第1551期:Can computer translators beat humans?

For me, it was bacon. There I was, standing in the streets of Medellin, Colombia, looking hungrily at a delicious empanada. The sign read 'queso y tocino'. Because I'd got my tongue round some essential Spanish vocabulary, I knew that 'queso' was cheese. But 'tocino'? I typed it into my smartphone translation app. What came back? 'Tocino'. I later learned that means 'bacon' in the local lingo.对我来说，这是培根。我站在哥伦比亚麦德林的街道上，饥肠辘辘地看着美味的肉馅卷饼。牌子上写着“queso y tocino”。因为我已经掌握了一些基本的西班牙语词汇，所以我知道“queso”是奶酪。但是“托西诺”？我把它输入到我的智能手机翻译应用程序中。什么回来了？'托西诺'。后来我才知道这在当地语言中是“培根”的意思。Computer-assisted translation is popular. Google Translate, for example, is used by more than 500 million people. But while convenient and easy to use, they are hardly perfect. Now, dropping the odd expression now and again is hardly important on an informal conversational level – as might happen to a tourist on holiday. But in more formal circumstances, such as a medical or legal discussion, the wrong vernacular can be disastrous. So, can a computer translator ever equal a human?计算机辅助翻译很受欢迎。例如，超过 5 亿人使用谷歌翻译。但是，虽然方便且易于使用，但它们并不完美。现在，在非正式的对话层面上，时不时地放弃奇怪的表达方式并不重要——就像度假的游客可能发生的那样。但在更正式的情况下，例如医学或法律讨论，错误的方言可能是灾难性的。那么，计算机翻译可以与人类相媲美吗？The technology has come a long way. These days, people can wear a 'translation earpiece'. These pick up the foreign terminology and translate it directly to the wearer. Andrew Ochoa, chief executive of US start-up Waverly Labs, a producer of one such earpiece, says they work by 'combining a network of algorithms and speech-recognition technology'. But they have limitations. Firstly, there's a delay while the phrase is translated. How long often depends on the connection strength. Secondly, they aren't able to communicate human sentiment well.这项技术已经走过了漫长的道路。如今，人们可以佩戴“翻译耳机”。这些拾取外国术语并将其直接翻译给佩戴者。美国初创公司 Waverly Labs 的首席执行官安德鲁·奥乔亚 (Andrew Ochoa) 是此类耳机的生产商，他说他们的工作方式是“将算法网络和语音识别技术相结合”。但它们有局限性。首先，翻译短语时有延迟。多久取决于连接强度。其次，他们不能很好地传达人类的情感。Human conversation is subtler than just the words used. It has tone, attitude, nuance, for example. "If you want to create a relationship… you need a human translator to make it sound natural," Zoey Cooper, brand and content director at Wordbank, a global marketing and translation agency, told the BBC.人类的对话比所使用的词语更微妙。例如，它具有语气、态度、细微差别。全球营销和翻译机构 Wordbank 的品牌和内容总监 Zoey Cooper 告诉 BBC：“如果你想建立一种关系……你需要一个人工翻译来让它听起来自然。”So, while many professional translators do use computer-assisted translation tools to help them with the repetitive nature of translation, context is important. It might work well for a survey or instruction manual, but for important human-to-human speech, and for the time being at least, better to use a translator, or your message might get garbled or lost in translation.因此，虽然许多专业翻译人员确实使用计算机辅助翻译工具来帮助他们处理重复性翻译，但上下文很重要。它可能适用于调查或说明手册，但适用于重要的人与人之间的对话，并且至少目前最好使用翻译器，否则您的信息可能会在翻译中出现乱码或丢失。词汇表get your tongue round 正确发出……音vocabulary 词汇translation 翻译lingo 语言expression 表达conversational 交谈的，口语的discussion 讨论vernacular 本地话，方言terminology 术语speech-recognition 语音识别sentiment 情绪subtle 微妙的tone 口气nuance 细微差别sound natural 听起来很通顺、自然context 语境garble 让（话语或信息）变得含糊不清，易引起误会lost in translation 在翻译中遗失了