As The Irish Times puts it, "word is getting out about translation," especially when Google is involved. Google has announced its latest application, Google Goggles, a visual search engine that works with Google Translate to "read" an image with foreign language text and translate it instantly. This is reminiscent of some of the new ATM machines where you can now deposit a check without entering any dollar amount and moments later see an image on-screen of the check next to the blinking message "Would you like to deposit X dollars?" It's a little bit like magic, a little bit like mind reading; in fact, it's almost more believable that a person is sitting inside the ATM, quickly typing in the dollar amounts of checks as they are deposited.
Likewise, The Irish Times points out in their article that Google's language translation technology is still a little too good to be true, and translators worldwide should not be contemplating a career change just yet. While the technology is exciting, and automated translation tools can be a quick way to find out how the word "cat" is spelled in 10 different languages, difficulties occur as soon as you attempt to auto-translate language in context. Don't believe it? Try using Google Translate to give you the correct translation for the Spanish imperative "eat," conjugated as if spoken by a parent to a child. It will provide you with the translation "coma" which is actually the "el, ella, ud" form of the imperative, as opposed to the correct "tu" form of "comer," which is "come." Sure enough, if you adjust your entry to "You eat!" you end up with something closer, "¡Usted come!" But still, it's far from perfect. There's no need to "trick" a human translator, as he or she would be able to see the context that was implied, and translate accordingly. For that reason, at Language Island we still prefer the human to the machine when it comes to language translation.
The verdict: Google Goggles may be a great accessory for busy travelers, but an unfashionable choice when it comes to teaching language effectively to children.
You can read articles on Google Goggles by clicking on the following links:
*Word Getting Out About Translation
*A Hands-On Tour: Google Goggles Visual Search
*Google Goggles to Translate Text in Photos
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