Comments on: Machines Can Ease the Olympics Translation Crunch

By: Why On-the-Fly Mobile Translation Technology Won’t Happen Soon – GigaOM

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:27:16 +0000

[...] one language to another. That’s difficult enough for humans to do; it may not be possible with technology alone. Related research from GigaOM Pro (sub. [...]

By: mankso

mankso — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:23:44 +0000

Have to agree with Brian Barker – computer translation is (and would be) of minimal help to me in the multilingual face-to-face social situations I often find myself in. The investment of time needed for a basic working knowledge of the interlanguage Esperanto is small, compared to any ethnic language.

The resistance to serious investigation of ‘universal bilingualism’ [YOUR ethnic language + non-ethnic Esperanto for all] is truly amazing, even though there is now a 121-year history of successful daily application of the language for all to see, not least in the recently finished 93rd annual weeklong World Esperanto Congress which just terminated in Rotterdam/Netherlands. This congress attracted 1800+ Esperanto-speakers from 73 different countres. Other meetings go on around the world almost daily using Esperanto as the sole means of communication, to which the English-speaking world is largely oblivious:
http://www.eventoj.hu/kalendar.htm
And China has been using Esperanto too in its Olypic reporting:
http://www.espero.com.cn/z-18s/s1/s1-1/08-s1-1a.htm
while Radio China International has had a regular daily program in Esperanto for several decades now, as has Radio Polonia:
http://esperanto.cri.cn/
http://www.polskieradio.pl/eo/

By: Aman Sehgal

Aman Sehgal — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:37:13 +0000

Hi Alistair,
Yes, it is definitely of great help.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:13:29 +0000

Nice post. There is certainly an opportunity right now for human translators as well as technology based translators due to the olympic games.

By: Brian Barker

Brian Barker — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:18:28 +0000

I am not at all certain that computer translation is the long term solution to a worldwide language problem.

People who are starving in Africa, really can’t afford to pay for computer translation, as well as food.

Ultimately then a language like Esperanto must deserve serious consideration. Interestinly nine British MP’s have nominated Esperanto for the Nobel Peace Prize 2008.

You can see detail at http://www.lernu.net

By: Alistair Croll

Alistair Croll — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:13:41 +0000

@Aman No, I actually think it’s pretty inaccurate (see the Garfield link in the text above.) But it’s often good enough to discern meaning. I don’t think it will be used for “frontline” interpretation but I do believe background, technician-to-technician messages that keep things rolling can be improved a lot by this kind of service.

By: Aman Sehgal

Aman Sehgal — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:42:55 +0000

Hi Alistair,

You correctly pointed out that the Olympics translators crunch can be eased out by using computer software but do you believe that a software will be able to translate each and everything properly ? The reason is that text in any language can be very vast and it may not be possible for a software to have entire data corresponding to that language. But yes, this software version of translator will definitely be of great help.