More than translating
By English Spanish Media | January 20, 2023 | New Age Marketing
Google Translate is great if you need to pass your Spanish 1 class or want to find out what a sign means in the airport. If you need more than English for your business, you should never use the free, widely-used translation service. Consider the following when it comes time to translate your website, send an email, or update a social tile for Spanish.
Consider the following for your organization:
1. Google Translate translates word for word, not sentence by sentence.
Spanish uses a system called “conjugating” where every verb has a different form based on who the subject is. Factoring in that there are 14 different tenses in Spanish and 6 different verb forms of each tense, what are the chances Google is going to pick up on the contextual clues necessary to select the necessary form of a word from 84 options?
2. There’s not much precision
Google uses machine learning to look at what you’ve typed in and compares it with other examples in a database of resources. It’s impressive of course, but we’re in an era where an algorithm drawing conclusions between previous works in an instant query is only so accurate.
3. Spanish is different in every single country
Spanish is one of the most regional languages in the world. Words that exist in one country aren’t present in others. There are completely different tenses and meanings of words in Spanish-speaking countries that border each other. Google Translate isn’t matching with your audience because it has no idea who your audience is. Using an incorrect form of Spanish is going to make an audience instantly feel unwelcome.
4. There’s no cultural relevance
f you spoke just based on books you read in school, what impression would you make on those you meet? Google Translate functions on the same principle. Conveying complicated tones such as compassion, urgency, understanding, excitement, and sadness is not possible by machines (yet).
5. Your audience can spot Google translate
Google Translate is used by almost half a billion people annually. It’s no secret that there are online translation tools. There’s a clear message sent when a Spanish-speaking audience sees a sloppy translation or an error that doesn’t feel very human.
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