Should You Trust Google Translate?
With the extreme growth of technology in recent years, we can see massive changes in every aspect of our lives.
One of those aspects is machine translation, it is growing every day so fast that people are worried that they might replace translators soon.
But worry not, this is far from happening as languages are evolving by the minute and machines can’t keep up with this.
This means that machine translation won’t be able to take over the translation business.’
Google Translate is one of the world’s most popular machine translation applications.
But is Google Translate a reliable source for your translation?
We’ll take a look at when it was created, its pros and cons, and give you tips to help you get the most out of it for your benefit.
When was Google Translate created?
Google Translate was created in 2006 by Sergey Brin. The reason why he created Google Translate was that he got fed up with the translation system that was used at the time.
He created Google Translate as a statistical machine translation (SMT), in simpler meaning, it translated sentences word by word and was unable to translate full sentences by context.
Later the same year in which it was created, Google Translate changed from (SMT) to neural machine translation (NMT), this version could translate full sentences and can use relevant context to get a good translation.
Currently, Google Translate uses machine learning and human volunteer translators to get an almost accurate translation and not some nonsense translation.
It got so advanced that it doesn’t only translate the text that you type in, it also translates things, like images, videos, and voice inputs.
The 4 Pros of Google Translate
Google Translate makes lots of actions simple, it is quite useful and has lots of perks, like:
- It is free
One of the top perks of Google Translate is a free service.
Why go pay for another translation site when you can have the free one and it works just as well as any other one?
Google Translate is a great choice for a free translation site as it will always be free and it is learning every day how to translate better and better.
- It is fast
Another great feature of Google Translate is, it’s instant. You just type in your words and there you go your translation on the bottom in a second.
This is the speed of the world, everything is going so fast so it is only natural to have quick translation when you need it.
- It is convenient
Having a translation tool that is quick is efficient when you need it.
It will help you finish your needed task quicker and better as it uses machine learning to store the input data so it will improve the output every time it is used.
- It is mostly reliable
Google Translate is quite reliable when used in the correct way and will aid whoever uses it to finish translation quicker than a human.
If you know how to use it, you’ll have a treasure in your hand.
The 4 Cons of Google Translate
Everything in life as it has pros, it will always have cons. This is why we will also present the cons of Google Translate.
- Say bye-bye to your privacy
You will use Google Translate for various reasons, all that data will be used and stored by Google to further the advancement of the program.
This will definitely help lots of people in the near and far future.
But it doesn’t just feel safe to just have anything you input into Google Translate be saved and used.
Many companies weren’t happy that their data was leaked and saved by Google because the employees were translating documents online.
Shocking am I right?!
- Proofreading is out of the window
Proofreading is used by translators to ensure the quality of the translation.
This case doesn’t happen with Google translate, what you put is not proofread so in many cases, you’ll end up with funny translations to light up your day but definitely not your work.
Not a good look in front of your boss for sure.
- You can’t localize or transcreate
A translator will localize your documents for you to reach your audience based on their local language and culture.
A transcreator will transcreate what you give them into the language that you need correctly and professionally.
Google Translate will only translate your sentences from one language to another.
This definitely not a good look for your work if transcreation and localization are needed.
- “Lost in Translation” will be your best friend
Some languages on Google translate are almost very accurate at the current moment.
They could be up to 90% correct and up to basic standards. But some Languages, like Chinese, Arabic, German, etc… are still not completely and fully accurate or up to standards.
The reason for this is that there isn’t enough data to update the translation and also because these languages are very complex so they need context to be done correctly.
5 Tips to get the most out of Google Translate
With all those advantages and disadvantages, you still can use Google Translate to its full potential and get the most out of it.
To do that you need to follow the next tips:
- Use simple language.
- Don’t use personal information.
- Try to use smaller sentences.
- Don’t use big paragraphs at one time.
- Split the paragraphs, one by one
Frequently Asked Questions about “Should You Trust Google Translate?”
Conclusion:
Google Translate is Google’s gift to the world after its amazing search engine.
With all its pros and cons, Google Translate manages to be people’s favorite program for translation.
At the end of the day, machine translation will not replace human translation.
So if you need professional translation services, be sure to contact us at Africa Localize. We offer high-quality translation services that will ensure your message is conveyed accurately and effectively.