Can Google Translate handle all of your language translation needs?

Can Google Translate handle all of your language translation needs?

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Your next translation project is just around the corner, and it’s been recommended that you use Google Translate instead of your language service provider (LSP) partner. Before agreeing to handle this project in-house, without the assistance of a professional translator, you need a clear understanding of how Google Translate works, its advantages, disadvantages and when the benefits of using it outweighs the disadvantages.

How it works

As humans, we take the written language for granted, making it hard for us to comprehend how difficult semantic language is to translate. Machines, like Google Translate, use algorithms based on what people type in the database to piece together what it thinks are reasonable facsimiles of semantic language.

When it comes to machine translation, there are two types of translation:

    • Word translation: The machine matches one word to another in a different language.
    • Semantic translation: The computer works to create phrases or paragraphs that flow naturally.

Today, Google Translate supports 109 languages and translates more than 100 billion words on a daily basis. But the question remains. How accurate are the language translations provided by Google Translate? Let’s take a closer look at its advantages and disadvantages.  

Google Translate advantages

As a ubiquitous tool that anyone with an Internet connection can use, Google Translate can quickly translate a word or phrase into another language. And as mentioned above, it supports 109 languages, enabling it to cover the world’s primary languages.

As a free tool, it’s accessible to price-conscious individuals and companies around the world. And for businesses, there’s a feature that allows users to translate documents and websites. Although the basic translation tool is free, Google charges a fee for document and website translations as this content is sent to a selected vendor for manual translation.

Finally, there is a mobile app for Google Translate, which many find useful when traveling abroad or conversing with people from other countries. This tool includes an audio option, allowing users to hear the pronunciation of a translated word.

Google Translate disadvantages

Benefits aside, Google Translate is best for light use, and not for serious translation projects. One of its major drawbacks is its inability to pick up technical, or colloquial phrases. When companies rely solely on machine translation to translate medical, life sciences or any other technical documents, they typically find that translation accuracy suffers and comes across stilted or unnatural. And if you don’t speak the language the content was translated into, you might not even notice – but your target audience will.

Unlike professional LSP processes, there is no quality control with the translations Google generates. Basically, you’re stuck with what it produces, unless you hire a translator to review and correct it. And while the tool is free to use, it can cost you money or even damage your brand. Let’s assume you used Google Translate to translate a single page promotional flyer. A quick internal review of the translated copy revealed numerous translation errors. At this point your only option is to engage with a professional translator to make the corrections. While you may have saved money at the start of the project, chances are you’ll pay for it at the end. First there will be the cost to correct the translation errors, and don’t forget the time lost to have the document corrected or even retranslated.

When to use Google Translate

Google Translate can be extremely useful, when used for the right projects and in the right context. It works well when you need a quick translation for a word or phrase, but it’s not ideal for niche areas where industry specific words or phrases are used, or when your product needs to pass inspection and scrutiny with local officials, such as in medical device e-labels. 

While machine translation tools have and continue to advance, they simply cannot compete with professional translators. If you’d like to learn more about how BURG Translations helps you ensure high quality translations, contact us today.