Facebook translation, thumbs up or thumbs down?
With over one billion people being active users of Facebook since 2004 this social media site has taken the world by storm. Being able to connect with friends old and new is an obvious reason why it has quickly become so popular. It’s also become universal, allowing people from all around the world who speak different languages to be connected in one place.
After coming back from a trip abroad and making friends with a Spanish family, we decided to stay connected via Facebook. Unfortunately this brought about an obvious communication barrier, we were no longer able communicate through physical and verbal interaction. How were we supposed to understand each other?
Facebook provides a ‘translate’ button which promotes an automatic translation. A free instant translation seemed too good to be true, were all our translation barriers broken? Unfortunately not.
Firstly the accuracy of the translation made no sense, it seemed to have only processed a word for word translation without comprehending the information. There were no systematic and formal rules followed so it could not concentrate on the context and solve ambiguity and neither makes use of experience or mental outlook like a human translator.
This personal experience of using the machine translator proved it was not effective in achieving its purpose, fortunately we were not conducting serious conversations for professional purposes. If this was the case the consequences could have been disastrous.
The fact that we belong to a world with ever developing technology and communication means cannot be denied, but this ultimately comes with its drawbacks and limitations.
The accuracy and clearly defined nature of a translation is crucial in achieving its purpose. A machine may be easily accessible or cost effective but this does not outweigh the importance of an efficient translation. When dealing with specialised subjects that involve intricate and technical terms and phrases the importance of a meticulous translation is essential. A factor that should never be compromised.
