Translating web pages

[cj]

How do fluent french/english speakers rate online translation services such as google translate ?

If you have used them (say English to French), which were the best you found.

I have a number of website pages that I want to convert into french and get the impression that it will be worth paying someone to do this for me instead of using these translators but I don't have much money.

[Frank]

Hi CJ,

Forget it.

While services like Google Translate are probably powered by some extremely complex technology, the end result is always terrible.

You can always tell when something has been translated using such a service. Not only because translations are often too literal, but also because these tools are unable to understand the context and end up picking wrong words, that leads to misunderstandings.

Even if you just need to say hello to a friend, I wouldn't recommend software-based translators, because a literal translation of what you wrote could actually mean the opposite. No gag.

These tools remain useful in order to translate web pages to your native language, though. But just as a way to barely understand the rough meaning of some web pages written in a language you don't even know the 101.

[cj]

Cheers Frank, this is what I was thinking - I even tested a few by flipping them from english to french and then taking the translated text and putting it back through the opposite way (english>french then back french>english) ......

And it just does not work ...... messy, very messy.

Now just need to find a cheap french translator (human).

[Neil Coffey]

One tip to bear in mind is that in translation, you generally get what you pay for. If you think that the translation of your web site is the thing that's going to double your business over a number of years and your text is the thing that's going to convince your visitors to buy your products/services, then it might be worth splashing out a few extra Euros on the translation.

Disclaimer: I'm of course biased because I'm a translator. Translators will always think they're worth more money, and many clients will always want the cheapest price possible in the universe (though simultaneously wanting the best possible quality in the universe).

[Frank]

Agreed. A web site with an approximate translation would look like a phishing web site.

I would never trust and give my credit card # to such a web site.


Translators will always think they're worth more money, and many clients will always want the cheapest price possible in the universe (though simultaneously wanting the best possible quality in the universe).


If only it only applied to translators...