These techniques, when used simultaneously, can make Google Translate vastly more reliable! Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll just provide you with the slides below, including links to examples that you can play with. This is all covered in a YouTube video here.
Here's the link. Right-click on it and open it in a new window or tab:
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
You can try this example here.
That's all for now. If you want to communicate with someone who doesn't speak English, then try sending them this message (by translating it with Google Translate). Be sure to check that you have generated a one-to-one translation (in other words, make sure that A -> B -> A). Rephrase it if needed.
I want to write to you. I cannot read your language. Find a friend who speaks English. Tell them to read this page. It describes a machine. The machine can help us communicate.
In the future, hopefully Google will modify Google Translate in order to perform automatic one-to-one translation verification, and at least highlight in red any sentence which fails.
Russell Leidich
April 12, 2010
