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Is Google translate really that bad?

DPittman

DPittman

Ultra Member
One of my frustrations with cheap Asian sourced machinery and tools is the often atrocious or completely lacking instructions and manuals. I find it hard to imagine that getting a decent translation from an bilingual person is so difficult or expensive. It only has to be done once for a product and I would think it would add value and greatly increase product satisfaction.
Here I have the instructions for motorcycle hand grip warmers I got off Aliexpress, while they certainly are not the worst example of translation I still find it unsuitable.
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And why am I venting here? Good question. If moderators choose to delete this post I will understand. I guess I just thought it might be something others could relate to.
 
Tell me about it.....Google Translate is that bad....LOL. I got a VFD with a manual in Chinese:eek: Jumped through hoops trying to translate it into something useable. Eventually gave up and started soliciting vendors for a copy in English. What I eventually scored is not bad but not great either. Your image is sideways?

ChingLish.jpg
 
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As someone who started in Mechanical Engineering and ended up in English Literature (of all things), I can relate totally.

I worked as a Technical Writer for years and can tell you it isn't just about translation; the underlying instructions are almost always flawed as well.

My favorite was from an early Ford owners manual (Model T or A) that had the procedure for refilling the "petro" tank.
It was a 10 step process and after performing the first nine steps, Step 10 said:

Step 10: Before performing the previous 9 Steps, extinguish all smoking materials.
 
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CalgaryPT said:
As someone who started in Machanical Engineering and ended up in English Literature (of all things), I can relate totally.

I worked as a Technical Writer for years and can tell you it isn't just about translation, the underlying instructions are almost always flawed as well.

My favorite was from an early Ford owners manual (Model T or A) that had the procedure for refilling the "petro" tank.
It was a 10 step process and after performing the first nine steps, Step 10 said:

Step 10: Before performing the previous 9 Steps, extinguish all smoking materials.
Click to expand...

I worked on a federal program. Everything had to be bilingual. I ended up paying many thousands for english to french translation and having to spend hours educating the translation company because they did not understand the technical matters they were trying to translate.

That said, the Chinese seem to give their poor Chinese instructions to school children to translate into English, because Google Translate is not as bad as manufacturer's instructions.
 
TorontoBuilder said:
I worked on a federal program. Everything had to be bilingual. I ended up paying many thousands for english to french translation and having to spend hours educating the translation company because they did not understand the technical matters they were trying to translate.

That said, the Chinese seem to give their poor Chinese instructions to school children to translate into English, because Google Translate is not as bad as manufacturer's instructions.
Click to expand...
Valid point.

We used to have a saying: You get what you pay for. And no one pays for the writer.
 
Having done a stint as a technical writer I can tell you that even when both all parties speak the same language there is still a tremendous knowledge hurdle to overcome to create intelligent, comprehensible documentation.
Now add in language whose fundamental constructs are completely different from English and that's just the start of the challenge.
 
Sorry I can make sense of most instructions, I learned reading manuals from reading HP manuals in the late 70's. Figure those out, everything after that is easy.
 
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