Week 7 – Google Translate Is Mid
I love being able to use Google Translate as much as the next person, but I have to keep it real when I say that it kind of sucks. It doesn’t take into account of if a word has two meanings unless you give it the full sentence or context.
We can use “battere” as an example. In Italian, “battere” can mean both “to beat” (as in hitting something) and “to type” (as in typing on a keyboard). However, when you use Google Translate, it may only provide one translation based on context, potentially overlooking the alternative meaning. This limitation can be problematic, especially in contexts where the intended meaning isn’t immediately clear from the surrounding text. As a result, relying on Google Translate may lead to misunderstandings or inaccuracies in communication, especially when only being able to pick up the one word, but not understanding the other context.
If you want to have some fun for yourself, here is a website with a list of Italian words with two meanings. Take some time going into Google Translate and try typing in some of these words and see which translation comes up!
