Why Machine Translations Have Failed

Rapid technological progress has made us completely dependent on machines. From moving around to cooking, we employ machines to either make all our tasks easier or to finish the tasks without any human input.

Granted, the use of machines makes our lives so much easier to manage. But at the same time some machines have taken a lot away from us. Take the machine translator for example. Let us fill you in with all the reasons we think the machine translator has failed.

Limited Understanding

Foreign languages tend to be awe-inspiring for those who do not understand them. Each uttered word sparks curiosity  to find out its meaning. Generally, in such a scenario, the speaker can either choose to give a direct translation, or divulge into the background and history of the words, thereby offering the listeners some extra knowledge. Through machines, you might get the translation quickly, but your knowledge will remain limited.

Difficulty in Getting Precise Translation

A word that means ‘flower’ in one language might mean a ‘hammer’ in another. You might use a machine translator to decipher lines from a poem, but be prepared to accept that they might come out lacking any type of depth or emotions.

This is one major flaw that machine translators have not been able to correct. Machine translations are always direct. You will get only the most basic meanings of words. In most cases, it will be of no use to you. Machine languages do not understand humor, sarcasm or any type of emotion when it comes to words. You will hardly, if ever, get a precise translation for the material you want.

Human Assistance

Machine translators are still dependent on human assistance. They need human input to translate large texts. A human operator still has to separate to-be translated material into parts and correct words and grammar throughout the translation process. Isn’t it better to hire a human translator to begin with?

Some old languages, like Chinese, can only be best translated and made easy to understand by human translators. LIMPID provides you with the best Chinese translation services online. So next time you find yourself in need of a Chinese to English translator, contact us directly.