Does anyone know of a free internet translation service that is better than Babelfish?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

I'm trying to translate a document from Dutch to English but it's coming off looking like a version of Mad Libs on acid done by Jerry Lewis.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. That is inevitable with machine translation

Unless the subject matter and vocabulary are limited, machine translation almost always produces hilarious results, and they get worse the farther you go into the text, because machine translation "remembers" what it did last and compounds the errors.

The only successful example I know is Canada's system for translating weather forecasts between English and French. Since there are only so many things you can say about the weather, the system works pretty well.

Otherwise, hire a human.

Yes, it's expensive, but some things just are.

You need someone who is proficient in both languages and a good writer in English.

[TZ]

2. Sounds like a good excuse

to travel to Aruba where many people are fluent in both Dutch and English..;)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. It's actually from St. Martin...

...which will do quite fine in my book.

[HopeHoops]

4. Enter ANY Sarah Palin quote into Babelfish, translate to ANY other language, and then back.

It will come out more coherent than what you originally put in.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. Okay, here goes nothing.

Original quote:

"I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink."

Translated to Dutch:

"Ik beantwoordde ja hem omdat ik het vertrouwen in die bereidheid en het weten dat u niet kunt knipperen heb, moet u op een bepaalde manier van zo geëngageerd het zijn worden getelegrafeerd aan de opdracht, de opdracht dat wij, hervorming van dit land zijn en de overwinning in de oorlog, u niet kan knipperen."

And translated back to English:

"I answered yes him because I the confidence in that willingness and knowing that you cannot blink have, must you in a certain manner of this way geëngageerd it be be telegraphed to the task, the task that we, reform of this country to be and the victory in the war, you cannot blink."

I'd say at a minimum it's a toss-up....

[HopeHoops]

7. I still say what came back is more coherent than what went in.

Of course if you feed a pile of dog shit into a meat grinder, you'll just end up with ground dog shit.

[mopinko]

8. i hate to tell you this, but

it isn't all that coherent in english.

[NightWatcher]

6. yes, you are no liking a babelfish please?

[pitohui]

9. not i -- i just use babelfish plus context

looking at what you translated, it looks almost like fiction, in which case i don't believe any machine/robot/free service will be useful

i use it for travel documents and so far i have been able to order air tix from paris and get admitted to madagascar w.out any real hassle, where i didn't really understand the translations or where it made no sense, my experience with bureacracy and with what they were "probably" trying to say apparently was good enough for government work


it looks like your translation says "social noises from someone w. a high level of testosterone" but i don't see anything in context that looks like it's of enough value to worry about translating it accurately -- you get the gist -- guy pounding his chest abt how he's dedicated to the "mission" blah de blah

some things don't NEED precise translation

again, if it's fiction, sure you're missing nuance, but if it's a letter from some guy who was say in CIA or the military or what have you, you're not missing a thing because it's just social noises and personal bragging on himself and you don't need the details because you'd forget them anyway

it's like when somebody is talking at you in a noisy room -- how hard do you REALLY need to try to figure out what he said? in most cases, if you smile and nod and pretend you heard what he said, it's all good

[pokerfan]

10. There and back again with Babelfish and Google Translate

http://translate.google.com/#">Google Translate:

Ik probeer een document van het Nederlands vertalen naar het Engels, maar het komt af op zoek als een versie van Mad Libs op zuur gedaan door Jerry Lewis.

I try to translate a document from Dutch into English, but it comes off looking like a version of Mad Libs on acid made by Jerry Lewis.


http://babelfish.yahoo.com/">Babelfish:

Ik probeer om een document uit het Nederlands in het Engels te vertalen, maar het komt van het kijken als een versie van Gekke Libs op zuur die door Jerry Lewis wordt gemaakt.

I try translate a document from Dutch in English, but it passes of looking at as a version of crazy Libs on acid those Jerry Lewis is made.

[Oceansaway]

11. my take......

"I answered him yes because I trust in that readiness and knowing that you can not have flash, you need a way of being so committed to be wired to the contract, the contract that we reform this country and victory in the war, you can not blink. "

[Common Sense Party]

12. No machine can translate adequately.

It's always going to sound like gibberish. Only a competent human translator can make it sound good and be accurate.

[Jack_Dawson]

13. This one is decent...

http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/