OT: language barrier

Probably because there were no vegetables---they came to America to grow you-know-what!

I was going to write my own translator. I used Google translator and it's only 50% usable. Your phase translates into "What kind of vegetables is more and more than you?". Growing means more and more than you? Stupid Google needs better programmer.

I'll work out the right translation later. Got something else to do first.

OK, i translated the result of Google translate. I needed to search, copy and paste.

Try: ???????? ????

Try keeping it simple, 'What type of vegetables?' Might translate better.

Cheers

It translates into: ??????? What vegetable model/style?

A bit more understandable,but still not quite right.

If you do the invert translate of Google translate of OP's phase, you get: What kind of vegetables are you growing? ????????? ????? What kind of vegetables you more and more ?

For my translation: ????????? ???? What you grow vegetables ?

You can see how bad Google translate is. I'll work on mine soon.

By the way, if you happen to walk into a restaurant in China like my German friend did, you might want to try this:

On a sunny day (Sat, 13 Jun 2015 20:51:13 -0400 (EDT)) it happened bitrex wrote in :

Take picture of plants. Ask in plants newsgroup. there is also a picture recogniton app somewhere, no idea if it works. Watch out for these:

On a sunny day (Sat, 13 Jun 2015 22:07:10 -0700 (PDT)) it happened snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in :

Somebody once told me this story; Couple went to restaurant in China (I think it was), with their dog. ordered some spicy food, pointed at the dog, 'dog food too'. OK dog is taken to kitchen. time passes and passes. Big plate is brought in, Steaming dog with vegetables.

man friend did, you might want to try this:

Well, not as bad as that, LOL.

--- Actual --------------------------------------------------- Translate --

-----------------------------

This is (almost) real story. ??? ?????????? ??

An English speaking German in Shenzhen. ??? ?????????? ???

He points to the bowl on the next table. ??? ????????

Foreigner: I want that beef noodle. ??? ?????????? ?

????????? ?????????? ? Waitress: Do you want that tofu noodle? Foreigner: Can I have it medium rare? ??? ?????????? ??

????????? ??????? Waitress: Do you want it hot and spicy?

They seemed to be confused. ??? ?????? So, i asked the foreigner: ??? ??????? Do you want medium rare tofu noodle? ??? ?????????? ??

Foreigner: No, definitely not tofu. ??? ?????????? ?? I want beef noodle. ??? ??????

I translate it to the waitress. ??? ?????????? ?

????????? ??????? Waitress: Oh, he should learn to speak.

I translate it to the foreigner. ??? ????????

Foreigner: Oh, she should learn to listen. ??? ?????????? ???

Oh well, they both could be right. ??? ?????????? ?

Maybe he doesn't know how to respond acurately.

--
umop apisdn

I'd try the reverse translation to see if the choice of word can be tweaked to make sense in both languages

-Lasse

If they are from mainland Chinese, use simplified. If they are from Taiwan use traditional characters. Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanhainese etc are dialects of the spoken language- orthogonal to the choice of glyphs in the written langage. The written language is mostly independent of the dialect (some idioms and usage vary).

I would try something very straightforward- zhe ge shenme? What is it? (pointing at the garden). If they know how to enter Chinese characters into your app you can quickly get a translation even if it's something fairly exotic.

BTW, bringing seeds in to the US unofficially would likely violate biosafety importation rules (serious penalties to protect agriculture), so it's possible they may be playing dumb on purpose.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
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Thanks! Keep working on that translator, I could use it!

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On Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 5:08:12 AM UTC-7, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wr ote:

What do we call it when the inverse transform of a transform does not match the original, irrational transformation?

Example of a Google rational translation: It translates into: ??????? What vegetable model/style?

A bit more understandable,but still not quite right.

Example of a Google irrational translation: If you do the invert translate of Google translate of OP's phase, you get: What kind of vegetables are you growing? ????????? ????? What kind of vegetables you more and more ?

For my translation: ????????? ???? What you grow vegetables ?

As you can see, Google translate could be rational or irrational, and there is no way to judge the accuracy by viewing the result either. Google tran slate is a starting point, but still needs lot of work.

I am using it here in Taiwan, Traditional Chinese to English. It some kind of works for normal longer text, where I can decipher the outcome with more context. For short and technical text it often just creates nonsense.

--
Reinhardt

Your statement is correct for the language usage (simplified vs traditional). But also the written language is different. The Taiwanese used to identify illegal immigrants by giving them Taiwanese text with many glyphs that are not used on the continent.

--
Reinhardt

Anyone wants to write the history of Chinese language fragmentation? If not, i can try. It's mostly due to the civil war in China.

I would have figured they got automatic translation better by now. About

2 decades ago they where already making fun of computerised translation. Back then 'The body is weak but the spirit is strong' became 'The Wodka is good but the meat is tender' when translated to and from Russian. :-)

I guess putting the words in the proper context is the key and another problem is that for a lot of words there are no direct 1 to 1 translations.

et:

?????

????

s.

Yes, human brains are still far superior than computer brains.

Google is bad, but even Baidu is not much better.

From Baidu: What vegetable are you growing ?? ?? ? ??? What vegetable are "you growing"

Basically, it thinks "you growing" is some kind of vegetable. So, "growing" is tied to "you". English speakers understand that "growing" is referring to "vegetable". But Chinese speakers would think that "growing" is referring to "you", since "growing vegetable" has different phase than "growing you".

I need to transplant my brain to the computer.