I mean obviously, all the people asking the questions KNOW how to use it... why would someone just copy and paste it from there and show the answer? that's just stupid... people are asking translations from actual bilinguals - they don't care about your stupid ability to copy and paste from one website to another... do you actually think they wanna get strange english (or other language) translations that actually make NO sense... and mostly mistranslate the meanings?
so... why do you do it? just to get the points? or do you actually think they DON'T know how to use it... or haven't tried it?
2007-12-11 16:53:39 · 10 answers · asked by Rob 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Some might do it for the points but I like to give the benefit of the doubt and believe that some people just don't know any better.
What really irks me is when I see an obvious online-translator translation, signed (under "source"):
- professional translator/interpreter
- 100% bilingual
- linguist
- bilingual teacher
- 100% Hispanic
- I live in (Mexico, Argentina, etc.)
I feel this is very misleading and a disservice to the questioner and Yahoo Answers both.
2007-12-11 17:36:52 · answer #1 · answered by Luna 7 · 7⤊ 0⤋
Online translators can be useful when you search for word, but even than it can be wrong. The reason why people use it to provide an "answer" is very simple - they don't speak that language at all, so how can they tell? Sometimes you have really funny "translations" of phrases in literate way, word-by-word..
The question is: why would somebody bother to answer on something totally unknown to him/her? I don't know is it because of points but it's not the case only in language section (incorrect translation is at least easy to trace, but what about history, for example)
2007-12-11 21:46:57 · answer #2 · answered by Jelena L. 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm totally new to Yahoo! answers and don't quite know the system yet. But if it is similar to Russian one, then people definitely do that to get easy points. It is particularly true for translation questions and "Food and drinks" category, where they just copy and paste loooooooooooongest lists of recipes that have nothing to do with the question. :)
Just trying to understand why I would use computer (on-line) translator to answer a question in Italian which I don't speak at all? I don't know, honestly!
Very good question, I gave it a star! :)
2007-12-11 18:01:22 · answer #3 · answered by Natalya 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Very good question.
I think a lot of people trust these onlinetranslations too much .
They are usefull finding a word you don't know but you shouldn't use them not beeing able to control the result so you should be be fluent in both languages.
2007-12-11 21:04:45 · answer #4 · answered by Ялмар ™ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think its because they want quick points.
Online translation can be GREAT for obscure words or infinitive forms of verbs...but when it comes to syntax or ANYTHING complicated, they are awful.
Personally, I am a bit put off when i see an ugly mass of unintelligible text lol!
2007-12-11 17:00:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Judging by the number of times this has been pointed out, I'd say that yes, others are annoyed. It doesn't bother me any though. Most of the questions that get answers like that are dumb anyway.
2016-03-15 22:04:16 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used a English to German online translator to check myself when I wrote a letter in German. I typed in my English letter to check it against the German one I had written. Of course the grammar was all out of whack. I was especially amused to see that it had translated my name, Carol, as "Froehliches Weihnachtslied" - a joyful Christmas song!
2007-12-13 00:44:22 · answer #7 · answered by Snow Globe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's lame but I guess to get easy points. They could probably get points quicker by voting on unresolved questions. You always see them getting thumbed down all the time anyways so they'll get 2 points only.
2007-12-11 17:14:36 · answer #8 · answered by Manuel B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
that's simple...
Quick points!!!
Sometimes instead of helping, they mess everything up!
2007-12-11 17:04:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
this is interesting..i've starred your question. it's funny..AND true. =]
2007-12-11 16:57:02 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋