Thread: Grrrrrrrrr Translation Websites

Hi everyone, I'm frustrated using Google Translate to learn phrases
in Russian for my gf. It seems every time I type in a phrase there
is a word or 2 with bad translation.

So just when I think I've learned some Russian, I am told that
some of the words are wrong. Can anyone help.

Am I doing something wrong? Should I change translation sites?
Or should I be learning in an entirely different way?

Thanks for any help, sorry I'm just frustrated....

The truth is, no automatic translator will generate perfectly accurate results. It would be best to acquaint yourself with rules of grammar while using dictionaries to study unfamiliar words and phrases. However, you are welcome to post troublesome examples on the forum for help.

Thank you so much! Would I be required to post in Cyrillic? Or can I use latin/english.
I appreciate you offering real help. : )

It is possible to write Russian in... A standard Latin spelling system but..... Eww, it's pretty hard to nail down what the rules are for it. Latin isnt really meant to represent slavic words, cyrillic was handmade for it. Just ask the Polish. Cyrillic is important for various things, among them being pronunciation and understanding aspects of endings, but I guess in theory it's not utterly necessary.

It's important to see words in context for their various slightly different meanings. Google translate just assigns a match for each word, when in reality any given word in a language is like an archery target, with a range of possible interpretations to a similar target in the other language (Sometimes the meaning you want to hit the side of the target and not the center). The absolute best way to learn where the target starts and stops for a word, is to see it hit by various contexts. So you can see just how much the word can be bent before it means something completely different, or just stops making any sense. Some words have pretty small targets, like вода... Pretty much "water" no matter how you spin it.

To do this, I recommend getting an addon for chrome or whatever browser you have, that allows you to double click a word to get its translation, rather than having a whole GoogleTranslate window open. Then you can go to youtube comments or an article and translate *both word by word, and phrase by phrase*. Take each translation with a grain of salt, and after seeing a word in 2-3 contexts it both sticks better and is pretty reliably free of Robotic translation bias.

Originally Posted by xXHoax

It is possible to write Russian in... A standard Latin spelling system but..... Eww, it's pretty hard to nail down what the rules are for it. Latin isnt really meant to represent slavic words, cyrillic was handmade for it. Just ask the Polish. Cyrillic is important for various things, among them being pronunciation and understanding aspects of endings, but I guess in theory it's not utterly necessary.

It's important to see words in context for their various slightly different meanings. Google translate just assigns a match for each word, when in reality any given word in a language is like an archery target, with a range of possible interpretations to a similar target in the other language (Sometimes the meaning you want to hit the side of the target and not the center). The absolute best way to learn where the target starts and stops for a word, is to see it hit by various contexts. So you can see just how much the word can be bent before it means something completely different, or just stops making any sense. Some words have pretty small targets, like вода... Pretty much "water" no matter how you spin it.

To do this, I recommend getting an addon for chrome or whatever browser you have, that allows you to double click a word to get its translation, rather than having a whole GoogleTranslate window open. Then you can go to youtube comments or an article and translate *both word by word, and phrase by phrase*. Take each translation with a grain of salt, and after seeing a word in 2-3 contexts it both sticks better and is pretty reliably free of Robotic translation bias.

Thank you so much for this nice post. I use Chrome so I'll look for an extension. You brought up some great points. Russian is a very difficult language to learn - and I thought Dutch was hard..lol. Well I started using Google Translate when my girlfriend started emailing me large blocks of Russian Cyrillic text, and it works ok, but many times just average. Anyway thank you again for your help. : )

Using Google.Translate for learning phrases is awkward. The current mechanism may help to get the essence of a text. You have to find correct sentences somewhere else...

I`m trying to learn some Georgian now, btw, what Google gives completely annoys me. Probably, one of the least developed vocabularies they provide

Where do I find the correct sentences somewhere else, after I've done the initial quick translation on Google Translate?

Unfortunately, there is no single source for correct sentences. Instead, it is recommended to consult dictionaries for help on individual words, though a translator could be useful for idiomatic language. Start small and try to get a feel for the right syntax.

Nice. Thanks for the advice.

I have used orfogrammka.ru to check my grammatical mistakes. Requires registration, and then just paste your text in the field and push проверить, and it will highlight peculiarities of your text and make some proposals to correct them.

Of course you need to compose the text yourself in the first place and make the corrections by hand.

Originally Posted by Meerkat

Исправите мой ошибки, пожалуйста. Я хочу учиться.

If you insist...

Исправьте мои ошибки, пожалуйста.

Originally Posted by Black Forest

If you insist...

Исправьте мои ошибки, пожалуйста.

Я этого уже знал, но подумал это честнее оставлять вот так. Приятно познакомиться в любом случае!

Ой, забавно. Ведь судят не по словам, а по делам.

Originally Posted by Meerkat

I have used orfogrammka.ru to check my grammatical mistakes. Requires registration, and then just paste your text in the field and push проверить, and it will highlight peculiarities of your text and make some proposals to correct them.

Of course you need to compose the text yourself in the first place and make the corrections by hand.

Nice. Ok, I'm translation large blocks of text at a time. Say 250 to 500 words, will it handle that? Thanks

Originally Posted by Slowhand

Say 250 to 500 words, will it handle that?

Above 500 characters at a time, you will need to pay. Moreover, the service is best suited for writers of Russian, people who already have a working understanding of the structure and style of the language. If you're just inserting the nonsensical dregs that pop out of Google Translate or some other algorithm, Orfogrammka's results will be comparatively flawed; keep in mind that it's not a translator, but rather a grammar checker. If someone is sending you text in Russian, then this service will do little beyond helping you correct any errors that may be present.

It does its job for people who wish to perfect their writing, but, alas, it is not a shortcut to understanding written Russian - or being understood, for that matter.