General discussion, how do local Europeans like or dislike. The new translator ?

Nate,

Could you elaborate on which "new translators" you're referring to? Stand alone units or those based on Smartphones?

I haven't tried them for a few years, but I found that Smartphone translators were not always perfect and sometimes provided a completely wrong translation. Locals don't have much tolerance for someone sticking a device in their face and then waiting for a translation. Translators have improved somewhat over the last few years, but in my experience they're not at the "Star Trek" level yet.

You'll find that many of the people you're dealing with will speak English to some degree. If you learn a few of the basic greetings for the countries you're visiting, you probably won't need a Translator.

I've been happily using the Google Translate camera feature in museums that don't have English displays. Clearly not perfect, but I can get the general sense of an exhibit.

From an etiquette standpoint, I have to be mindful of choosing my opportunities to translate, so as not to block the view of others.

That was what I was wondering about. We have traveled several times around the EU, and we have enough stand alone phrases that we get around ok. Many of the reviews for the new ones coming out that are hand held show a lot of promise, but I have wondered how they are accepted by locals .

Thanks

I am confused here. What do you mean by "The new translator"?
I use Google translate occassionally, but I have learnt the hard way not to 100% trust it, it sometimes produces gibberish or something wrong.

For German words I do not know, I use "Leo": https://www.leo.org/german-english/
Which is produced by the "Rechnerbetriebsgruppe der Fakultät für Informatik of Technische Universität München" (Computer Service Group of the Faculty for Informatics of the Technical University of Munich". It is very good for technical words.

I have looked at translators over the years, and do have loaded the Google Translate App, but can't say I have ever tried to hold a conversation with one, I just do not see it working that well in that function, except in a very limited situation.

It is valuable for finding a specific word or phrase, maybe as a prompt or reminder. The camera function is a neat tool, a bit iffy, but helps in getting the gist of what is meant.

Between my limited phrases and others limited English (or very good English) I have never been at an impasse, I suppose at that point, as a last resort, using the voice function of the App might be an option.

We had cake and coffee at an acquaintance’s home in eastern Germany last week. He had just gotten a Google Home device and kept yelling from the dining room into the kitchen “Google wie sagt......auf English”? Needless to say it was hilarious and quite a conversation extender. I’d say if both parties are OK with the artificial conversation helper (a hand held device or Google in the next room) go for it.

We live in a town where few people speak English. Locals are happy to use google translate to either to speak in in Italian, and translates to English (plumbers, building maintenance, etc. or I type in English and show them the Italian. It’s worked for haircuts, restaurants, and even government offices. We’ve used both their phones or ours to make it work.

While we are able to communicate in Italian, sometimes our “American accent” Italian is “Greek” to an Italian.

And we use the camera to translate signs, menus, and posters for local events.

My youngest has a Spanish tutor and she's assured me that Google Translate is far from accurate when it comes to Spanish. I've used it to scan items in supermarkets that I can't decipher but I'd never use it as an intermediary during a one to one conversation, I'd prefer to muddle my way through my limited Spanish or rely on their English which they claim is limited but actually turns out to be rather proficient. Failing that, gesticulation and mutterings of commonly understood phrases usually achieves the goal.

I find a few pertinent words followed by a short sentence or two gets the point across. Anything more than that results in gibberish.

My Italian cousins in Italy have difficulty understanding my perfect Italian due to my American accent😀

I imagine all translators suffer in that while a literal translation works, it often does not account for the context or understand the sentiment of the conversation.

A good example are menus, names of dishes usually do not translate well, or in a meaningful way. I prefer specifically a menu translator rather than google translate, that way some meaningful explanation comes with it. One that comes to mind is a "huarache"; a popular Mexican dish, a masa patty, sort of long oval shaped, that is then topped with various items, but if you look to translate, it shows as a type of leather sandal (The dish was named because the shape is similar). Same with Burrito and any number of other dishes in many cultures.

"My youngest has a Spanish tutor and she's assured me that Google Translate is far from accurate when it comes to Spanish."

That's exactly what I've found. I've "tested" it with native Italian, German and French speakers, and the translation is sometimes "somewhat" correct and sometimes completely wrong. Google Translate has gotten much better but it's still not perfect. I was able to test it during a hospital stay in Italy, and the App definitely has limits. One of the people I conversed with every day while there was a relative of the other person in the room. She was a teacher and between my limited Italian skills and her limited English skills, we managed. The situation was much better on days when her Son also visited, as he had three years of University-level English.

"but can't say I have ever tried to hold a conversation with one, I just do not see it working that well in that function, except in a very limited situation."

That's the point I was making in my earlier reply. Locals won't have a lot of tolerance for someone sticking an electronic device under their nose and then waiting while it produces a possibly incorrect or "mangled" translation. The conversation could go back and forth several times before the intended meaning becomes clear, so I don't see that concept being very practical.