Dr. Angus Andrea Grieve-Smith
@grvsmth@lingo.lol  ·  activity timestamp yesterday

YouTube has a new "auto-dubbing feature" and I got hit with it a few days ago. I was watching videos about international ferry trips, and one of the videos I had queued up started with an artificial voice speaking English.

Someone clearly thinks this is awesome and The Future, like a babel fish. But there are problems:

1. Some people understand more than one language.
2. Translations aren't always reliable.
3. I wanted to hear the guy's real voice and tone.

#linguistics #translation
The Japan Times
@thejapantimes@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 days ago

It’s been 12 years since an English translation of novelist Natsuo Kirino’s work was published, and “Swallows,” a novel centered on a poor, disillusioned woman who becomes a surrogate, is well worth the wait. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/09/05/books/natsuo-kirino-swallows-review/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #books #natsuokirino #lisahoffmankuroda #translation #literature #books
abadidea
@0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange  ·  activity timestamp 2 weeks ago

the translation on Wikipedia vs my New Living Internet Translation. 🐴

#chinese #classicalchinese #translation #localization #autism #actuallyautistic #horses

(long text warning) When the world is graced by people with Horse Autism, then we also have Thousand Mile Horses. Such horses are actually quite common; it’s having enough Horse Autism to recognize them that’s rare. Hence, though a horse may be an S-Rank pull, it is humiliated at the hands of a filthy casual, dying in a stable without ever being recognized as a horse that can run a thousand miles. Such a horse needs to eat a metric fuckton of grain, but the guy feeding horses couldn’t recognize what he has on his hands without a metric fuckton of help. Hence this horse, though it has such enormous potential, never eats its fill, never unlocks its true power, it never gets a chance to shine and it gets assigned scrub tier on the Horse Leaderboards; who’d look for top talent in the bronze league? You whip it wantonly, you don’t feed it enough to reach its potential, it cries out to you and you just crack the whip again, grumbling “there ain’t a damn decent horse on this earth;” is it really the horse, or is it your neurotypical ass?
(long text warning) When the world is graced by people with Horse Autism, then we also have Thousand Mile Horses. Such horses are actually quite common; it’s having enough Horse Autism to recognize them that’s rare. Hence, though a horse may be an S-Rank pull, it is humiliated at the hands of a filthy casual, dying in a stable without ever being recognized as a horse that can run a thousand miles. Such a horse needs to eat a metric fuckton of grain, but the guy feeding horses couldn’t recognize what he has on his hands without a metric fuckton of help. Hence this horse, though it has such enormous potential, never eats its fill, never unlocks its true power, it never gets a chance to shine and it gets assigned scrub tier on the Horse Leaderboards; who’d look for top talent in the bronze league? You whip it wantonly, you don’t feed it enough to reach its potential, it cries out to you and you just crack the whip again, grumbling “there ain’t a damn decent horse on this earth;” is it really the horse, or is it your neurotypical ass?
(long text warning) When the world is graced by people with Horse Autism, then we also have Thousand Mile Horses. Such horses are actually quite common; it’s having enough Horse Autism to recognize them that’s rare. Hence, though a horse may be an S-Rank pull, it is humiliated at the hands of a filthy casual, dying in a stable without ever being recognized as a horse that can run a thousand miles. Such a horse needs to eat a metric fuckton of grain, but the guy feeding horses couldn’t recognize what he has on his hands without a metric fuckton of help. Hence this horse, though it has such enormous potential, never eats its fill, never unlocks its true power, it never gets a chance to shine and it gets assigned scrub tier on the Horse Leaderboards; who’d look for top talent in the bronze league? You whip it wantonly, you don’t feed it enough to reach its potential, it cries out to you and you just crack the whip again, grumbling “there ain’t a damn decent horse on this earth;” is it really the horse, or is it your neurotypical ass?
(long text warning) The Tang dynasty poet Han Yu (768–824) wrote a well-known fable about Bole and qianlima. Only when an era has a man like Po-le are there thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common, but Po-les, on the other hand, are rare. Thus even though there may be famous horses, they only become abused under the hand of the man to whom they are enslaved, and they die in the stables—never having been recognized as thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses at times consume a whole dan [approximately 60 kg] of grain in one feeding. If the one who feeds them does so without knowing they are capable of a thousand-li, then even though they may have the ability to go so far, they, having not eaten their fill, are lacking in strength, and their talent and beauty are not apparent. Moreover, if one wanted to rank them with regular horses, they would not make the grade. How then could they be asked to have the ability of going a thousand li? They are whipped inappropriately and fed in such a way that they cannot fulfil their innate talents. Yet when they cry out, they cannot be understood. With whip in hand the man approaches them and says, "There are not any good horses in the empire." Alas! Is it that there are really no good horses or is it perhaps that there is no one who really understands horses?
(long text warning) The Tang dynasty poet Han Yu (768–824) wrote a well-known fable about Bole and qianlima. Only when an era has a man like Po-le are there thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common, but Po-les, on the other hand, are rare. Thus even though there may be famous horses, they only become abused under the hand of the man to whom they are enslaved, and they die in the stables—never having been recognized as thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses at times consume a whole dan [approximately 60 kg] of grain in one feeding. If the one who feeds them does so without knowing they are capable of a thousand-li, then even though they may have the ability to go so far, they, having not eaten their fill, are lacking in strength, and their talent and beauty are not apparent. Moreover, if one wanted to rank them with regular horses, they would not make the grade. How then could they be asked to have the ability of going a thousand li? They are whipped inappropriately and fed in such a way that they cannot fulfil their innate talents. Yet when they cry out, they cannot be understood. With whip in hand the man approaches them and says, "There are not any good horses in the empire." Alas! Is it that there are really no good horses or is it perhaps that there is no one who really understands horses?
(long text warning) The Tang dynasty poet Han Yu (768–824) wrote a well-known fable about Bole and qianlima. Only when an era has a man like Po-le are there thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common, but Po-les, on the other hand, are rare. Thus even though there may be famous horses, they only become abused under the hand of the man to whom they are enslaved, and they die in the stables—never having been recognized as thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses at times consume a whole dan [approximately 60 kg] of grain in one feeding. If the one who feeds them does so without knowing they are capable of a thousand-li, then even though they may have the ability to go so far, they, having not eaten their fill, are lacking in strength, and their talent and beauty are not apparent. Moreover, if one wanted to rank them with regular horses, they would not make the grade. How then could they be asked to have the ability of going a thousand li? They are whipped inappropriately and fed in such a way that they cannot fulfil their innate talents. Yet when they cry out, they cannot be understood. With whip in hand the man approaches them and says, "There are not any good horses in the empire." Alas! Is it that there are really no good horses or is it perhaps that there is no one who really understands horses?
abadidea
@0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange  ·  activity timestamp 2 weeks ago

In all seriousness, people's ability to connect emotionally with ancient cultures is heavily impeded by stuffy academic translations that follow form over meaning. For example, the translation on wikipedia falls for the classic pitfall of being overly invested in the exact units of measurement given, even though "a thousand li" and "a whole dan" are very much vibes-based, not precise measurements in a mathematical treatise.

All translation is interpretation; if someone wants no interpretation between them and the text, then they have to knuckle down and learn the original language (hey, that's what I'm doing right now). Being afraid to actually speak the idiom of your audience in your translation only strangles it into a lifeless lump lying between languages, lacking the spark that drove someone to write it and others to preserve it.

#translation #localization
abadidea
@0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange  ·  activity timestamp 2 weeks ago

the translation on Wikipedia vs my New Living Internet Translation. 🐴

#chinese #classicalchinese #translation #localization #autism #actuallyautistic #horses

(long text warning) When the world is graced by people with Horse Autism, then we also have Thousand Mile Horses. Such horses are actually quite common; it’s having enough Horse Autism to recognize them that’s rare. Hence, though a horse may be an S-Rank pull, it is humiliated at the hands of a filthy casual, dying in a stable without ever being recognized as a horse that can run a thousand miles. Such a horse needs to eat a metric fuckton of grain, but the guy feeding horses couldn’t recognize what he has on his hands without a metric fuckton of help. Hence this horse, though it has such enormous potential, never eats its fill, never unlocks its true power, it never gets a chance to shine and it gets assigned scrub tier on the Horse Leaderboards; who’d look for top talent in the bronze league? You whip it wantonly, you don’t feed it enough to reach its potential, it cries out to you and you just crack the whip again, grumbling “there ain’t a damn decent horse on this earth;” is it really the horse, or is it your neurotypical ass?
(long text warning) When the world is graced by people with Horse Autism, then we also have Thousand Mile Horses. Such horses are actually quite common; it’s having enough Horse Autism to recognize them that’s rare. Hence, though a horse may be an S-Rank pull, it is humiliated at the hands of a filthy casual, dying in a stable without ever being recognized as a horse that can run a thousand miles. Such a horse needs to eat a metric fuckton of grain, but the guy feeding horses couldn’t recognize what he has on his hands without a metric fuckton of help. Hence this horse, though it has such enormous potential, never eats its fill, never unlocks its true power, it never gets a chance to shine and it gets assigned scrub tier on the Horse Leaderboards; who’d look for top talent in the bronze league? You whip it wantonly, you don’t feed it enough to reach its potential, it cries out to you and you just crack the whip again, grumbling “there ain’t a damn decent horse on this earth;” is it really the horse, or is it your neurotypical ass?
(long text warning) When the world is graced by people with Horse Autism, then we also have Thousand Mile Horses. Such horses are actually quite common; it’s having enough Horse Autism to recognize them that’s rare. Hence, though a horse may be an S-Rank pull, it is humiliated at the hands of a filthy casual, dying in a stable without ever being recognized as a horse that can run a thousand miles. Such a horse needs to eat a metric fuckton of grain, but the guy feeding horses couldn’t recognize what he has on his hands without a metric fuckton of help. Hence this horse, though it has such enormous potential, never eats its fill, never unlocks its true power, it never gets a chance to shine and it gets assigned scrub tier on the Horse Leaderboards; who’d look for top talent in the bronze league? You whip it wantonly, you don’t feed it enough to reach its potential, it cries out to you and you just crack the whip again, grumbling “there ain’t a damn decent horse on this earth;” is it really the horse, or is it your neurotypical ass?
(long text warning) The Tang dynasty poet Han Yu (768–824) wrote a well-known fable about Bole and qianlima. Only when an era has a man like Po-le are there thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common, but Po-les, on the other hand, are rare. Thus even though there may be famous horses, they only become abused under the hand of the man to whom they are enslaved, and they die in the stables—never having been recognized as thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses at times consume a whole dan [approximately 60 kg] of grain in one feeding. If the one who feeds them does so without knowing they are capable of a thousand-li, then even though they may have the ability to go so far, they, having not eaten their fill, are lacking in strength, and their talent and beauty are not apparent. Moreover, if one wanted to rank them with regular horses, they would not make the grade. How then could they be asked to have the ability of going a thousand li? They are whipped inappropriately and fed in such a way that they cannot fulfil their innate talents. Yet when they cry out, they cannot be understood. With whip in hand the man approaches them and says, "There are not any good horses in the empire." Alas! Is it that there are really no good horses or is it perhaps that there is no one who really understands horses?
(long text warning) The Tang dynasty poet Han Yu (768–824) wrote a well-known fable about Bole and qianlima. Only when an era has a man like Po-le are there thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common, but Po-les, on the other hand, are rare. Thus even though there may be famous horses, they only become abused under the hand of the man to whom they are enslaved, and they die in the stables—never having been recognized as thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses at times consume a whole dan [approximately 60 kg] of grain in one feeding. If the one who feeds them does so without knowing they are capable of a thousand-li, then even though they may have the ability to go so far, they, having not eaten their fill, are lacking in strength, and their talent and beauty are not apparent. Moreover, if one wanted to rank them with regular horses, they would not make the grade. How then could they be asked to have the ability of going a thousand li? They are whipped inappropriately and fed in such a way that they cannot fulfil their innate talents. Yet when they cry out, they cannot be understood. With whip in hand the man approaches them and says, "There are not any good horses in the empire." Alas! Is it that there are really no good horses or is it perhaps that there is no one who really understands horses?
(long text warning) The Tang dynasty poet Han Yu (768–824) wrote a well-known fable about Bole and qianlima. Only when an era has a man like Po-le are there thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common, but Po-les, on the other hand, are rare. Thus even though there may be famous horses, they only become abused under the hand of the man to whom they are enslaved, and they die in the stables—never having been recognized as thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses at times consume a whole dan [approximately 60 kg] of grain in one feeding. If the one who feeds them does so without knowing they are capable of a thousand-li, then even though they may have the ability to go so far, they, having not eaten their fill, are lacking in strength, and their talent and beauty are not apparent. Moreover, if one wanted to rank them with regular horses, they would not make the grade. How then could they be asked to have the ability of going a thousand li? They are whipped inappropriately and fed in such a way that they cannot fulfil their innate talents. Yet when they cry out, they cannot be understood. With whip in hand the man approaches them and says, "There are not any good horses in the empire." Alas! Is it that there are really no good horses or is it perhaps that there is no one who really understands horses?
Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar
@yngmar@social.tchncs.de  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago
#GoogleTranslate seems to be getting worse and worse, sometimes omitting entire sentences or ignoring meaningful words.

Hilariously, it also attempts to translate all-digits dates but then messes them up so they become a completely different date somehow. E.g. 2025-05-26 somehow becomes January 1996 🤷

#DeepL is going the other way, getting quite good now, even at more obscure stuff like blog posts with wordplay and spelling errors.

This observation is based mostly on Lithuanian/English examples.

#Translation

alcinnz
alcinnz boosted
Aurimas Černius
@aurisc4@floss.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 months ago

Used Firefox web page translation feature for the first time. Up until now it was mostly annoyance due to drop down appearing on it's own (is there a setting to turn that off?).
The German website was translated seemingly well. Of course I can't verify, but since it was just a simple read, it was good.
One thing where it didn't work that well was initial cookie prompt, where it translated text, but not text on buttons, had to guess which one does what.

#Mozilla #Firefox #translation