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October 1, 2009
Google Translate: Widget for Websites and In-Page Translation via FF Toolbar
Google is embracing the global web by offering two new Translation features. The first is a widget that can be placed on websites to assist with translation. When a website has the code snippet for the widget, the language settings in a visitor's browser will be detected. If the language is other than the website's language, the visitor will be prompted to have the page translated by Google.
The other new feature was released with the Google Toolbar update last week. For the Firefox version, new advanced in-page translation is available.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on October 1, 2009 5:58 PM
Comments
Without a doubt this is an interesting feature, but how does the translation actually read to a speaker of that language?
Presumably the translation is handled by the same engine as Google Translate. I recently blogged about this kind of machine translation at "Making Sense" (worldaccent.com/blog) and, more importantly, its dangers. It can be great for getting the gist of something, but is also often way off beam.
If a user runs your website through Google translate, they know its at their own risk. If you have "provided" a translation, aren't you more responsible for what it says? As Bing Translator warns you every time you use it: "Automatic translation can help you understand the gist of the translated text but is no substitute for a professional human translator."
And, unless you speak the target language, how do you know if your website is being rendered in perfect prose or as unintelligible gibberish? If you care about what "you" are saying in translation, you're still best off sticking to a human translator.
Jim Making Sense October 2, 2009 6:56 AM
This is a good feature. I wonder what happens when the customer places an order for delivery of flowers on my website. Do I get that in english or chineese?
Daman October 2, 2009 10:01 AM
nyuci
Anonymous October 24, 2009 8:44 PM
