Can teachers REALLY tell when you've used Google translate?

Ok, so I used Google translate cos I couldn't be bothered with my French essay. Today my French teacher said that she can really easily tell when someone has used text translation - is this true??

Reply 1

metalthrashin'mad

16

It doesn't change the word order. I learned that the hard way for German...

Reply 2

cambo211

19

Original post by LoveIsInTheAir.

Ok, so I used Google translate cos I couldn't be bothered with my French essay. Today my French teacher said that she can really easily tell when someone has used text translation - is this true??

They make some very obvious mistakes usually because they literally translate words as opposed to translating the point you're trying to make.

Reply 3

chinaberry

14

Yes- Google translate sometimes gives very stiff translations which don't sound natural. Or they only give one gender version of the verb. It's okay for translating words but not phrases and big blocks of text.

Reply 4

Spexzzz

14

Most likely, languages when translated either come out in different order, its like chinese instructions that has been translated using a online translator you can tell theirs obvious mistakes because words in certain language are different or may have different terms. sometimes output of context

For 1 or 2 lines it should be OK but i wouldn't translate a paragraph it would come of as strangely written.

*I have experience with reading Chinese manuals for Chinese products that have been poorly translated

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 5

786girl

don't use it

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

Bobifier

13

You hear about the grammar, but also it can get the context wrong, or translate a word to something that technically means the same thing but has very different implications.

Reply 7

Hudzy

8

It depends how good you are at French. I used to use google translate sometimes and then read through it to check word order, tenses etc. to make sure it was all correct. Though I suppose on the other hand if you were bad at French (and your teacher was aware of this) then incorrect grammar wouldn't be out of place.

Reply 8

LoveIsInTheAir.

OP

8

Ok, I'm slightly worried now :s-smilie:

I've already handed it in! Anyone who's really good at French, could you PM me so that I can give you the text and you can see if it sounds natural or not?!

Reply 9

dothestrand

10

It just translates the words literally. Sometimes it gives you a different word to what you wanted, as several words have several meanings. And the word order, or just simply the grammar, is often totally wrong.

Reply 10

harmonize

I f you know how to use it them no, if you don't then yes. If you have a simplistic book of French grammar then you can easily google translate and reorder.

I don't think it's good if you need to write anything complex though - I've translated some frnech poetry from a dictionary, then from google, and then read two different academic interpretations and they were all so different.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 11

Bella Occhi

16

I use it when I can't be bothered, but I then go over it and change all the mistakes I see.

Reply 12

Potally_Tissed

19

Just tried writing this into Google translator:

I have decided to study economics as the subject interests me.

And translating it to German:

Ich habe beschlossen, die Ökonomie als das Thema interessiert mich zu studieren.

And translating the German back to English:

I have decided the economy as the subject interested me to study.

Still think it's not obvious?

Reply 13

Historiana

14

Yeah; if you use online translators you either sound slightly retarded, the grammar/phrasing is archaic or plain wrong and because of the literal translation - you won't know the exact native meanings of the words you've translated.

In short, a bad idea. A teacher can easily tell the difference between your personal writing style and that of the internet. Especially when you suddenly "change" in the quality of your writing and are using more sophisticated vocabularly.

You won't learn if you cheat this way. You'll just look lazy and probably slightly stupid if you take the risk.

Reply 14

Historiana

14

Original post by Potally_Tissed

Just tried writing this into Google translator:

And translating it to German:

And translating the German back to English:

Still think it's not obvious?

See? The proof is in the pudding.

Reply 15

Bslforever

15

Translate your text into whatever language you like. Then translate it back to English. Read it over. It sounds like it was written by someone with little to no understanding of the English language. That is what it would read like in whatever language you translated your text to.

For example. I translated that text to French and then back to English. This is what i got:

"Translate your text in the language you want. They were then translated to English. Read about it. Looks like it was written by someone who know little or no English. Thus it would be in the language you translate your text to read."

Reply 16

-honeybee-

15

Original post by Hudzy

It depends how good you are at French. I used to use google translate sometimes and then read through it to check word order, tenses etc. to make sure it was all correct. Though I suppose on the other hand if you were bad at French (and your teacher was aware of this) then incorrect grammar wouldn't be out of place.

This is exactly what I was going to write. As long as you check it afterwards then it should be ok but I wouldn't recommend translating more than a couple of lines at a time as it often gets the context/grammar/gender etc wrong and if there are too many mistakes you may not notice. Also it may literally translate idioms and expressions that are very English so you need to be careful. If you translate your whole essay and don't check it then your teacher will be able to tell - simple mistakes or wooden/unnatural translations will look pretty out of place. The latter especially applies if you are translating from French to English as your teacher will know that you haven't written it if it doesn't flow decently in English.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 17

planetearth

18

Original post by LoveIsInTheAir.

Ok, so I used Google translate cos I couldn't be bothered with my French essay. Today my French teacher said that she can really easily tell when someone has used text translation - is this true??

It is excellent.

Google translate is constantly being updated to make it better, so there is no exact way of measuring how good it is. Currently it is much better than it used to be 2-4 years ago.

I often do most of my French work on translate and get very high marks, despite my teacher consatntly reminding us of how he can find out whether we use translate or not.

For example, for my GCSE French Orals, I typed every single answer out on Google translate. Obviously it isn't perfect, you have to do a bit of editing yourself, but you can add really complicated words, terms and phrases that get you very high marks, which otherwise would have been nearly impossible to put together using only a dictionary. After tweaking the answers and memorising them, I went into exam and got 27/30, despite doing hardly any translation by myself.

If you use it wisely, and use a bit of common sense, google translate can be a lifesaver :wink:

Reply 18

Razzberry

8

Yes, they can tell. - The context and grammar doesn't come out correctly.

Reply 19

LoveIsInTheAir.

OP

8

Original post by Potally_Tissed

Just tried writing this into Google translator:

And translating it to German:

And translating the German back to English:

Still think it's not obvious?

Yeah but I translated mine from French to English and it's perfectly fine, it makes sense :p:

Can teachers REALLY tell when you've used Google translate?

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