Thanks to brilliant and wonderful online developments and some very creative people, there are numerous ways you can now use the internet to translate bodies of text – without ever hiring a professional translator. We don’t want to toot our own horn, but we’d like you to keep an open mind about the perils of using these for your business website translation. As magical as they seem, they come with a cost and we’d propose it’s best to leave them as a tool for customers that are stuck for a translation, rather than your entire website translation.
Google Translate
Google translate is one automatic translation services online. It’s becoming an increasingly popular tool because it works quickly, smoothly – and because it’s owned and run by Google. People trust Google, so they trust their translation service. While we are big Google fans and can recognise the usefulness of this particular tool, we’d advise businesses not to rely on it. When a customer is stuck, it can provide some assistance. But it can’t help boost your international and multi-lingual SEO and it will make mistakes that a professional, human translator won’t.
Below are some examples of how online translators can vary, and the effect it can have on the message your hoping to convey.
Mistranslation Examples:
| Online Translator | Translation | Reverse Translation |
| Babylon | Je t’aime beaucoup, miel. | I love you much, honey. |
| Reverso | Je vous aime beaucoup, le miel. | I like very much you, the honey. |
| FreeTranslation | Je vous aime beaucoup, le miel. | I like you a lot, the honey. |
| InterTran | Je vous aime beaucoup , miel. | I love you a lot , honey. |
| Google Translate | Je t’aime beaucoup, le miel.* | I love you very much, honey. |
| Bing | Je t’aime beaucoup, miel. | I love you, honey. |
[Source: http://french.about.com/library/bl-onlinetranslators.htm]
If you’re working in an offline environment, such as a store where you meet customers face to face, some miscommunication can easily be cleared up, questioned, or even partially explained through body language and pointing. A smile, a uniform and good manners convey even more. But when you’re operating a business online, your words and language do a vast majority of the communication. So do your customers, your SEO and your service a favour by investing in certified translators. You’ll see the benefits and reap the rewards.
For some funny mistranslations from around the world, check out the blog a Russian Translator in Dublin.
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