正義の剣

正義の剣（せいぎのけん）seigi no ken: light saber

正義（せいぎ）seigi literally means 'justice' and 剣（けん）ken means 'sword'.
As a result, the Google Translate translates it as 'Sword of justice'. But it actually means 'light saber', a special kind of sword made out of laser light. Yes, you are right, the one from Star Wars!

The language has adapted 正義の剣to mean the Light Saber but Google Translate is yet to adapt to inter-cultural adaptations!

正義の剣（せいぎのけん）seigi no ken: light saber

行けます

行けます（いけます）ikemasu: can go

4. Potential Form of Verbs

Google translate doesn't distinguish between the root verb (simple present) and its different forms (like potential form, passive form, etc). Though it correctly translates it when used in a sentence, the standalone verb forms don't seem to make any sense if you use Google Translate.

行けますmeans 'can go'

超過料金

超過料金 (ちょうかりょうきん) choukaryoukin: extra charges

3. Combination of Terms

There are cases where each of the individual terms are correctly translated but the combination is often absurd. For example, 超過料金 (ちょうかりょうきん) choukaryoukin means extra charges. But Google translates it as overage charges. 

超過料金 means Extra Charges

Yes, 超過（ちょうか）chouka means overage/surplus/excuss; while 料金（りょうきん）ryoukin means fees/charges. But the term overage charges isn't commonly used. The natural flow of translation is lost. The translation is not meant to give out a not-so-common term as a translation, but to provide the most common and the closest to the nuance projected. 

Google Translate Community

Google Translate Community!

Today I was both delighted and depressed at the same time. Google Translate recently released its own community called the Translate Community to correct and/or improve translations in order to provide an 'error-free and natural' way of translating from one language to another. They need our help, the help from each and every one of us! Whichever language we are comfortable in; not just Japanese or English!

Google Translate Community

Its good because this means Google acknowledge that ther are errors in their in-built translation. And over time, these obvious errors will fade away because of our contribution (a human factor) to the translation. At the same time, I was sad because just weeks after I start blogging about the obvious errors in Google Translate, Google, the internet giant starts a dedicated community to correct its errors? Is it simply a coincidence ? The probability is too weak and yet it happened. Or is there any other factor like a bigger group working on the mishaps of Google? The darkness in this situation saddens me.

But either way, my blog is just getting started! So, stay tuned for more updates.

Arithy.

経験に富む

経験に富む（けいけんにとむ) keiken ni tomu: to be rich in experience

2. Too much of Flexibility in Structure

Google Translate doesn't understand phrases when it comes to sentence structure. For example, 富む（とむ）tomu, which means to be abundant, proliferate or to be rich in something is correctly translated. But when a phrase is tried, say; 経験に富む（けいけんにとむ) keiken ni tomu, means to be rich in experience is still a verb and we expect the translator to do just fine. But it is too flexible in its sentence structure that it assumes a subject as the speaker and translates it into an absurd meaning of 'I rich in experience'. This again is a fundamental mistake by Google Translate. It should be '(verb) to be rich in experience'.

経験に富む（けいけんにとむ) keiken ni tomu, means to be rich in experience 

僕は友達が少ない

僕は友達が少ない　(boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai): I have little friends

1. The Exemplary Contextual Error

One of the problems with Google Translate is that it has too much of information and very little contextual analysis. Computers all by themselves cannot completely understand language. It is not just the connotations that are missed by the machine but the whole context itself. One of the most exemplary models to illustrate this is as follows:

僕は友達が少ない([bwtgs]: boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai ), means I have little friends. For those of you who watch anime might have guessed what happens when you try it in Google Translate. It simply translates as `Haganai`. What does that even mean!?? And there are no alternatives available in the Google Translate.

The actual phrase in Japanese is the title of a short anime seires and since its name was a little too long, its dubbed version in English was titled `Haganai`!  This is a complete contextual error which the machine couldn't identify because it simply saw that most people who searched [bwtgs] mostly looked for the anime and not the actual phrase in Japanese! What a shame!!

僕は友達が少ない(ぼくはともだちがすくない）boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai, means I have little friends

Introduction

Introduction

This blog is not just aimed at pointing out outright mistakes while translating texts from Japanese to English using Google Translate, but to understand and appreciate the process of learning a new language. It is also to emphasize on the fact that language is not just about syntax and vocabulary, but also about the feeling expressed as a cultural entity.

Why Japanese?
I started learning Japanese in late 2014. I work in a Japanese company and Japansese is very essential, not just in the work environment but also in the daily life. Now I'm in my intermediate level of Japanese competency. The communication skills are more about practising with native speakers than simply reading books. That's when you realize that there is a lot of things that is wrong about Google Translate. Yes, it is good and handy when it comes to translating terms, but it often fails when translating sentences. The nuance is lost many a times.

What's wrong with Google Translate?
Google translate uses a word by word literal translation. It sometimes updates its vocabulary with phrases or idioms, but it is a long way from aptly translating a given sentence. I would go to the extend of saying that it lacks the knowledge of grammar and it lacks the flexibility in sentence structure. Especially with a language so intense and complicated as Japanese, one cannot always rely on Google Translate. In fact, it can lead you to awkward situations, as in what you intended to say was completely different from what the Google Translate told you! When I understand the meaning of certain words or phrases; and I try to use Google Translate, this often happens. I have noted a few exceptionally funny ones and will post it soon. As I keep encountering more of them, I would include them as well.

Target Audience?
People with any interest towards Japan or Japanese can find this blog to be interesting. I guarentee you that! You needn't be an expert in Japanese. Just read it with an open mind. That's all I ask for.

Thanks,
Arithy.
2015.02.16.