Book contents
- Lost in Automatic Translation
- Lost in Automatic Translation
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Communicating in English
- Chapter 1 Can We Have a Word?
- Chapter 2 Call the Grammar Police
- Part II Understanding Cultural Norms and References
- Part III Cultural Integration through Language
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Chapter 1 - Can We Have a Word?
from Part I - Communicating in English
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 October 2025
Book contents
- Lost in Automatic Translation
- Lost in Automatic Translation
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Communicating in English
- Chapter 1 Can We Have a Word?
- Chapter 2 Call the Grammar Police
- Part II Understanding Cultural Norms and References
- Part III Cultural Integration through Language
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
Automatic translation tools like Google Translate have improved immensely in recent years. Older translation technology selected the sentence that sounded more natural in the target language among multiple prospective word-by-word translations. Conversely, the current tools learn a sentence-level translation function from human translations. Although they are very useful, automatic translation tools don’t work equally well for every pair of languages and every genre and topic. For this reason, automatic translation didn’t yet make second language acquisition obsolete. Mastering English means being able to think in English rather than translating your thoughts from your native language. The language of our thoughts affects our word choice and grammatical constructions, so going through another language might result in incorrect or unnatural sentences. Choosing the right English words involves obstacles such as mispronunciation, malapropism, and inappropriate contexts.
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- Lost in Automatic TranslationNavigating Life in English in the Age of Language Technologies, pp. 5 - 21Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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