Translation Software 2
Types of Translation Software for German
Global versus Dictionary Translation
You Are Here:
Translation Software 1 > Part 2 > A Perfect Translation? > Online Translators
There are two main categories of translation software: global and dictionary. Global word processor translation programs are intended for entire documents you want to translate from English to German or vice versa. They offer easy and rapid (if not always accurate) translation of longer documents created by most word processors, and usually feature multi-language translation.
Online dictionary programs and some “assistant” software packages are aimed more at “on-the-fly” translation of Web pages or email, sometimes word-by-word or phrase-by-phrase. A third category, “hybrid” translation help programs that are not pure translation programs, will be discussed in more detail below, along with the other types.
Another way of categorizing translation programs is by cost. High-powered, industrial-strength software packages can cost several hundred dollars or more. Lower-cost “draft translation” programs average under $50.00. Surprisingly, it is often difficult to see any significant difference between the performance of so-called high-powered programs and their less expensive cousins. This is one of those rare instances where you may not get what you paid for.
But all computer translation programs, no matter their category or cost, have the same basic flaw: they can't translate as well as a skilled human being. In his online article entitled “Why Can't a Computer Translate More Like a Person?” professor Alan K. Melby explains some of the reasons for this. In another article, “Lost in Translation” (Atlantic Monthly), Stephen Budiansky describes in interesting detail why machine translation is so bad. (See links below.) But the answer can be summed up in a few words: language is much more complicated than it seems.
If all it took to translate one human language into another was a dictionary and a few verb conjugations, then a computer would be an excellent translator. (And it would be a lot easier for us humans, too!) But it turns out that a computer is a lousy translator. Just look at the examples above if you need proof of that! In its current state of the art, even high-powered machine translation often falls short of what an average trained human translator can do.
Not that human translators are infallible. One classic example (from the Melby article) is the famous “We will bury you!” quotation. Supposedly uttered by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956, the remark instantly became one of the hallmark rallying cries of the Cold War. But Khrushchev never said it! His original full statement in Russian should have been translated more accurately and less dramatically as, “Whether you like it or not, we will be present at your burial.” Professor Melby comments: “The English translator, who did not take into account the context of the remark, but instead assumed that the Russian word for 'bury' could only be translated one way, unnecessarily raised tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union and perhaps needlessly prolonged the Cold War.” Oops.
One more category is important to mention. Perhaps best represented by WinDi — "Translation Help in 7 Languages," this category is technically not a true translation program, nor does it want or claim to be. The philosophy behind a program such as WinDI (WINdows DIctionary™ by Language Dynamics Corp.) is basically that computer translation doesn't work, so here are some tools to make translating easier and more accurate. These tools include a verb conjugator, a sentence translator, and a grammar helper.
Although I have not used the full WinDi program, I did try out the online sample version, and I very much like its philosophy. It is definitely the way to go for anyone who has the background to use it, but obviously you need to decide for yourself.
To help you in making that decision, we briefly describe several translation products in a variety of categories below. These are for basic information only.
You Are Here:
Translation Software 1 > Part 2 > A Perfect Translation? > Online Translators
Related Pages - Links
A Perfect German Translation?
An article about machine translation today and tomorrow.
Translate A Text
Our special page allows you to translate from German to English, English to German, or in several other language combinations. Just don't expect too much!
"Lost in Translation"
An article from the Atlantic Monthly (Dec. 1998) by Stephen Budiansky. Why MT (machine translation) is so bad. Computers just don't have common sense! (Atlantic subscribers only!)
"Why Can't a Computer Translate More Like a Person?"
A good question answered in interesting detail by Alan K. Melby of the Translation Research Group.
Systran Translation Software
Translation software for many langauges, including German - for Windows.
Transparent Language
Low-cost EasyTranslator for German and other languages - from Transparent.com. (I have not evaluated EasyTranslator.)
WinDi
"Translation Help in 7 Languages." Technically not a true translation program, but it may give you better results than most computer translators.
MORE > Translation Software for German
Software
German-learning software.
Translating German
Resources and links.
Part 1 of this Feature
With more info and more translation links.
German Newsletters
Subscribe to a free newsletter!
German for Beginners
Our free online German course.
| German Forum 1 |
Deutsches Forum 2 |