Posted by Jonathan on March 19, 2003, at 1:39:09
In reply to ¡Los pescados de Babel soy no más largo su tonto! (nm), posted by Tabitha on March 19, 2003, at 1:16:53
Hi, Tabitha :)
The "Language" menu on the posting form is to tell the server which language you intend to write in. It's up to you to make sure you do write in that language: Babel Fish doesn't translate what you write from English into the language in which you choose to post, nor can it tell whether your post really is in the language you chose from the menu.
You can tell which language the author of a post selected by looking at its top line, which lists some or all of the languages
[ English | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português | Español ]
The first (leftmost) of these is what the author chose from the "Language" menu.For example, the server thinks Gabbi's post above is written in English (even though we know better), but it thinks that my near-copy of Gabbi's post is written in Italian. For each of my six "Babel Fische, ich liebe dich" posts I wrote the language like this [Deutsch].
It can be useful to know that the poster's original language is the leftmost on the top line when using this feature for Dr. Bob's original, serious purpose. For example, you don't need to know much French to get more out of the original French plus the Babel Fish translation than the translation alone in a case like this:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021230/msgs/2249.html
The language in which you have chosen to read a post (default English) is the only one listed in the top line of the page that is black and not underlined: the other languages are all clickable links. If you're reading a post in the same language the author chose when writing it, then you see the poster's exact words. That's probably what you're doing now, because I posted this in English. If you're reading a post in a different language from the original (i.e. if the leftmost language on the above list is a clickable link), then the poster's original words are translated by Babel Fish into your language when the server generates the post for you. No translation takes place when you post: the server simply remembers your original words and the language in which you claim to be posting.
If you look at your "Re: how embarrassing" post in French (click on Français if it's a link), you will see exactly what you posted because you told the server you were posting in French. If you now click on "English" Babel Fish will try to translate your words
"I can't do it. I picked a language that is not English from the menu. But, English still!"
from French into English, with little success because the original words aren't French, producing
"I can' T C it. I picked has language that is not English from the finely. Drank, English still!"
So, if you don't want 'Engrish', you have to write your post in the same language as you say you're using. If you need help with a foreign language, you can get a machine translation from
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Hey, I didn't know that "tonto" means "idiot" in Spanish, it casts a new light on "The Lone Ranger".
Jonathan.
poster:Jonathan
thread:210191
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030316/msgs/210601.html