Google Translate: 5 Important Reasons Why You Need To Avoid It
How many of you have used Google Translate to do translation? Google Translate is a free online tool that everyone can easily access. It has given convenience to many of us when we need to translate from one language to another, but do you know it may cost you more than you think?
If you have used Google Translate before, how accurate do you think it is? Most of the time, it can translate word to word accurately. But when it comes to a short sentence or a longer paragraph, you may notice that it may not be as accurate as you think if you are also familiar with the target language.
It can be a good tool for a quick translation. But if you need to translate a formal document, such as legal contracts, training materials, or financial reports, Google Translate may not be the right tool for you. Let’s discover the reasons you should avoid using Google Translate for your documents.
Get To Know Google Translate
Google Translate was introduced in April 2006. In the initial stage, United Nations and European Parliament documents were used to collect linguistic data. To improve the quality of translation, Google used AI and Machine learning in 2021 to deliver better translation results. Google Translate can now translate 37 languages.
Reasons To Avoid Using Google Translate #1 – Risk Of Breach Of Confidentiality
This is a part most people may not expect. Using free translation tools, such as Google Translate, can help you save time and money. But be careful if you are going to translate confidential documents.
You need to bear in mind that free translation tools don’t sign an NDA. Using free translation tools has the risk of your confidential information leaking out. There are some companies found out that their confidential data was leaked out after their employees used online translation tools to translate the documents.
If you are translating confidential documents, do think twice when you use a translation tool. If you don’t want to take the risk, do look for a professional translator to help you translate your confidential documents.
Reasons To Avoid Using Google Translate #2 – Contextual Misunderstandings
When translating from a language to another, you need to have a good understanding of the language. You need to understand the meanings that surround it. Contextual misunderstanding is a common issue that will happen when using Google Translate.
Many online translation tools rely on algorithms to translate the words. It works well for straightforward sentences. But it may not be accurate for idiomatic expression or specific phrases involving culture. The translation that it gives you are usually nonsense.
Without context, the documents you need to translate won’t be able to be translated in the right order. It is important to understand the words themselves so that they can be translated accurately. This is what Google Translate lacks.
Reasons To Avoid Using Google Translate #3 – Grammatic Errors
Grammatical accuracy is important to convey the message from one language to another. Google Translate may be a convenient tool to help with translation, but it often struggles with grammar. It can lead to many issues and provide effective communication.
One of the main issues Google Translate faces is that it is hard for it to maintain the syntactic structure of sentences in different languages. Each language has its own sentence structure. Google Translate may be able to translate individual words successfully but often fails to capture the grammar in each language, which can cause the translation to sound unnatural or awkward.
Google Translate also often fails to use the correct verb forms and tense agreements. Users may be confused with the translated text as it may not be accurate.
Reasons To Avoid Using Google Translate #4 – Quality Assurance
It is important to ensure the quality of translation to avoid any mistakes or misunderstandings. Google Translate depends on algorithms to do the translation. It lacks the expertise of cultural knowledge, contextual understanding, and linguistic skills that a professional translator has.
There are words that carry multiple meanings. It depends on context and cultural background to decide which word is the exact word to use in the translated text. Google Translate may not be able to do it due to its algorithmic approach, which can lead to inaccuracies.
You will still need to proofread the translated text if you are using Google Translate, which may not be as convenient as you think. A professional translator will provide better quality assurance than Google Translate.
Reasons To Avoid Using Google Translate #5 – Missing Human Touch
Although Google Translate provides convenience to most of us, it is still a machine translation. It lacks emotions and is unable to express itself. Human touch is an important part of translation. It helps to express the emotion that is needed.
For example, subtitle translation should express the emotion of the character. Literacy translation should express what the author says. Business document translation should use more formal words.
Google Translate uses the best words that they consider to be the most accurate based on statistics. It is hard for them to convey the emotion behind the text, which lacks the human touch. It may not meet the needs of the targeted audience.
Wrap Up
Google Translate definitely provides the speed and convenience that most of us need. But is it really accurate that we are able to rely on it? Above are some of the reasons that we should try to avoid using Google translate. It is still best to look for a quality translator. But in the end, it is still up to you to decide.
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