Machine translation reaching a tipping point? An example of the improvement in the quality of Google Translation.

I happened to be looking at a piece of rather vernacular one-finger-typed Spanish that I had translated into English with Google Translate in 2005 and 2007. There'd been no change in the translation between 2005 and 2007, and the results [A] were of partial value, with some entertaining gibberish.

Today's translation [B] is very much better, remarkably so, as you will see below. There is a translation of the same piece by a native speaker of Spanish is included at C.

Original Spanish

1. Una vez al año se hacia una reunion en algun balneario o algo por el estilo con yodas las familias.

2. Otro punto era que se insistia que la reunion era a (calzon quitao) quire decir que tenes que poner todas las cartas sobre la mesa (no esconder nada) muchas veces requeriamos la presencia de la señora para ver que opinion tenia ella.

3. Los cabezas de grupo al final de la reunion exponian todo lo que su grupo recomendaba y a veces unas verdades o criticas que dolian mucho y era esto que me parece que ayudo a muchos a ver la realidad.

A. 2005 and 23/5/2007 translations by Google

1A. Once a year towards a meeting in some bath or something of the sort with yodas the families.

2A. Another point was that insistia that the meeting was a (trousers quitao) quire to say that tenes that to put all letters on the table (not to hide anything) often requeriamos the presence of the lady to see that opinion tapeworm she.

3A. The heads of group at the end of the meeting exponian everything what its group recommended and truths sometimes or you criticize that they dolian much and was this that seems that I help many to see the reality.

B. 28/7/2010 translation by Google

1B. Once a year to a reunion at some spa or something like that with yodas families.

2B. Another point was that he insisted that the meeting was to (take off your breeches) quire that you have to put all the cards on the table (not hiding anything) often required the presence of the lady to see that opinion had it.

3B. The group heads at the end of the meeting setting out all that his group recommended and sometimes some truths or criticisms that hurt a lot and it was this which I think helped many to see reality.

C. Human translation

1C. Once a year there was a meeting at a swimming spot or place of that kind, with all the families.

2C. Another point was the insistence that the meeting should be “with underpants removed” which means that you have to put all your cards on the table and hide nothing, and often we required the presence of the wife to sound out her views.

3C. At the end of the meeting the leaders of the group reported on all their group recommendations and sometimes there emerged some truths or criticisms which were very painful, and this is what I think helped many to come to terms with reality.

Comments

[Mike Unwalla]

Hello Seb,

Yes, Google Translate can give good translations, specially if the text is optimised for machine translation. In an experiment, English text was translated into Spanish by Google Translate. Six professional translators evaluated the translation for fluency and for accuracy. The translation is satisfactory (http://www.international-english.co.uk/mt-evaluation-en-es.html).

[Tova]

@Mike,
Just thought I would copy paste the comments of Translator 1 who participate in that experiment. That would explain moer accurately the meaning of "Satisfactory" T1 said "Overall, I can more or less understand the general idea and some of the detail. However, some of the key words, examples and sentences do not make sense, appear to be contradictory, do not follow on logically or are unclear, so the point being made is somewhat lost and the reader gets a bit confused. Therefore, as a result, doubt creeps in as to the overall understanding."
I personnaly might find it satisfactory in order to have a general idea about the content of some document, but not to communicate with someone.