and I’m trying REALLY hard to do something about it. While I’m off getting help, have a look at these:
Bullstrode Whitelocke and the Reasonably Foreseeable Plaintiffs…what a name…can’t say I’m a big fan of that particular type of music, but I make an exception for those lyrics…and you know what’s really sad? I actually get most of the jokes…
…but that’s OK.
Here’s what I actually wanted to put up:
Machine Translation: I’m Sick of Waiting
ARTICLE DATE: 09.18.06
By John C. Dvorak
The way I see it, if computers can now play a credible world-class game of chess, then they should be able to translate complex sentences written in the world’s major languages. They should be able to translate to and from English, to and from French, and to and from Russian. I eventually expect a translation to and from Chinese and Japanese, too. Exactly what’s the hangup?
ADVERTISEMENT We have the computing power to make this work, so why don’t governments all demand it? Throw $10 billion at the problem, and I bet it is resolved sooner rather than later. $10 billion is less than the cost of one month of the Iraq war, just for comparison.
My French has been in decline since 1973, but I sure know enough to find machine French-to-English translations to be an abomination. For example, with rare exceptions, if you go to a wine site to find out about the latest conditions in Bordeaux, these systems will invariably translate the word chateau as “castle,” despite that Americans (and most English-speaking nations) use the word “chateau” as such. And, in fact, it is always used when referring to a Bordeaux winery such as Chateau Margaux. That’s the name of the place.
For some unknown reason, no translation system can understand this simple fact. Is this rocket science? It’s not the Castle of Margaux or Margaux Castle. How hard is this? It gets even worse if the name of the place itself can be translated. Chateau Latour comes back as the Tower Castle or Castle Tower. What good is it to read that “In big news this week Castle Tower was sold to French investors?” Wha? Huh?
This is just one example, but to me, since it is so obvious and brain-dead, it epitomizes the problem. Apparently nobody is really trying very hard. THAT’S the problem.—Continue reading…
Let’s consider an example from Sudouest , an excellent regional newspaper in France. It has a blog at sudouest.com, and I decided to cut a chunk of text and run it through various systems. Here’s the text.
Vous avez essayé d’obtenir une bourse d’étude mais celle-ci, fonction des revenus de vos parents, vous a été refusée. Vous trouvez le cas injuste? Comment cela risque-t-il d’influer sur votre scolarité? Partagez votre expérience sur ce blog en utilisant le lien “Commentaire” ci-dessous..com
A reasonable translation is as follows:
You tried to obtain a scholarship, but it was refused because of your parents’ income. Did you think this was unfair? Tell us how you think it would affect your schooling and tell us your experiences by adding a comment to the blog. Click on the comment button below.
Here are the various results from the online translation systems:
Babelfish:
You tried to obtain a grant but this one, function of the incomes of your parents, was refused to you. You find the case unjust? How that is it likely to influence your schooling? Share your experiment on this blog by using the bond “Comment” below.
Grade: D. That should be experience, NOT experiment. And bond should be link or button. Grammar screwed up.
Freetranslation.com:
You tried to obtain a study stock market but this one, function of the income of your parents, you was refused. You find the unfair case? How that does it risk influencing on your schooling? Divide your experience on this blog while using the link “Commentary” here-under. com
Grade: F. Just horrible—and wrong! (The site offered a human translation of these few sentences for $50.)
PROMT-Online:
You tried to acquire a grant but this one, function of the incomes of your parents, was refused you. You find unfair case? How does it risk having an influence on your schooling? Share your experience on this blog by using link “Comment” below com
Grade: B. You can actually make sense of this. It’s the clear winner here.
WorldLingo:
You tried to obtain a grant but this one, function of the incomes of your parents, you was refused. You find the case unjust? How that is it likely to influence your schooling? Share your experiment on this blog by using the bond “Comment” below.COM
Grade D: Similar errors to the Babelfish translation with additional errors. What does it take to use the proper noun “were” instead of “was?” You was? Please.
The computer revolution began a half-century ago. We should have been able to solve this problem by now. What we need is government resolve, because private industry can’t seem to manage it.
–http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2017280,00.asp
I think part of the problem might be that the people who work in the computer industry CAN’T EVEN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NOUN AND A VERB. How can they be expected to know the difference between ‘was’ and ‘were’? Never mind that it’s practically impossible to take into account all the subtleties of a language. And don’t forget the importance of context. This is one of my favourite rant topics. I really have to shut up now or else I’ll be here all night.
…and now on the Internet, courtesy of YouTube
It’s always nice to know that it’s not only the local version of the show that proves just how low the population’s average IQ is…
For those of you who are non-French speaking, the question is:
What revolves around the Earth?
A: The Moon
B: The Sun
C: Mars
D: Venus
…or red…or basically any other form of alcohol I guess. So I’m feeling pretty happy, especially since I’ve just been catching up on two of my favourite blogs: http://copycommaright.blogspot.com and http://aurgasm.us/. I find all sorts of music there that I would never have otherwise discovered. The Comedian Harmonists were a discovery all of my own, though. So don’t blame those two blogs if you hate the Comedian Harmonists, because they both really do have some good music (and a couple of bad songs, but hey, nobody’s perfect, and I like almost all of the stuff…).
Quote of the Post:
Who hears music feels his solitude peopled at once. –Robert Browning
Even though Browning was a dirty old man (and a dirty young one, and a dirty middle aged one), he definitely had a way with words. Although I think I may have over-cut that quote, since it sounds a bit odd now…
Anywho, I’m off to find people to annoy, wine to drink, etc.
…or maybe it’s still the middle of winter, but that doesn’t matter. It’s Spring in my mind, and everyone should try to extend their music interests. All too often people dismiss songs because they aren’t the right “type”. I, on the other hand, fear I might need to be more discriminating, especially since I like the Comedian Harmonists.
Ve-ronika! Veronika, Veronika, der Lenz ist da!
Veronika, der Lenz ist da, die Mädchen singen Tralala.
Die ganze Welt ist wie verhext, Veronika, der Spargel wächst.
Ach Du, Veronika, die Welt ist grün, drum laß uns in die Wälder zieh´n.
Sogar der Großpapa, sagt zu der Großmama: Veronika, der Lenz ist da.
Mädchen lacht, Jüngling spricht, Fräulein woll´n sie oder nicht?
Draußen ist Frühling!
Der Poet Otto Licht hält es jetzt für seine Pflicht,
er schreibt dieses Gedicht:
Veronika, Veronika, der Lenz ist da, die Mädchen singen Tralala.
Die ganze Welt ist wie verhext, Veronika, der Spargel wächst!
Ach Du Veronika, die Welt ist grün, drum laß uns in die Wälder ziehn!
Der liebe, alte Großpapa sagt zu der guten Großmama: Veronika der Lenz ist da.
Die Sonne frohlocket: Der Lenz ist da, Veronika!
Die ganze Welt ist wie verhext, Veronika, der Spargel wächst.
O Veronika, Veronika, die Welt ist grün, drum laß uns in die Wälder ziehn.
Sogar der liebe, gute, alte Großpapa, sagt zu der lieben, guten, alten Großmama: Veronika, der Lenz ist da.
Veronika, der Lenz ist da, die Mädchen singen Tralala.
Die ganze Welt ist wie verhext, Veronika, der Spargel wächst!
Veronika, der Lenz ist da, da, da, da.
–http://www.die-tonart.de/lyrics/veronika_der_lenz_ist_da.html
It’s kinda cool in a really daggy sort of way. But the movie is really good.
I was going to translate the lyrics, but I can’t be bothered. Sorry… I still have a large list of songs to listen to. You’ll probably be hearing more about them. Soon.
This post was a bit pointless wasn’t it? I posted lyrics that most of you can’t understand about a song most people have never heard of. Or most people my age, anyway. The Comedian Harmonists are surprisingly well known…I have to stress that the movie is REALLY REALLY good, you should all watch it. Once you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Some of them even ended up in America after the Nazis kicked them out. And everything I’ve said will make more sense after you’ve seen the movie. Or looked them up on the net. I don’t really care which you do (psst…the movie is SO GOOD).
I continue my hunt for the ultimate obscure song. Foreign language songs always welcome. Send any ideas you might have my way.
Die Mädchen singen Tralala…
Au revoir
Edit 15 Nov: Why is this post so popular? (I’ve just discovered how to use my blog stats!) Anyway, since people seem to come here rather than to…well…ANY of my other posts, there is more on the Comedian Harmonists coming, I just haven’t got around to posting it. If you actually wanted translated lyrics for this song, e-mail me and I’ll send them to you (my e-mail address can be found on my About page). I would post them, but I’m in a lazy mood at the moment.
is Saturday. Saturday I said. Which means that it is one of only seven days of the week in which you can search for the elusive tigelephant, as pictured exclusively here. Or maybe not exclusively, but you know what I mean. It’s an elusive picture of an elusive creature, and that’s all that matters. So go look for it.
Obviously you didn’t listen to me, or else you wouldn’t still be reading this. How about a link to another site? Will that distract you long enough for me to run off and hide? http://www.acerbia.com/archives/000865.htm. There. Now go look at that and leave me alone so I can actually plan what is going to go on this blog, alright?
