DISQUS

DISQUS Hello! Tofugu Comments is using DISQUS, a powerful comment system, to manage its comments. Learn more.

Community Page

Tofugu Comments

Japanese Culture and Language
Jump to original thread »
Author

Another Reason Not to Use Online Translators

Started by tofugu · 1 year ago

Responses to my online translator post were mixed. Some people agreed, while others were defensive. Past differences of thought aside, I found something today that argues unequivocally in favor of my point. It seems that Kosuke Fukudome, a right fielder for the Chicago Cubs, has some well-meaning but very Japanese-illiterate fans.
At a Cubs game earlier ... Continue reading »

34 comments

  • ghindo

    1 year ago

    That's kinda awesome. Those well-meaning fans; God bless 'em.
  • GoddessCarlie

    1 year ago

    I actually had a Russian guy contact me, using an online translator. Most interesting... He of course assisted me in using a good online translation service as well as he didn't realise that in Australia we talk English. I kindly educated him on this point and blocked him... his emails were too hard to read and it was kind of creepy.
  • St

    1 year ago

    Another diplomatic incident caused by online translator-programming hedgehog (オンライン翻訳-プログラミングヘッジホッグ).
  • oo0speed0oo

    1 year ago

    You can't blame people for using them.... its all they got. Especially if you using the translator for something random like japan ebay :)
  • Tofugu_Erin

    1 year ago

    :|
  • oo0speed0oo

    1 year ago

    turn that frown upside down! lol
  • koichi

    1 year ago

    i dunno, i think a flat frown turned upside down is just another flat frown :|
  • Tofugu_Erin

    1 year ago

    Indeed.
  • oo0speed0oo

    1 year ago

    dam you got me...
  • JohtoKen

    1 year ago

    Who knew America and machine translation would entertain the Japanese? Something tells me Futaba Channel's nijiura board is flooding with messages relating to this.
  • DeeLeigh

    1 year ago

    You have to give the guys points for trying, right?!?

    I think most people, if they are going to use an online translator, is they need to translate whatever the result back into the language it was originally put in...but that's just my take...
  • Tofugu_Erin

    1 year ago

    Double translating is hilarious. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but if you haven't:

    1) Go to Babelfish or Google Translate
    2) Type a paragraph in your native tongue
    3) Translate into Japanese
    4) Translate back into English
  • DeeLeigh

    1 year ago

    Point well taken! I have been there many many times...but at the same time it's let me know if I was at least somewhat on the right track...I've have never taken anything I've gotten from an online translator at face value (except for that one time in Spanish class...), but it has let me know if I was way off kilter...
  • mmnessa

    1 year ago

    LMAO, it's like reading something a robot would say.
  • Chester_King

    1 year ago

    What is this.. base ball ?
  • zattsu-ooru

    1 year ago

    There is this vlogger called Sai... I tried to online-translate one of the guy's video titles, long time ago... It came out as "rhinoceros something something.... " Hahahahaah! At least i learned a new word!

    The only reason i use online translators now is if there is just a single kanji or a four-character idiom i don't know.
  • koichi

    1 year ago

    oh man, Sai brings back memories. That kid is from my hometown.
  • zattsu-ooru

    1 year ago

    * and i use worldlingo for that purpose. And as far as dictionaries go, linear is my choise. Rock on.
  • JohtoKen

    1 year ago

    It turns out that "Engrish" phrases are commonly made translating an English sentence into Japanese and then back.
  • Alyssa

    1 year ago

    GO CHICAGO!

    Best City in America ( well, i think Tokyo and Chicago are both amazing )
  • keikan16

    1 year ago

    Well at least they tried I guess......I dont follow baseball really but it seems that there are a few japanese ball players now here in the U.S.
  • ch1ka

    1 year ago

    aaaw the trouble they must've gone to print that stuff on paper just to show their fave baseball player! they must really love the guy... but clearly not enough!
    but ye, great article Erin; its true online translators are really not good.
    if you try to translate the same thing on different online translators, the outcome is completely different on each site. Really unreliable.
    ~use a dictionary, or a japanese speaking person lol
  • Kennin

    1 year ago

    Hahaha, great!
    Reminds me of the good old days in the mid eighties, when I did Aikidō.
    There is a technique where one walks on his knees, called "Shikkō".
    One day, there was this Japanese sensei who visited the dōjō, and as soon as our teacher said the name of that very technique, the Japanese laughed out loudly.
    Apparently we pronounced it wrong, turning it into "peeing". =)
  • Kai

    1 year ago

    i love cubs fans :)
    they mean well.
  • tornadoes28

    1 year ago

    Yes, you are late. But good post. Those translators are extremely unreliable.
  • emiko

    1 year ago

    My friend uses a translator to chat with people in japan, maybe I should tell her to stop.
  • John T

    1 year ago

    Online translation (or machine translation) almost never works in Japanese. Verb tense is emdedded in the word. So in English "I don't go" it's easy to translate those three words. In Japanese the subject is almost always elminated if it is obvious so "I don't go" would look like "godon't". Most translation machines see the "go" but don't conjugate the rest. So if your friend is telling you she isn't coming to America, your machine translator might make you think she is.
  • YoyoKirby

    1 year ago

    Wow... That's pretty o/pwned.
  • Ruka

    1 year ago

    ┌──────┐
    　│　 　 　 　 │
    　│ .偶然だぞ |　
    　│　 　 　 　 　 │
    　(ﾖ─∧＿∧─E)　
    　 ＼（* ´∀｀）／
    　 　 Y 　　　 Y
  • Eevee

    1 year ago

    Ahhh... If only they did work. We all gotta dream, right?

    I'll never forget... halfway through the school year almost my entire French class had used an online translator for their left-to-the-last-minute homework (or more correctly, a few people had and the rest of them copied those people) and it was very apparent to our poor teacher by the time we had marked about half of the assignment. He asked about 5 different people for one sentence and it was all crap. He ended up yelling at us, storming out, and slamming the door behind him. We all sat their in silence for a few minutes and he came back with his tea, sat down, and looked at us. The rest of the period went that way. Never happened again, I gotta hand it to that guy, he knows how to scare high school kids. xD
  • Stephen

    1 year ago

    Not sure if you saw this, Koichi...a little crude, but another example of why one shouldn't use translation tools! http://www.shipmentoffail.com/fails/2008/05/tra...
  • Tofugu_Erin

    1 year ago

    Just so you know... I wrote this article.

    Haha.

    At any rate, I've seen that picture before. Pretty funny :D
  • Ku

    11 months ago

    Wouldn't 「ぜったいおこるぞ」be closest to the actual sentiment...?

    (Just sayin'.)

    Hilarious either way. Fukudome likely has a good laugh every time he looks into the stands.
  • Tofugu_Erin

    11 months ago

    Definitely. Unfortunately, online translators aren't great with context or connotation, haha. Ah well, at least they're entertaining.

Add New Comment

Comments are closed for this post.
Returning? Login