I have long ranted
about the use of online translation tools. To be more precise, I have long
ranted about the danger of using them. Trawl around the expat forums and barely
a week goes by without someone either asking which one is best, extolling their
virtues or advocating their use. Usually this is for the most inappropriate of
situations: disputes with public bodies, making complaints, requesting detailed
information…
Just today, having
noticed some weeks ago that Facebook has now “thoughtfully” provided the option
of using one such tool (Bing, to be precise) in order to convert non-English
posts to English, I thought I’d give it a whirl. And, coincidentally, one of my
ex-students posted a message in her native Japanese.
The context (she has
helpfully already explained this in English to her wider network of
non-Japanese-speaking friends) is that she has just got a job working at the
Tokyo Skytree: the tallest tower (and the second-tallest building) in the world….
A: 22nd May, The Grand
Opening!
Tomorrow I'll be there in uniform; D Today was the last training day.
And tomorrow is finally open! First, to work confidently in their locker and go from gumball.
Tomorrow I'll be there in uniform; D Today was the last training day.
And tomorrow is finally open! First, to work confidently in their locker and go from gumball.
A's friend: Good luck
to you! Power of the River from a distance.
A: Thank you-! From
the Singapore looks close? What about huge but I'm too invisible?.
A's other friend: Ms.
cherry blossoms looked for do the training of new staff in the news yesterday,
but we unfortunately didn't know > <? good luck!
A: Thank you -I is in heaven wants deck restaurant 634 recent
Concierge! But still a feeling State of your job gumballs!
And, lest you believe that the simple explanation lies with the difficulty of providing an accurate translation from Japanese, here’s another
example, posted by a Hungarian friend.
Without doubt the
greatest phenomenon that has seen the Library! Not completed 3 months of
contract and it seemed that there was already a year! He left there guria miss!
And when you have a barbecue or any other event saw consider yourself invited! And no excuses! XOXO
