How Google translate brings people together!

[Robin4]

Google Translate is the greatest abomination that has been thrust on modern society! It turns lovely comments into..........! These were wonderful guests and I am sure they would not mind me reproducing their review! It was only written in Chinese and my only strong point in Chinese is, 你好吗, Nǐ hǎo ma (How are you) so I had to resort to Google Translate to get any idea of what they thought of me and Ade!

I have been called lots of things in my life, even and old woman........ but never one of a pair of old wives!

Old wives and a little dog....Google Translate, what the hell are you on about??

I didn't mind so much the comment a bit further on, "He introduced us to his mother and was a beautiful lady".....although Ade thought that was a bit on the rough uncalled for side......all except the 'beautiful' bit!

I guess I will take any 5 star review no matter how I am refered too.....even if I am an old wife!

Cheers.....Rob

[Rachel0]

Haha!  I had a review like that a while ago - all in Chinese - in which my partner Bob was repeatedly referred to as a "beautiful man" and I didn't even get a mention.  I suppose you could say that stories of Chinese languages being difficult to translate into English are just old wives tales ...

[Neli5]

I fully agree that google translate is a adding to the problem. But it's a two way street. Who knows how our kind words get translated into chinese?

On top, I was not aware that these guests recieved my confirmation letter automatically translated into Chinese. Obviously, the wording I use, causes quite some confusion when translated into Chinese, since there is usually a long pause before I recieve any answer.

I recieved answers in serbian in cirilic alphabet telling me "that they would have to return my book" (change booking dates) which in Serbian has no meaning related to booking whatsoever. At some point I recieved a mail informing me that " You late, horse in, horse out" -try to make sence of that. Fortunately, the only thing that mattered is that they would be late. And so on.

The one Chinese group that did know english, kindly asked me to send the confirmation letter to her email.

Only after a couple of frustrating communications, I came to the inevitable conclusion that my carefully worded polite confirmation letter is not as welcoming as I wrote it to be. 

This communication plroblem has been written about in the community center numerous times, somtines even with a bitter tone.

There is a solution: 

It would be usefull if AirBnb would inform us (1) in which case are these letter automatically translated; (2) for which countries are they automatically translated; so that we can take into account translation errors and make sure that we adjust our language to a simplified version which may be translated easier. A sample english confirmation letter which translates correctly would also be useful. Maybe other translation tools are better for English- Chinese -English translations.

They were great guests, I my biggest regret is not being able to share with them the humor of our corespondence.

These are my suggestions and I hope they reach AirBnb support somehow.

Best, Neli

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4 I work for a German company and my German isn't the best (I do speak it, just not terribly well). You should read technical specifications after they're passed through Google Translate: often utter, utter tosh.

I have a simplified welcome letter that I send to guests if they're from a non-English-speaking country. I've put everything into the simplest terms possible. So far, so good. English is such a bizarre language with so many foibles that I'm not really surprised Google Translate has issues with it. Also, so many other languages assign genders to objects/pronouns, and that seems to cause issues (i.e. inanimate objects get referred to as he/she in translation, rather than it. I'm guessing something like that caused the "old wives" translation above!). I've noticed that Translate has a lot of issues with Spanish in particular: I'm not sure why, because it's one of the simplest languages there is.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I'm a professional interpreter currently on assignment with a manufacturing company... don't get me started on Google translate between English and Korean 🙂 

[Ange2]

@Robin4  

"the owner was a pair of old wives and a little dog",  made me laugh,  great opening lines for a fascinating fairy tale  –  "Once upon a time in the land of Robin ..."

[Robin4]

@Ange2

Oh do go on Ange, you would be so much better than me at this....I am sure you and probably @Fred could construct a lovely tale around this pair of old wives.....as long as you do not refer to me as a 'fish wife' ....that is Ade's specialty alone!

Cheers.....Rob

[Kimberly54]

Hey, @Robin4 and all,  you guys (am I calling all of you MEN now?) remember the recent thread on idioms??????  We only scratched the surface, and we use them ALL THE TIME!  Translation programs do not take any of these into account.  You just have to smile.

The other problem is that if you cross a culture that is VERY different, there are some words or concepts that actually do NOT translate AT ALL.  There are truly some concepts that one culture or another do not understand the way you do.  Period. 

Asia (I know, big group) vs non-Asian is a perfect example.

I remember after having lived in Japan, coming back to the US and being in situations where there was absolutely no way--in English--to express what I was thinking/feeling.  There were no words. 

Truly speaking a language isn't just about swapping words, there is a HUGE cultural component--a way of 'thinking.'  Then of course, there is pesky syntax, etc.

Bottom line is that if you don't have a language, have a smile.  If you have to resort to using a translation program (and have the time), translate in one direction, then feed that back through the program in reverse.  If it sort of makes sense, you might be getting close.  If you don't have the other language at all or the alphabet is different, you're just at the mercy of the program.  Smile. 

Who was it that said that a smile is the shortest bridge between two people?

Best,

[Paul154]

God bless the Chinese invasion:

http://justsomething.co/34-hilarious-translation-fails/

Just last week, after negotiating 30 minutes through Google translate with my Chinese guest, she asked me the always dreaded question "Will you want to lose more money?

Google had a superior translation to  the question "Will you accept a discount?"

@Robin4 thank you for lighting up my day. We really can celebrate diversity

[Paul154]

Seriously though, If you are going to communicate with non-english speakers be safe. Don't rely on google to translate nuances.

Keep your questions and statements simple and short.

"When are you coming"  NOT 

"I was wondering when you will come"

I wish Airbnb would support icons in our messages.

[Marit-Anne0]

LOL - you made my day :))

Need to watch that film "Lost in Translation" again soon.

[Sarah977]

Yes, language definitely reflects the culture. While there are many Spanish speaking countries, they all have different idioms and even use some Spanish words to mean completely different things from one country to the next. In Mexico, when referring to something that was broken, the usual way to say that is "se rompio" translated to "it broke", passive. No one ever says "Disculpame, yo lo rompí." (Sorry, I broke it). It is a reflection of no one being willing to take responsibility for being negligent or even accidentally having been responsible for the damage. Not just a foreigner's perception- has been confirmed to me by Mexican friends that it is culture-wide.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4😄 loool

[Kimberly54]

@Sarah977, depending upon the culture, it can also be reflective of the 'class' or level of that person.  Some people are more respectful; others feel entitled.  But culture-wide?  "Oh no!  I'm so sorry--let me replace it please!" (And it's replaced by something better than what was broken.)  I'm specifically referring to Mexican.

Other cultural differences?  Compliment someone on something they own and they immediatly give it to you (I think this is mostly North-European, but I could be wrong).  

I had a Danish neighbor for some years, and if she brought me a 'dish' of something she'd prepared for me, I could NOT return the dish empty!  (sweet ritual, but once you're in, you're really IN!)  Anything else was an insult... which I never did, once I knew the rules!

Best,

[Sarah977]

@Kimberly54   In my experience, and in the specific phrase I was referring to, yes, the attitude seems to be culture-wide. I did not make up the statement that it is a cultural phenomenon- I asked a Mexican friend, who hails from an educated, middle-class family, if that attitude was just something local, in the area where we live, or maybe used by poorer folk who wouldn't be able to afford to replace something that they admitted they broke. Her answer was that no, it is part of the culture and crosses all socio-economic boundaries. She went on to explain where she thinks it comes from, a little too long-winded to go into here. However, I'm sure that Mexicans who have traveled outside their own country and learned different cultural norms may be more willing to admit that they were at fault and offer recompense, as they have seen that that is the accepted behavior in other places. Just as all people who are more worldly and have had to adapt to different customs and manners exhibit attitudes and practices that may incorporate those experiences as opposed to those who never travel far from home, or at all. 

I think never returning the dish empty is a pretty nice custom, by the way. Definitely one a foreigner wouldn't want to be ignorant about.