator help files don’t mention this yet, but it might be possible that the new translations are the results of Google’s in-house machine translation efforts.

In a quick comparison between Systran translation and Google translation of the English <--> German language pair, I couldn’t see a clear winner yet (though I get the feeling Google’s results are slightly superior), but a lot of garbage results on both ends. Translating a sample blog post into German, for instance, was so bad that you’d have a hard time making any sense out of what was written if you don’t speak English. While it might help to get the point across for some texts, you start to wonder if these kind of translations in the wild will cause more understanding in the world, or more misunderstanding.

Below are some sample translations:

German --> English

German source	Systran	Google	Human
Heute morgen haben mich die Kirchenglocken aus dem Schlaf geweckt, weil mein Wecker kaputt war. Zu dem Zeitpunkt hatte ich geträumt, ich wäre bereits auf dem Weg zur Arbeit. Na ja, was soll’s, kann jedem mal passieren oder...	This morning the church-bells from the sleep woke me, because my bell was broken. At the time I had dreamed, I would already be on the way to the work. Well which can happen soll’s, to everyone times or...	This morning I have the church bells roused from their sleep because my alarm clock was broken. At the time, I had dreamed that I would be already on the way to work. Well what should’s, can happen any time ...	This morning, the church bells awoke me from sleep as my alarm clock was broken. At that time I was dreaming that I was already on my way to work. Oh well, no big deal, this can happen to anyone...
Atari war schon lange im Geschäft, als Magnavox dazukam. Wir haben “Computer Space” vor Magnavox gemacht. Atari marschierte von Erfolg zu Erfolg und Magnavox hatte ein einziges analoges Spiel, das nicht besonders gut ankam. Es hat einfach keinen Spaß gemacht. Ralph Baer glaubt, er hat “Pong” erfunden, aber er hat nur Magnavox erfunden, ein völlig anderes Spiel.	Atari was already for a long time in the business, when Magnavox was added. We made “computer space” before Magnavox. Atari marched from success to success and Magnavox had a only one similar play, which arrived not particularly good. It made simply no fun. Ralph bear believes, it “Pong” invented, but he invented only Magnavox, completely different play.	Atari has been long in the business, as Magnavox schedule. We have “Computer Space” Magnavox. Atari marched from success to success and Magnavox had a single analog game, which is not particularly well arrived. There is simply no fun. Ralph Baer believes he has “Pong” invented, but he has only Magnavox invented a completely different game.	Atari was already in the business for quite some time when Magnavox arrived on the scene. We created “Computer Space” before Magnavox. Atari was marching from one success to the next while Magnavox had only a single analog game, and one that wasn’t liked much by people. It just wasn’t fun. Ralph Baer thinks he invented Point, but he only invented Magnavox, a completely different game.

 

English --> German

English source	Systran	Google
“I make lists of names. I’m constantly talking to agents to see who’s available, who’s not available, who’s considering TV this year. Meeting with actors, looking at tapes. Always putting together ideas.” Hirschfeld and his staff of a dozen attend film festivals and comedy clubs, troll the Internet and even monitor podcasts. They also draw on a long memory.	“ich bilde Listen von den Namen. Ich spreche ständig mit Mitteln, um wer vorhandenes hat, das nicht vorhandenes hat, das zu sehen habe Fernsehapparat dieses Jahr betrachten. Die Schauspieler, Klebebänder betrachtend treffen. Immer zusammenfügen die Ideen.” Hirschfeld und sein Stab von Dutzend sorgt sich Filmfestivals und Komödie Vereine, troll das Internet und sogar Monitor podcasts. Es zeichnen auch auf ein langes Gedächtnis.	“Ich lege Listen mit den Namen. Ich bin ständig im Gespräch mit Agenten, um zu sehen, die verfügbar sind, die nicht zur Verfügung, die unter Berücksichtigung der TV in diesem Jahr. Treffen mit den Schauspielern, mit Blick auf den Tapes, starten. Immer Zusammensetzen von Ideen. “ Hirschfeld und seine Mitarbeiter von einem Dutzend an Filmfestivals und Comedy Clubs, Troll das Internet überwachen und sogar Podcasts. Sie auch auf ein gutes Gedächtnis.

[Via Google OS.]

Update: Google confirms to us “We are now using our own machine translation technology for the language pairs on Google Translate.”

Google’s New Translations by Philipp Lenssen | Comments (47)

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