Re: Multi Language Support on the AS/400 -Reply

Chuck wrote:
> I WONDERED about just how well ANY
> computer-based language "translator" could be 

A "real world" example:

I speak fluent German and thus pick up the
ocassional odd dollar doing translations.  A
friend had some documents to translate, along
with some PC package claiming to be able to
translate English into German & vice versa.  She
asked me to just "look over" the output and
correct any "minor grammatical mistakes" that might
be there.  The document in question was some kind
of survey and the English version of one of the
questions was as follows:

"Please rate your proficiency with English -
Poor
Fair
Excellent"

The actual meaning of the resulting German
translation was as follows:

"Please value your skills in English

Lacking money (e.g. "poor")
County "Fair" or Marketplace
Outstanding"

I still chuckle today at the thought of any native
speaker of German NOT familiar with English trying
to make sense of that!
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