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Free
Translation: English Language <->French Language |
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There are a number of software packages
which will automatically translate between English and French. A basic package
is inexpensive and can be installed on your PC. Alternatively, there are a
number of on-line free translation services (see bottom of this page).
Both can translate from English to French and from French to English (as well as
other languages). The advantage of the on-line services is that they are free,
while the advantage of a software package for your computer means that you don't
need to go onto the internet for translation.
This page discusses how to get the most out of these free
translators, with consideration of common problems associated with them. For
more information on the French language and translation, please go to the home
page, which is at French Language.
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Translating
Words versus Translating Sentences |
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The translation software is more than a
computerised dictionary. Instead of merely translating individual words, a
reasonable package looks at the entire phrase or sentence to determine the
meaning, and then translates appropriately. This is important, as a given word
can have multiple meanings, so a proper translation cannot be done literally,
but must consider context.
This facility is available in most
packages you can purchase, as well as the on-line varieties (e.g. free English
to French sentence translations, and free French to English sentence
translations). Note that the free translations on-line are typically provided by
professional translation firms; when you access their site for the free
translation you will generally see advertisements for human translations (for a
fee, which is how they make their money).
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Quality
of Translation |
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The translation software works
reasonably well. If you receive a letter in French, you can type it into the
computer and generally get a reasonably accurate translation. Likewise, you can write a
letter in English and have a reasonably accurate translation into French. Better
yet, if you get a letter my EMAIL, you can simply cut and paste it into the
translation application.
Unfortunately, no translation software is perfect and if you
can read a little French you
will soon notice the limitations of this method. To begin with, in both English
and French a single word can have multiple meanings and the software is
generally very poor at determining which meaning you have in mind. For example,
the French word douce can mean 'slow 'or it can mean 'sweet'. Consequently, the
French equivalent of "I walked slowly" can be mistranslated to "I walked sweetly". A second problem
is that French frequently uses expressions rather than a single word and
expressions do not translate well. For example, the English word 'postbox'
translates well into the French 'bôite aux lettres'
but 'bôite aux lettres' tends to be translated back literally into 'box of
letters' rather than 'postbox'.
However, despite these limitations, the
software is free and generally very useful. Even if you know a moderate amount
of French, they can provide a quick initial translation which you can
review to see if the translation was well done. If you don't speak any French at
all, the easiest way to check the translation is to translate it back again and
see if you get the same result. In other words, if you write a letter in English
and have it translated into French, cut and paste the French version back into
the software and have it translated back into English. If the translation back
into English looks similar to the original letter, you can assume that the
French version is likely fairly accurate. If the translation back into English
looks very different, you cannot be very sure of the initial translation into
French.
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Cultural
Considerations |
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Ideally, any translation should take
into account not only the accuracy of the translation but also cultural
differences. A letter which is completely suited in English,
if translated
literally, could be overly familiar or even rude within the context of the
French culture.
For informal everyday communications,
most French people will take into account that you are not fluent in either the
French language or in the French culture. This is much less true for formal
business communications, where expectations are much higher. In such cases,
serious consideration should be given to having any translation reviewed by a
native French speaker to ensure that it is not only accurate but also culturally
sensitive.
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Software
and Free Translation Websites |
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Software packages for translation are readily available at most stores that
sell computer software.
If you would like to try on-line free translation websites, they can easily be found by
typing in "free translation" into your search engine.
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