Span 2001-Intermediate Spanish I

Span 2001-Intermediate Spanish I

A Note About About the Use of On-line Translators

Most of us are aware that the internet is full of very useful and time-saving resources. Among these resources are a number of on-line translators, which are capable of translating text quickly from one language into another. This can indeed be a great help when researching on the internet, particularly when documents that one needs are available only in a foreign language.

Keep in mind, however, that this is the primary and most appropriate use of an on-line translator. It is capable of producing a readable and basically comprehensible translation of a text for pragmatic purposes; it does not, however, produce a polished final version of the text in question.

Here is a sample excerpt of a Spanish-English translation of a text about “El Coco,” the Spanish version of the “Boogey Man,” to illustrate the point:

The Coco is a popular personage, known by all son neighbor and member not only of universal myths but of the archetypes of the unconscious group of the towns, although a police record of so feared delinquent does not exist. And it does not exist for the simple reason that never it has been let photograph and not even has been let see the clear ones. Its presence noticed, or rather it was intuited, in mists at night, the dark of the corners of the house, in the chirriantes noises of the platform, the doors and the windows. The coconuts, in fact, are inhabitants of improbable, neighboring of the nothing and the protagonists of our nightmares.

The Coco is so capable and slippery that not even they have been agreed on his physical aspect. It has been described of so many ways (small, giant, hairy...) that until have said that he is invisible or that it does not have form.

***A link to the full text of this translated document as well as the Spanish original (http://perso.wanadoo.es/avgar/coco.htm) is available on the Intermediate Spanish homepage; you will see that it doesn’t get any better down the road…

As you will probably note, while the text is readable, it is full of awkward phrases in English. It leaves one word “chirriantes,” which it simply doesn’t recognize, in its original Spanish, and while it appropriately leaves “El Coco” in its original form in the first instance, later in the first paragraph it reverts to a more common translation as “coconut.” That is, the on-line translator, unlike a human being, is unable to evaluate the context of the words it translates.

Now, imagine that a student of English as a Second Language turned this in as part of a writing assignment. As a teacher, what would you do with it??

The Internet can be an incredibly valuable resource in the language learning process, but like most things it is not infallible. I encourage you to make use of resources like on-line dictionaries and translators in a responsible fashion. But they can become a disadvantage to you if you use them incorrectly. Your long-term goal in learning a foreign language is to begin to think and function in the new language as well as your own. This doesn’t happen if you continue to rely on the grammar and structures of English in the belief that these will translate directly and simply into Spanish. This is the primary reason to avoid relying on things like on-line translators to do your work for you.

Another reason, of course, is that this constitutes plagiarism, and will result in serious consequences to your grade and possibly to your academic standing at the university.

As you begin your first writing assignments, please spend some time on the activities on p. 23-24 of your “Cuaderno de Práctica,” which has good tips on the most effective use of dictionaries; these principles will also apply to the use of on-line resources.

Also, while it will certainly be challenging initially to think and express complex ideas in Spanish, there is no better time to get started. Please resist the temptation to write out your composition in English first and then translate it. Whether you do this yourself or with the aid of a translator, it will not produce the best results.

Ø Instead…

ü Try limiting your use of English to a simple outline of what you want to communicate in your composition, using simple phrases and key concepts rather than full sentences in English.

ü Once you have this outline in place, try to think through the ideas and express them using the Spanish you are comfortable with at this point, even if it seems simplistic.

ü Avoid using a lot of idiomatic expressions unless you can verify their equivalents in Spanish; idiomatic language very rarely translates directly from one language into another.

ü Keep in mind you simply do not have the linguistic sophistication in Spanish that you do in your native language, and that this is perfectly normal and acceptable at this level.

Little by little you will move beyond this limitation if you challenge yourself and keep at it.

Buena suerte.