DPRK Studies in Korean via Google Translator
by Richardson ~ January 12th, 2007. Filed under: Administration, Blogs & Blogging, Terrorism.Update: Information, like a firearm, can be used for good or evil; according to British Intelligence, terrorists used imagery from Google Maps to plan attacks on British bases in Basra.
Original post: Joshua found and implemented the beta English-Korean translator from Google, which apparently isn’t perfect but is better than the alternatives (see OneFreeKorea in Korean). I think it’s a great idea and have added a link to DPRK Studies in Korean to the Areas menu in the left sidebar.
The translator doesn’t seem to do well with proper names or Romanized Korean words, and can come up with some interesting translations. For example, Kevin’s “Big Hominid’s Hairy Chasms” is translated as, “큰 Hominid의 다모 틈,” which if you translated back to English could be somthing like, “Big Hominid’s Hirsutism Chasm.” For that alone, the translator is worth using.
January 12th, 2007 at 9:31 am
That back-translation has a nice ring to it.
Kevin
January 12th, 2007 at 9:48 am
It does seem fitting, in a Konglish sort of way.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:07 am
That picture is absolutely priceless. My favorite is still the souvenir found by one of the lawyers on my defense team in Korea, on the box containing an action-figure toy: “Get ready to crumble obscure!”
January 12th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I’m partial to “Crust” toothpaste from Libya;
http://winterhouse.com/blog/crust_301.jpg
or
http://eye4insanity.blogspot.com/2006/12/another-great-business-name.html
January 12th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Bedspread.
January 13th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
If I live as long as my grandparents did, inventions will come where you plop something in your ear and it translates at about a 90% efficency and webpages will be translated automatically at that level as well. Foreign language learning (for the languages of all but the poorest nations) will be something that only a handful of intellectuals do like those who study Latin or so on.
I just wish they would hurry up about it…
I don’t know if I’ll live to be 80.
(this is also what I tell myself to make myself feel better about having given up on trying to learn Korean)
January 13th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Like I said, looking at the changes that took place in the US/world from when my grandparents were born until they died, and looking at the leaps and bounds technology has made in my own life-time, I have no serious doubts whatsoever that before the next 40 years are up - the need to learn a foreign language will be wiped away by technology.
However, testing out the google translator on one of the pages of my favorite anti-US/USFK site: Voice of People got me this:
http://www.voiceofpeople.org/new/2007011360341.html
Our sugar which is opened most the existing in heaven member of the Assembly “was sent in case summit talk and as the thing ” this it is under in March or April it saw.
Most the member of the Assembly ‘against ‘ “a north and south summit talk accomplishment possibility the hazard line certainly ” it is necessary from the cotton talked the leadership recovery of 6 person conversations to the question together from the 12th and interview which passes.
“North and south summit talks and 6 person conversation leadership recovery hazard lines certainly necessity”
…
That’s clear….