Why has Google Translate become so bad?
For the past year, I've noticed Google Translate becoming worse and worse. Every single time I search for what I know is a false friend, Google Translate systematically returns the obviously wrong translation.
The last examples I have are the followings:
- I searched "faux-ami" in English, and Google Translate returned "fake friend" instead of "false friend"
- I searched "en deux temps", knowing that "in two times" was not correct, and it obviously returned the wrong translation again.
All of this while proudly displaying a "Validated by contributors" badge with a shield.
I don't remember Google Translate being so bad in the past, what has happened? It has switched from a reliable translator for phrases and idioms to an unusable piece of garbage. Do we have insights on this?
4 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 58.2 ms ] threadLa Commission a donc réexaminé la question et a décidé d'adopter une nouvelle approche en deux temps.
is given as:
The Commission therefore re-examined the matter and decided to adopt a new two-step approach.
Similarly, "fake friend" is a valid translation of "faux ami". Real-world example from the Web: "Ton partenaire te poignarde dans le dos et un faux ami ne t'aide que dans son propre intérêt." When I translate "Les mots "embrasser" et "embrace" sont faux amis." it gives me 'The words "embrasser" and "embrace" are false friends.'
It may be that the idiomatic translation would be a more appropriate guess with no other context, but really that's a job for a dictionary rather than a translator, and it really should give both. The more context you give it, the more likely it is to make the right guess.