“Communication is the key”, used to say my professors in Journalism and sometimes this affirmation proves to be efficient. Mostly in business area, if the link named communication isn`t solid (meaning adequately translated), has the unhappy opportunity to be corrupted. In order to help people willing to communicate in foreign languages, online translators have been designed by important social networking sites, such as Wikipedia or Google.
I`ve tried the famous Google translator and I was very disappointed of the mistakes I met. It`s become a hobby: each time when I`m bored I type down some expressions from my native language and then I laugh hard reading the clumsy translations that the software offers me. One little example: an earthquake is translated as “shaky ground”, which is very far away from the true meaning of the word, because “shaky” refers to a weak situation due to age or illness. The reciprocal situation is perfectly valid: translations from original Wikipedia pages sounds really truncated and so their inner charm is diminished. My intention isn`t to dissolve the purpose of online translators, they can be useful indeed, when you are on a hurry, but they have to be used with precaution. Otherwise, an official document translated like this, with the help of an imperfect software, will make you look really dumb.
Not even the eternal rival, Yahoo, doesn`t offer a better method of getting a sure and rapid translation (if you look to the translation in French of “I`m home at least”, you will certainly smile ironically). Yahoo`s software for translation is called Yahoo babelfish and at least, has a friendly appearance, proposing you a whispering yellow sea fish. Bing`s translator looks to be closer to linguistic truth than the other softwares, I was quite satisfied with the translation it gave me on the spot.
Anyhow, you will have to use an online translator, either you like it or not. Time doesn`t allowed to rush for the dictionaries every 5 minutes, you will look quite novice at job, if you do this. Translation is present even in the smallest business or in international companies or even in the most casual context of studying at university, so it has to be done with maximum of professionalism, in order to keep positive the feedback of customers and partners.
If you plan travelling somewhere, Wikipedia and The World Factbook will be just the perfect help for you, but a primary help. The information will acquire from these sites is just a sort of “accommodation” with the history, politics, cultures or calling code and some of the most used phrases in that native language, so that you can develop a minimal conversation. Once you are there, you have to learn much more, to direct to the library and to buy a conversation guide at least. Wikipedia and Factbook were the first to propose a certain encyclopedic view over the world, offering translated information for almost 300 countries.