Hey guys..
what is the most accurate translator O_O? as of now that is..
ATLAS translates but.. wordings r sumtimes sooo messed up, that it is hard to understand what the atleast sentence means..
If anyone has a more accurate translator, that sums up the meaning of a sentence plz post here
I'd say that about 75% of the translations are just plainly wrong, though. But to get better results, split your sentences by punctuation marks.
Example sentence from Zero no Maria:
いつもは勝手に僕らに寄ってくるのに、今日は少しわざとらしいぐらいに離れて他のクラスメイトたちと話している。
Nifty: It always speaks with other classmates to come near to us without permission today part a little unnatural. Yahoo JP: I leave it a little today so as to put-on and talk with other classmates to always stop by us without permission. Babelfish: Always although it approaches to me selfishly, today a little purposely leaving to the extent which seems, you speak with other [kurasumeito]. Google: I always stop by and we come to conclusion, today we are talking with other classmates away in about a little hokey. Systran: Always although it approaches to me selfishly, today a little purposely leaving to the extent which seems, you speak with other [kurasumeito].
Me: Though she would usually drop arbitrary in our talks, today she was queerly distanced and talked with other classmates instead.
I have found that those translators are useful for one thing: checking short phrases that WWWJDIC chokes on. Throw anything longer than 4-5 words, though, and they generally get it wrong.
BTW, I have found this to be true for Spanish as well as for Japanese. Google's translation engine is good for short phrases, but nothing longer. And forget about using anything more complex than the textbook language.
As dictionaries go, WWWJDIC seems pretty good. But, like any dictionary, it concentrates on the meanings of single words, though it does have a few short phrases mixed in. Word conjugations it sometimes catches, sometimes not.
there's no such thing yet... if you work at IBM, they do have some of the most advanced machine translator projects... it's currently "in-house" with staff contributing to its accuracy, especially for those phrases that are nuanced like irony/allegory/etc...
a few years back, there was a project called JEMAP (or something like that) that claimed to have good translation system for paragraphs/essays... but it utilized external dictionaries... the focus was on semantics, i think... but i've not heard it make any progress... and it was considerably expensive considering that very few development was occurring and that you still rely on freeware dictionaries...
in any case, machine translations are still a few decades away from allowing translation of novels, i believe... for now,
Speaking as a computer software developer with over thirty years experience, I can tell you that human language translation is a monstrously difficult thing to do. Computers don't think like humans, but rather only do what their programmers tell them to do. They have no insight of their own. Self-programming systems have remained in limbo for a long time now, mostly because us humans don't understand the learning process well enough to write a program that can learn properly.
I appreciate what the programmers over at Google and IBM are trying to do, and I don't envy them their jobs. For the time being, I continue writing software to help them find the bugs in their own programs. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoundsChecker if you are curious.
well, the IBM translation system isn't exactly a "logical" translator... it's supposed to have AI processes through NN-systems (self-learning)...
anyway, i would suggest that instead of MT-systems, one should get a good dictionary instead... if you're like me, get the kodansha for paper/print dictionary and you might also think of something like the ancient microsoft bookshelf dictionary... oh, and apple mac osx has built-in japanese-english and japanese-japanese dictionary too...
It's best to use translators only to single words and if there are expressions ask around. Works much better, translators are just bad at translating sentences.
Can I say something about destiny? Screw destiny! If this evil thing comes we'll fight it, and we'll keep fighting it until we whoop it. 'Cause destiny is just another word for inevitable and nothing's inevitable as long as you stand up, look it in the eye, and say 'You're evitable!'
If anybody's interested, I've created a tool to help myself along with Toradora Spinoff 2!. This tool reads in the transcription text that Vaelis gave me and outputs every single line four ways: the original text, kana, romaji and then as a list of definitions. The program imports the EDICT dictionary file from Jim Breen's WWWJDICT site and scans the original text looking for largest matches. The result is not perfect, but looks quite helpful, at least to me. As an example of the output, this is what it gives for the next paragraph I have to translate (problems highlighted):
Romaji: ¶jitsuha ami ni jimu taiken tsuaa wo tanonda tokiniha, yatsuko no koto dakara, hyottoshite jikka no chikaku dearu mafu ya shirogane, omote sandou atari no, chou yuumei jimu nitsurete ikareta rishite… … nado to awai fuan to kitai wo motte ita noda. kekkiょku futawoakete mireba, ami ga genzai kaiin toshite tootte iru no ha, iroiroatte hoomusutei naka no shinseki taku no kinjo no koko. ryuuji nitotte mo juubun kinjo da.
English:
実は (じつは) = (exp,adv) as a matter of fact/by the way/to tell you the truth/to be honest/frankly/(P)/
亜美 (あみ) = (name) Ami
ジム = (n) gym/gymnasium/(P)/
体験 (たいけん) = (n,vs) personal experience/(P)/
ツアー = (n) tour/(P)/
頼んだ (たのんだ) = (v5m) (1) to request/to beg/to ask/(2) to call/to order/to reserve/(3) to entrust to/(4) to rely on/(P)/
ときには = (exp,adv) at times/occasionally/(P)/
奴 (やつこ) = (n) (1) (arch) slave/(2) retainer/servant/(3) captive/(4) (derog) varlet/(5) (hum) I/me/
奴 (つぶね) = (n) (1) retainer/servant/
奴 (やっこ) = (n) (1) servant (esp. a samurai's attendant)/(2) chivalrous man (c. Edo period)/(3) (abbr) cubed tofu (often served cold)/(4) (abbr) kite shaped like a footman/(5) (abbr) Edo-period hairstyle worn by samurai's attendants/(6) enslavement (of a woman; Edo-period punishment for her own or her husband's crime)/(pn) (7) (arch) (derog) he/she/him/her/
奴 (しゃつ) = (ok) (pn,adj-no) (1) (derogatory or familiar) he/she/him/her/
奴 (やつ) = (pn,adj-no) (1) (uk) (derog) fellow/guy/chap/(2) (col) thing/object/(3) (derogatory or familiar) he/she/him/her/(P)/
奴 (め) = (suf) (1) (uk) derogatory suffix (referring to others)/(2) humble suffix (referring to oneself)/
こと = (conj) also known as/
だから = (conj,n) so/therefore/(P)/
ひょっとして = (exp) by any chance/(should) it happen (that)/(P)/
実家 (じっか) = (n) (one's parents') home/(P)/
近く (ちかく) = (n-adv,n) (1) near/neighbourhood/neighborhood/vicinity/(n-suf) (2) nearly (i.e. "it took nearly one year")/close to/(adv) (3) shortly/soon/(P)/
である = (v5r) to be (formal, literary)/
麻布 (まふ) = (n) hemp cloth/linen/
麻布 (あさぬの) = (n) hemp cloth/linen/(P)/
白金 (しろがね) = (iK) (n,adj-no) (1) silver/silver coin/silver paint/
表 (おもて) = (n) (1) surface/(2) face (i.e. the visible side of an object)/(3) front (of a building, etc.)/obverse side (i.e. "head") of a coin/(4) outside/exterior/(5) appearance/(6) public/(7) first half (of an innings)/top (of an inning)/(8) cover (for tatami mats, etc.)/(9) (comp) foreground/(P)/
表 (ひょう) = (n,n-suf) table (e.g. Tab 1)/chart/list/(P)/
参道 (さんどう) = (n) road approaching a shrine/(P)/
あたり = (n) (1) (uk) on the bank of/by the side of (e.g. a river, pond)/(2) (in the) neighbourhood/neighborhood/vicinity/nearby/(P)/
超 (ちょう) = (n,n-suf,pref) (uk) super-/ultra-/hyper-/very, really (conversational)/(P)/
有名 (ゆうめい) = (adj-na) (1) famous/(n) (2) fame/(P)/
に連れて (につれて) = (conj) (uk) as X, then Y (e.g. as we age we gain wisdom, as wine matures it becomes more valuable, etc.)/
いかれた = (oK) (v5k-s,vi) (1) to go/(2) to proceed/to take place/(3) to die/to pass away/(aux-v) (4) to continue/
りして = (vs-s) (1) to profit/to benefit from/(2) to take advantage of/to make good use of/
など = (n,n-suf,prt) (1) (uk) et cetera/etc./and the like/and so forth/(2) (indicating an approximate quote or vague suggestion) or something/(3) (lessening the significance or value of the previous word) the likes of/
など = (n,n-suf,prt) (1) (uk) et cetera/etc./and the like/and so forth/(2) (indicating an approximate quote or vague suggestion) or something/(3) (lessening the significance or value of the previous word) the likes of/(P)/
淡い (あわい) = (adj-i) light/faint/pale/fleeting/(P)/
不安 (ふあん) = (adj-na,n) anxiety/uneasiness/insecurity/suspense/(P)/
期待 (きたい) = (n,vs) expectation/anticipation/hope/(P)/
持って (もって) = (v5t) (1) to hold/to carry/(2) to possess/(P)/
いた = (int) ouch/ow/
のだ = (exp) the expectation is that .../the reason is that .../the fact is that .../it is that .../(P)/
結局 (けっきょく) = (n-adv,n) after all/eventually/in the end/(P)/
蓋を開けて (ふたをあけて) = (exp,v1) to open the lid/
みれば = (v1) (arch) to go around/
現在 (げんざい) = (n-adv,n-t) now/current/present/present time/as of/(P)/
会員 (かいいん) = (n) member/the membership/(P)/
として = (exp) (1) as (i.e. in the role of)/for (i.e. from the viewpoint of)/(2) apart from... (used to change the topic)/(3) (before a negative form) even (e.g. "not even a single person")/(4) (after a volitional form) thinking that.../trying to.../(P)/
通って (とおって) = (v5r,vi) to pass (by)/to go through/to walk along/to pass exams/to attend (e.g. school)/(P)/
いる = (oK) (v1,vt) to cast/to mint/to coin/
いろいろあって = (exp) (uk) what with this and that/for a number of reasons/(P)/
ホームステイ = (n) homestay/(P)/
中 (なか) = (n) (1) inside/in/(2) among/within/(3) center (centre)/middle/(4) during/while/(P)/
中 (うち) = (n,adj-no) (1) inside/within/(2) while/(3) among/amongst/between/(pn,adj-no) (4) we (referring to one's in-group, i.e. company, etc.)/our/(pn,adj-no) (5) my spouse/(n) (6) (arch) imperial palace grounds/(7) (arch) emperor/(pn,adj-no) (8) (ksb:) I (primarily used by women and children)/me/
中 (ちゅう) = (suf) (1) medium/average/middle/(2) moderation/(3) (abbr) middle school/(4) (abbr) China/(n-suf) (5) in/out of (e.g. three out of ten people)/(n-suf) (6) during (a certain time when one did or is doing something)/under (construction, etc.)/while/
中 (じゅう) = (suf) (1) through/throughout/in the course of/(2) all over or throughout (e.g. a place)/
親戚 (しんせき) = (n) relative/(P)/
宅 (たく) = (n) house/home/husband/(P)/
近所 (きんじょ) = (n,adj-no) neighbourhood/neighborhood/(P)/
ここ = (n) (1) (uk) here (place physically close to the speaker, place pointed by the speaker while explaining)/this place/(2) these last (followed by a duration noun and a past sentence: time period before the present time of the speaker)/(3) these next ... (followed by a duration noun and a non past sentence: time period after the present time of the speaker)/the next .../
ここ = (n) (1) (uk) here (place physically close to the speaker, place pointed by the speaker while explaining)/this place/(2) these last (followed by a duration noun and a past sentence: time period before the present time of the speaker)/(3) these next ... (followed by a duration noun and a non past sentence: time period after the present time of the speaker)/the next .../(P)/
竜児 (りゅうじ) = (name) Ryuuji
にとって = (exp) (uk) to/for/concerning/as far as ... is concerned/regarding/
十分 (じゅうぶん) = (adj-na) (1) plenty/enough/sufficient/satisfactory/adequate/(n,vs) (2) division into ten/(adv) (3) perfectly/thoroughly/fully/in full/(P)/
The original transcript that Vaelis gave me is about 334K in size. The annotated transcript output by my program is about 11Mb in size, and took about three minutes to generate on my computer.
The program has no intelligence whatsoever right now. An approximation of that will come later. For now, I need to return to working on the story.
