Sunday, February 28, 2010

Google Translator's Mishaps.

I remember a note I once wrote on Facebook. I had tried to write something in French, but knowing me and my not so amazing French skills, I decided not to make a fool out of myself. But what else could I choose that was not "stereotypical" English?

Chinese, of course.

So I wrote something that combined both Chinese and English, and at the bottom, despite knowing that few people actually read my notes, even if I tag them, I wrote, "Free cookies if you read both the English and Chinese part."

Of course, I would be proven wrong. The next day, I find a comment from Argon.

"Does using Google translator count?"

I searched for Google translator online, and then copied and pasted what I wrote into the translation box. With my entire sleep-deprived being in anticipation, I clicked "Translate."

And waited.

And laughed.

To be fair, Google translator is pretty impressive with its translations. There were phrases that were translated that did not take the literal, native-Chinese-speakers-will-laugh-at-this meanings and instead took the meanings I intended. Even some proper nouns were translated.

But to be really fair, the translations were nowhere near accurate. Some sentences were grammatically incorrect. Some sentences were jumbled beyond recognition. Some sentences were, well, the exact opposite of what I wrote.

The other night Kathrya talked about translating Hebrew on Google, and I was reminded of this again. Perhaps Google is better with Hebrew. I am not sure. It could completely be because Chinese has drastically different grammar and word usage rules than English and other Latin-based languages.

Regardless, I wrote a piece about math team members (in a depressing way, as a slight parody to the way math team people usually conduct themselves) in Chinese, and stuffed it into Google translator.

I'm beginning to think I should not trust my French translations as well.


Original Text:

(note: each "chunky" part represents a new person, and that person's Chinese nickname is the first few characters of the block. every time. I made it into a template.

and, try putting this into the translator.)

那人, 那感, 那曾经的事.


想写些什么.

麦芽头已经不像以前那么陌生了. 还是那么的天真, 那么坦白, 那么善良. 记得, 曾经说过, 不喜欢他的名字, 因为那让我想起以前不愉快的事. 可是他和泰不一样. 他明白什么会伤害我. 虽然他依然会那么做, 但是他还是会道歉. 泰, 则一直认为我可以接受他的一切.

红姐曾说过, 和她们在一起, 大家终究会认识的. 我那时只是笑, 没有说什么. 可是我明白, 必须要一直和她们在一起, 才会被她们记得. 而我并不属于她们的世界. 我是一个游荡的文客, 在不同世界中徘徊. 离开后, 会有人惦记, 却不会有人去寻找.

冰岛是一个懂得说实话, 却不愿说的人. 这些人中, 他, 是我最不理解的. 为什么惹我心烦, 却又记得我最琐碎的事? 为什么避开我, 却又莫名其妙与我对话? 为什么既让我厌烦, 却又以他那神秘的方式, 使我陶醉? 这一切, 是他的一个游戏么? 他是庄家, 还是也是一位不知情的玩家?

罗欧真的很像欧洲的伸士, 礼貌, 却又不是那么教条. 没有自我高尚的想法, 没有看不起他人的表现, 却明明比他人出色. 可是, 如欧洲的伸士一般, 他没有王族的权威. 被别人攀比的时候, 他妒嫉么? 他的微笑后, 有多少的苦衷, 我或许无法理解, 但是他的犹豫和他的谎言, 是谁也瞒不过的.

水儿我无法责怪. 踏入黑暗旅程的那一刻, 便注定知道: 走多远, 飞多高, 都是自己决定的. 我, 曾经也那么天真过. 曾经也相信, 只要敢坚持, 就不怕未来带来多少灾难. 而我忽略了, 莫策万变的未来, 是不会让人坚持的. 或许注定这样吧, 让失去梦想的人回望还没有被抹黑的人.

郭大哥似乎很淳朴, 没有太多对世界不满的超升心理. 我曾问过他, 以后想要做什么? 这样的世界就真的满足么? 当时, 他淡淡说起未来, 自我贬低谈起俗世的事情. 而我, 接受了那一瞬间的平静, 一刹那的毫无遮掩的信心. 千年之缘, 在片刻展现. 我们都是相信传说的人, 所以踏过梁河时, 都不禁回头.

瑜加, 是第一个让我情不自禁嫉妒的人. 第一次见到她, 就明白, 她和我是那么的相似, 却会永远比我拥有的要多. 她拥有所有我曾渴望的: 过去, 现在, 和未来. 可是天使般的她, 却也没有得到我最想得到的愿望. 她, 终究也逃脱不了现实的残酷铐锁.

魔法师和我对话是这些人中最少的. 是因为我们的差别太大了么? 他的自信, 我的懦弱; 他的成就, 我的无为. 还记得, 有一回, 我手里拿着一幅画, 被他看到了. 他的眼中, 充满了惊讶. 其实, 他并不是一个懂得虚幻的人. 也许, 这才是我们真正的差别. 他是现实中的又一名成功的人, 而我, 只能在这两个世界中徘徊.

艾里森是个什么样的人? 和罗欧冰岛在一起, 他懂得他的牌么? 他应该明白吧. 他是足够聪明的. 冰冷的表情背后, 他有什么样的梦想? 不过他是不答理我的. 我, 对他来说, 又是一个什么样的人呢? 我虚假的温暖, 会不会让他想起身边的事?

李妃最宝贵的, 务必是她珍藏的面具罢了. 她真的认为, 能够瞒过我们么? 或许她是舞台上的明星, 拥有迷人的笑容, 但是我们是后台的阴影. 所有残酷的谎言和他人所不知的秘密, 都隐瞒不了我们. 谣言, 是她的杰作; 而诱人的谜, 是我的特长. 面具终究会碎的, 因为没有永久的夜.

阿哥或许从来就没有理解我们的争执. 离完美, 他差多远呢? 就是那么几步的距离, 可是他却不敢迈出. 是什么让他犹豫? 他的理由, 和我的一样么? 不敢放弃, 不敢离开, 不敢承担在别人痛苦时自己逃脱的罪. 即使在悬崖边, 也只能眼睁睁看着那么遥远的天空.

玛瑙和我们在一起, 和她平时并不一样. 可是我们从来没有责问过自己, 是不是我们过于要求他人了? 有的时候, 只有在痛苦时, 才明白痛苦是什么滋味. 当我们离开绝望的陷阱时, 早已忘却当时为什么悲哀. 回味过去美好时光时, 是不是也要想一想那些曾遇到过的, 从未愈合的伤口?

温泉就如橡皮泥一样, 轻而易举就能塑成想要的形状. 也许我过于夸张了, 也许与他一样的人真的是太多了. 在随意被摆弄时, 他有没有抗议的想法? 有没有懂得无法改变命运后的绝望? 还是从一开始, 就接受了不公平的现实, 答应放弃?

塞让人最不理解的, 并不是他的冷漠, 而是他那并不冷的冷漠. 似乎关心, 却又毫不理会的他, 会被什么而动心呢? 需要有多大的悲剧, 才会让他觉悟? 也许, 写这些, 就意味着, 我也并不知道答案. 我是一个渴望晚会般虚假漠落的悲剧的人. 音乐, 要凄惨的. 颜色, 要悲凉的. 因为, 外界越痛苦, 就意味着内心与现实的差距越小.

28 rants:

Tea said...

For those of us who can't read Chinese...could you translate the bottom bit to something comprehensible in English? Because a) I don't know who malt head and Thailand are and b) Water, I can not blame the children.

It makes no sense!

Tea said...

My guesses on the people, from the mishmash of incomprehensible google translations.


Malt Head: Irving, maybe?
Hong Jie:
Iceland: Dino
Rohault: I was going to say Lensky, as Europe might be meant to be Russia
Water: Micro? possible?
Guo: Bryant. Or maybe Tybalt. But probably Bryant.
Yoga: I have not a clue
Magic: Mario, perhaps? But you've definitely "dialogued" with him before. I don't know who you talked to the least. But there is something about showing pictures, and I think he saw one of your drawings on the bus to the last meet. Although, that may have been Yuma...
Ellison:Owen? is the Rauhault thing saying he's Iceland's brother?
Li Fei: Melissa? But I wouldn't say she has "seductive mystery." well, I wouldn't say any of us have seductive mystery. It's a bit of a silly phrase.
Huang Elder Brother: Oh, wait, this one is probably Owen. The Elder Brother thing gave it away.
Agate: Gretchen? "with us, and she was usually not the same" is that supposed to mean she just joined? I'm so confusedddd.
Hot Springs: is that one Argon?
Serbian: Yuma? Micro? I know not.

Ginny said...

I totally forgot about Micro. Gotta add him in then. I'll do the translations later (got to go right now).

And, you're right about both Iceland and Huang, although Owen's wasn't supposed to mean elder, just an honorific for the son of the emperor. But it works, I suppose.

Tea said...

And those are the only ones I was right on? Ouchie. Let's try round 2.

Malt head: Argon, maybe? I feel like he would apologize for hurting you. But that could be apologize is a mistranslation.
Hong Jie: Okay, this one can be Bryant.
Iceland: DINO! I GOT IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME! OOOH!
Rohault:That sophomore with the curly hair
Water: Okay, he can be Irving now.
Guo:Fine, it's Tybalt.
Yoga:Oh, me, totally. I am, like, so angelic.
Magic: I still think this is Mario, I don't care what you say.
Ellison: Bryant, perhaps? I'm thinking the Mody's is Moody's
Li Fei: either Gretchen or one of the sophomores, I dunno.
Huang Elder: I GOT IT! I GOT IT!
Agate: fine, Melissa it is.
Hot Springs: I still think Argon.
Serbian: Again, I still think Yuma.

I need to learn to read Chinese. Shouldn't take too long, right?

Gretchen said...

wow...how long did it take you to type all of this?!?! it's very well written :)

malt head:
hong jie:
iceland: tea already got this
rohault: irving
water
guo
yoga: tea
magic: tybalt
ellison: mario
li fei: me (are you included in these?)
huang elder: already solved
agate: melissa
hot springs: yuma
serbian: bryant

i don't feel like i know the others well enough to guess.

Ginny said...

Hmm, let's see.

Before I translate all of that and stuff, let's get some of the basics straight.

Hong jie=Miss Red (or Madam Red, as I was thinking), so it's a girl. And therefore, unless I've been misinformed, it can't be Bryant.

Water's also a girl, no Irving there.

No idea if Mario's seen my art.

Mody is like this weird thing that I've no idea what it is. In my original version, it was supposed to be a sound at the end of a sentence that the Chinese often have.

One of your Argons is right.

I am not included in this, as I'm the "narrator," supposedly.

Rohault was weird. Didn't know what that translated that way, but the Chinese gives more clues than the English translation. I'd advise you to play with the words, but eh, you wouldn't really be able to anyway.

Gretchen said...

then malt head has to be argon

Gretchen said...

so none of mine were right...? that's so sad...

Ginny said...

Sadly, yeah. Try at the names themselves, if you understand them. They're all related to their real names.

(Still translating for Tea)

Gretchen said...

switch rohault and ellison?

so rohault is mario and ellison is irving?

Ginny said...

Nope. Neither. Keep trying though! (:

Oh wait, re-reading Tea's, yeah, Ellison (was meaning it to sound like Allison) is Bryant.

and....

the first part of the translation:

Header+Intro Line:

Those people, those thoughts, those things that happened.

I want to write something.


1. Malt Head (a/n: fashioned from D.Gray-man's Allen Walker's nickname, Moyashi, or Bean-sprout):
Malt Head isn't as foreign and unfamiliar as before. He's still so naive, straightforward, and kind. I remember one time when I told him that I didn't like his name, because it reminded me of unpleasant things. But he's different from Thai (a/n: sure, why not? I chose the Chinese version just because I liked how it sounded). He knows what will hurt me, and even though he'll still carry on, he would apologize as well. Thai always thought that I could accept everything of him.

2. Miss Red:
Miss Red once said, as long as I was with them, we would all eventually know each other. Back then, I only smiled and said nothing. But I know that I have to always be with them in order for them to remember me. I don't belong in their world. I am a travelling author, wandering between different worlds. Once I leave, there will be people who miss me, but none who will try to find me.

3. Iceland (a/n: how'd you guess?):
Iceland is someone who knows how to speak the truth, but doesn't want to do so. Among these people, he is the one I understand the least. Why annoy me so much, and yet still remember the tiniest things about me? Why try to avoid me, and yet still attempt to start conversations with me? Why make me mad, and yet still use his mysterious ways to keep me captivated? Is this all a game for him? Is he the dealer, or is he another unsuspecting player as well?

4. Rohault (a/n: I didn't even know what this was before I saw it):
Rohault is really like an European gentleman, polite, yet not strict (a/n: dogmatic actually works here). He doesn't think he is superior to other people, and he doesn't look down upon others, even though he is clearly better than most. But, just like an European gentleman, he doesn't have the power of the aristocrats. Is he ever jealous when people compare him to others? Perhaps I cannot begin to understand how much pain he is hiding behind his smile, but I can his hesitation and his lies.

Ginny said...

*there's a "sense" between "hesitation" and "and."

Tea said...

Malt Head....I still don't know. Tybalt?

Miss Red: Melissa?

Iceland: I got that from the first line, about knowing the truth but not saying it. I think he's a pathological liar.

Rohault:Tybalt. I think. The comparisons to others being Bryant, since we always say Bryant is smarter, and that could make him jealous.

Gretchen said...

miss red is melissa.
i think i only know maybe 10 people on math team so i can't even guess all the people.

Ginny said...

Malt's Argon, Miss Red nope, Iceland yeah that line's rather telling, and Rohault's Tybalt, yes.

I only have 14 people. Missed Micro, don't know how I did that.

Gretchen said...

wait, is miss red mrs.sherbert???
i don't think so but i thought i might as well throw it out there...

god, i suck at this.

Ginny said...

I also forgot/didn't include the teachers. Kinda felt I didn't know them well enough to talk about them. I guess I also don't know the soph with curly hair that much. Hmm...

Gretchen said...

i don't know any other girls besides you, me, tea, and melissa...

so is miss red tea?

Tea said...

I think I need one of those fancy tables...actually, I'm going to make one. This is fun!

Ginny said...

Miss Red is Tea, yes. With my progress as well, I've only completed the next one:

5. Water (a/n: the "child" part came from a sound-adding suffix that didn't get translated well):
Water, I can't blame her. From the moment she began her dark journey, she must have known: how far you go, how high you fly, it's all your own decision. I was once that naive, and believed that, as long as you dared to persist, then nothing the future might bring can take you down. And yet I forgot that the ever-changing future would not let anyone persist. Maybe it's meant to be, for those who have lost their dreams to look back upon those who have not been tainted.

Tea said...

Wait- can we make certain we're working from the same list of people?
There are 14
Dino, Argon, Owen, Tea, Gretchen, Yuma, Mario, Irving, Melissa, Tybalt, Bryant, Summer, Livny, and Dan.

Did I do that properly or not? It's a mix of my nicknames and yours, and I'm assuming you only used the ones with nicknames.

Gretchen said...

yes! i got one :)

so we got dino, argon, owen, tea, tybalt, bryant.

livny is on math team?

Tea said...

sometimes he is, sometimes he isn't. same goes for dan.

Also, Ginny- I am totally not going to forget about you, I don't care what you say. And I don't know if I'll try to find you and whatnot, but i'll do my best.

Ginny said...

Okay, on progress, the people are:

Dino, Argon, Owen, Tea, Gretchen, Yuma, Mario, Irving, Melissa, Tybalt, Bryant, Summer, Cheryl, and Reno. FF7<3

Anyway.

Next one:

6. Brother Guo (a/n: not sure if you recognize this, Gretch, from 射雕英雄传?):
Brother Guo appears to be very simplistic, with a kind of attitude that transcends the trivialties of this world. I once asked him, what do you want to be when you grow up? Are you really happy in this kind of world? That time, he only mildly talked about the future, and some of those common things in this world, while expressing his inferiority. And I accepted that moment of calm, that brief moment of unshielded confidence. A thousand years of fate unwinds at one instance in time; we're all people who believe in legends, and so when we cross the Liang River (I believe I've heard it somewhere, folklore thing), we can't help but glance back.

And Tea, yay! That's good. There was some exaggeration to make it sound more melancholy. Although the finding me part might be hard, as was previously proven, but still.

Gretchen said...

is guo irving?

tea thinks i'm water.

OMG!!!! YES!!! i was actually chatting with tea about that!!!!

and ginny, i will never let you walk away.

Ginny said...

I want to be let in on this chat.

And, no, he's not. You are Water though. Tea is really good at this.

Next parts:

7. Yoga (a/n: I liked the way I changed her name. it uses both history and word-blending):
Yoga is the first person to make me jealous. The first time I saw her, I knew that we were so much alike, and yet she would always have more than me. She has everything I ever wanted: a past, a present, and a future. And yet as angelic as she is, she does not have what I ultimately wanted. She, too, cannot escape the cruel chains of reality.

8. The Magician (a/n: I wrote a profession, and Google made it into a thing...):
The Magician is the one I talk with the least. Is it because our differences are too great? He has confidence, and I have cowardness; he has successes, and I have my passiveness. I still remember, once, when he saw a piece of my artwork. I could see surprise in his eyes. Actually, he is a person who does not understand surrealism. Perhaps that is our real difference. He is yet another successful person in the real world, and I can only wander between the two worlds.

Gretchen said...

ugh
is the magician irving?

Ginny said...

Yay, okay, next parts... this is really long.

9. Allison (a/n: I refuse to accept "Ellison"):
What kind of person is Allison? When he is with Rohault and Iceland, does he know what cards he holds? He should know. He is smart enough to know. Behind his icy expression, what kind of dreams does he have? But he doesn't really talk to me. What kind of person am I, then, to him? Does my fake warmth remind him of the things around him?

10. Princess Li (a/n: totally copied from that princess who died):
The most valuable thing to Princess Li must be her collection of masks. Does she really believe she can trick us? Perhaps she is that star on the stage, with her dazzling smile, but then we are the shadows behind the stage. All of those cruel lies and secrets that others do not know do not go by us. Lies are her masterpiece, but the entrancing mysteries are mine. Masks eventually will break, because there is no eternal night.

11. The Prince (a/n: no fair that this gave a clue...)
Perhaps the Prince never quite understood our fights. How far away is he from perfection? It's just a few steps' distance, and yet he doesn't dare make that step. What makes him hesitate? Are his reasons the same as mine? Afraid to let go, afraid to leave, afraid to take responsibility for the guilt after escaping when others are struggling. Even if we are at the edge of the cliff, we can only look longingly at the vast skies.

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