Site translated to over 50 different lanuages

[Oberst Hajj]

I've modified the site to use Google Translations. If you would like to view the site in your native language, simple click on the corresponding flag at the top of the site. If you do not see your language listed, let me know and I will see what I can do.

If you find the translation poorly translated, let me know as well. Not much I can do about it besides removing that translation, but I will at least look in to it.

Enjoy,

The Col.

[nachinus]

I must say that the spanish translation is not as bad as I thought. In fact is perfectly understandable. :)

[Oberst Hajj]

That's good to know! Most of them will not be 100%, but I'm hoping that they are at least good enough for someone to understand what the tread is about and respond to it if they like.

For those of you that can read and write English and another language, could you please use the translated version of the site to reply to this thread with the quote below?

Make sure to write it grammatically correct for your language and state what language you used. Thanks!


The enemy plane filled my sights as I closed in on him. I squeezed the trigger, only to fire three rounds before my guns jammed!

[bsmith13]

[Edited for readability]

German works, mostly.

[Oberst Hajj]

Umm, okay, try typing that in by and instead of using the forum to quote it or cutting and pasting it.

[CountZero]

"The enemy plane filled my sights as I closed in on him. I squeezed the trigger, only to fire three rounds before my guns jammed!"

In spanish it could be something like:

El avion enemigo lleno mi mira al acercarme a el. Aprete el gatillo, ¡solo para disparar 3 balas antes de que mis armas se encasquillaran!

[Gravitypool]

O avião inimigo encheu minha mira como eu fechada em ele. Apertei o gatilho, apenas três rodadas para o fogo antes de minhas armas atolado!

This is the portuguese translation. It can be understood but still far from good. Keeping the same verbs it would be something like:

O avião inimigo encheu minha mira assim que eu dei uma fechada nele. Apertei o gatilho, e apenas três rodadas de fogo depois as minhas armas atolaram!

but the worst is the thread title that is translated as something like: Site translated for aged 50 and above in diferent languages.

Maybe that's the reasons the translations seem bad, we're not yet 50. (XD)

[Oberst Hajj]

bsmith13, Was the German translation very good?

Gravitypool, would you say the Portuguese translations would help someone that could not read English or would it be to hard to understand what was being said?

[bsmith13]

I find that the more general the language, the better the translation is. When you start talking about specific topics like model building and air combat, the translator starts to show its weakness.

For example, I don't know know how to translate a lot of the jargon in the example you wrote, but I would have translated it thusly:

"The enemy plane filled my sights as I closed in on him. I squeezed the trigger, only to fire three rounds before my guns jammed!"

"Der feindliche Flugzeug waechse gross in meinem Visier als Ich ihn naeherte. Ich habe ausgeloest, aber nur drei Patronen ginge los vor Ich ladehemmung gehabt habe."

The Google Translator renders it like this:

"Der Feind Flugzeug erfüllte mein Sehenswürdigkeiten, wie ich auf ihn geschlossen. Ich drückte ab, nur drei Runden vor meinem Ladehemmung Feuer!"

Which I would I would translate as
"The Enemy (not used as an adjective) Airplane fulfilled my expectations, before I closed him (like a door). I pressed, only three rounds (of a game) before my guns jammed."

So you can see that it's not perfect, but the essence is mostly there.

[ego]

The German translation isn't that bad but still way from beeing perfect. (Just like my English, by the way)

Simple sentences are translated correctly, but the translation of your example doesn't make any sense.

[ego]

I find that the more general the language, the better the translation is. When you start talking about specific topics like model building and air combat, the translator starts to show its weakness.

For example, I don't know know how to translate a lot of the jargon in the example you wrote, but I would have translated it thusly:

"The enemy plane filled my sights as I closed in on him. I squeezed the trigger, only to fire three rounds before my guns jammed!"

"Der feindliche Flugzeug waechse gross in meinem Visier als Ich ihn naeherte. Ich habe ausgeloest, aber nur drei Patronen ginge los vor Ich ladehemmung gehabt habe."


Sorry for correcting but it should read as follows:

Das feindliche Flugzeug füllte mein Visier aus, als ich mich ihm näherte. Ich drückte ab, aber nur drei Kugeln lösten sich, bevor meine Waffen Ladehemmung hatten.

[Oberst Hajj]

I made my example complex to test out the translations on some of the subjects that we might talk about in that level of detail. I think the typical post on here would translate much better and would be quite usable… I hope. lol

[bsmith13]

Yes, my german is very rusty. I haven't had to speak it for 17 years.

[ego]

Yes, my german is very rusty. I haven't had to speak it for 17 years.

Taking that into account your ability to express yourself in this complicated language is extraordinary. My deep respect.

[bsmith13]

Taking that into account your ability to express yourself in this complicated language is extraordinary. My deep respect.

You're very kind:). My only opportunity to dabble in German is my yearly language qualification test, and it never changes. I should do some reading in German, I think...

That being said, your English is much better than my German.

[Gravitypool]

I agree with bsmith: both spanish and portuguese translations can be interpreted by someone not knowing english but as the topic goes to particular fields or not general terms it starts to get very messy.

[Tallyho]

The Japanese translation of the quote is a bit of a mess. It's literally translating most of the terms, so instead of (gun) sight you're getting (physical viewable area) sight. Fire is translated as a kind of conflagration, rounds is coming out as round (shape) and not round (bullet). It would be very difficult for someone who isn't familiar with the English version to understand it.

The translations of the menu options and control panel items are pretty good. Japanese speakers would understand how to use the site, I'd say. As in, they'd know when they have messages, how to answer them, how to change their personal settings, and that sort of thing. There are a few rough areas, but nothing someone with some pre- existing forum experience shouldn't be able to handle.

One problem I did have was changing languages back to English. I'd click on the British flag, but I'd get the Japanese translation of the site again. I could change to another language (like French) and get a translation, but I still couldn't get back to English (clicking the British flag would give me the same translation one more time). To get back to English I had to chop off the language option from the URL and reload the page. Not the biggest problem in the world, but maybe it affects other users, too?

[Oberst Hajj]

Thanks Tallyho. The getting back to English problem I have seen once. It started working again a few minutes later. Not sure if it was an issue with the Google server that renders these translations or not.

Since these translations are to encourage people to the site that do not speak English, do you think the Japanese translation would work for that?

[Tallyho]

Since these translations are to encourage people to the site that do not speak English, do you think the Japanese translation would work for that?

Some of the posts come through fine, and others get mangled. I think it'd take some patience for a Japanese user to tackle the mis- translated grammar and sections of sentences out of order. It's possible, but depends on the user.

The big problem comes with the jargon and slang special to aviation. That often gets mistranslated, but if Japanese users were patient (and board members lent a hand) they could get through.

So, it's not a smooth translation in most cases. The general idea gets across, but it can take a bit of work.