PROS AND CONS OF USING MACHINE TRANSLATION

APPLICATIONS AS LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

Nowadays, learning foreign languages is very important. Along with the development of
technology today, there are many ways for foreign language learners to improve their
knowledge easily and conveniently. We must mention translation applications that help a
lot in learning foreign languages, and the benefits and harms that it brings.
Advantages
First of all, it is convenient, easy and fast to use translation applications. Learners do not
need to use a dictionary, if they want to know the meaning of a word, just enter the word
into the application. You can even translate sentences and paragraphs quickly by entering
sentences and paragraphs into the application. From there, learners can understand the
whole sentence, the whole paragraph without looking up every word. Some applications
allow to translate sentences, paragraphs through images, learners do not need to type or
copy paste text to save a lot of time. Besides, learners can use the application anytime,
anywhere, as long as they have a smart device.
Next to mention these applications are almost free of cost. Learners can download the
translation application for free from the app store on smart devices using Android or iOS
software. Learners can use the application online (it will cost Internet service but not
much) or use it offline (there will be no cost).
Here are some useful translation applications:
- Google Translate
Topping the list of English to Vietnamese translation software with images is Google
Translate. Surely all of us are familiar with this application, right? However, some people
often use the web version, so they have not discovered all the great features of the Google
Translate software on the phone. One of them is translating English into Vietnamese with
pictures. You just need to capture the text area to be translated, and you will get the result
in just a few seconds. Extremely convenient and fast.
Another advantage of Google Translate is that you can translate offline, that is, without
an Internet connection. Plus, with over 58 languages supported translate to images, you
can choose and request any language pair to be translated. As a product of Google,
Google Translate is currently a popular English to Vietnamese translation software and is
chosen by many people.
- Microsoft Translator
Another application that also supports translating English to Vietnamese with images is
Microsoft Translator. This is software developed by Microsoft, trusted and downloaded
by many people every year. Microsoft Translator supports translating more than 60
languages, users just need to capture the text to be translated and get quick results.
Microsoft Translator even has the ability to automatically recognize the original
language, which means you do not need to select the original language when capturing
text. However, a small advice is that you should still choose the language of the original
text to get a smoother, more accurate translation.
- Deer Translate
Dear Translate is an English to Vietnamese translation application developed by a
company in China. With more than 107 languages supported, this application is capable
of meeting the diverse needs of users around the world. The benefit of this application is
that it allows users to choose Vietnamese as the original language. Therefore, Dear
Translate is also an English-to-Vietnamese translation application that is worth a try,
especially for Vietnamese people.
In addition, these applications are also very useful when practicing English
communication (self-study English speaking at home). The current popular machine
translation applications all allow translation of spoken sentences/paragraphs. Learners
only need to speak sentences/paragraphs in one language and the application will
translate into the target language of their choice. Learners can have a number of ways to
practice the following:
- Speak your English sentence/paragraph so that the application can translate it into your
native language, if the sentence/paragraph doesn't match your meaning, it means you said
it wrong or pronounced incorrectly, then you need to say it again.
- Speak your English sentence/paragraph so that the application converts that
sentence/speech into text, if the text is not what you want to say, it means that you have
said it wrong or pronounced incorrectly, you need to say it again.
- Enter an English sentence/paragraph into the application and then turn on the text-to-
speech feature, then listen and repeat that English paragraph/sentence.
- Enter a Vietnamese sentence/paragraph, the application translates into English, converts
that text to voice, then listens and repeats that English paragraph/sentence.

Disadvantages
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, the use of translation applications also has
many disadvantages.
Apps can make learners passive, lazy, and dependent. Learners do not have the habit of
memorizing words/expressions anymore because they can easily look up on the
application quickly. When using the application too often, without the application,
learners will feel unable to communicate or not understand sentences/paragraphs.
Applications may receive the wrong language. In fact, translation applications make a lot
of mistakes when translating. Translation errors can include:
- Unable to understand multi-meaning words, tend to choose the most common and
simplest meaning to translate.
For example:
“Một là nhảy, hai là chết”, Nguyễn Trọng Phúc tự nhủ khi ngoảnh mặt nhìn ngọn lửa
đang phừng phừng đập qua lớp cửa kính nhà vệ sinh.
"One is to dance, the other is to die," Nguyen Trong Phuc told himself as he turned to
look at the blazing fire beating through the toilet glass.
‘Nhảy’ is ‘jump down’, but Google Translate simply understands that ‘nhảy’ is ‘dance’.
And the word-by-word translation is very funny. The correct translation should be “Jump
down or die”.
Ngày 12/9, Công an TP Đà Lạt cho biết đang xác minh việc hai nam sinh bị đánh hội
đồng, phải nhập viện cấp cứu.
On September 12, the Da Lat City Police said it was verifying that two male students
were beaten by the council and had to be hospitalized.
‘Bị đánh hội đồng’ means being beaten by a group of people, but Google Translate
translates as council (beating by a certain council).
Trước Lý Dịch Phong, loạt nam thần ‘thân bại danh liệt’ vì mua dâm, thác loạn
In front of Ly Dich Phong, a series of male gods 'failed to list' because of buying sex and
disorder
This sentence is almost completely mistranslated.’Trước’ is before, but translated as
before, in front in the physical sense. ‘Nam thần’ is a handsome famous male artist but is
literally translated. ‘Thân bại danh liệt’ means reputation ruined but is translated as
failure to list. ’Thác loạn’ is translated as disorder.
Lý Dịch Phong từ mỹ nam cổ trang được yêu thích trở thành tội phạm mua dâm.
Ly Dich Phong from a favorite ancient man became a criminal who bought sex.
‘Cổ trang’ here is historical film, not ancient people. Therefore, ‘mỹ nam cổ trang’ is a
handsome actor who plays in historical movies.
- Can't understand figuratively, tends to translate literally, is misleading or meaningless.
For example:
‘Bà bầu’ Thúy Uyển – bạn thân của Thẩm Thúy Hằng - không kìm được những giọt nước
mắt tiếc thương cố nghệ sĩ.
'Pregnant woman' Thuy Uyen - a close friend of Tham Thuy Hang - could not hold back
her tears of mourning for the late artist.
Ông Sang tự nhận mình rất đào hoa nhưng chưa bao giờ thích người con gái nào đến mức
mất ăn mất ngủ.
Mr. Sang admits that he is very peachy, but has never liked a girl to the point of losing
sleep and eating.
Khi đó, nam diễn viên đã thu xếp ổn thỏa với nạn nhân và khẳng định không hề động
chạm tay chân.
At that time, the actor settled with the victim and confirmed that he did not touch his
limbs.
Tài tử Lee Jun Ki, mỹ nhân Penthouse - Eugene... không tiếc lời khen cảnh quan Việt
Nam xinh đẹp, tuyệt vời khi đặt chân đến dải đất hình chữ S du lịch.
Actor Lee Jun Ki, beauty Penthouse - Eugene... did not regret praising the beautiful and
wonderful landscape of Vietnam when he set foot on the tourist S-shaped strip of land.
Tuy nhiên, vấn đề nan giải là có nhiều tòa chung cư mini hiện vẫn chưa có sổ đỏ, mặc dù
chủ đầu tư hứa hẹn sẽ được tách sổ.
However, the dilemma is that there are many mini apartment buildings that still do not
have a red book, although the investor promises to be separated.
- Unable to understand the context, tends to translate words into simple sentences,
completely wrong from reality. For complex sentences, the order of translation sentences
is often messy and wrong.
For example:
Diễn viên Thanh Sơn bình luận: “Thiên hạ vô địch. Một vẻ đẹp đi ngược lại thời gian”.
Quỳnh Kool, Thanh Hương, Hạ Anh… đều thốt lên: “Xinh không tả nổi”
Actor Thanh Son commented: "The world is invincible. A beauty that goes back in time.”
"Người đẹp Bình Dương" xem đó như sự trả ơn của mình với Tổ nghiệp, với khán giả đã
cho mình một cuộc đời huy hoàng, trọn vẹn.
"Beautiful Binh Duong" considers it as her return to the ancestors, to the audience who
gave her a glorious and complete life.
Xuất hiện bảnh bao tại Bạn muốn hẹn hò tập 828, Lê Trung Khánh (33 tuổi, Quảng Ngãi)
- chàng trai từng đổ vỡ hôn nhân được ông mai bà mối Quyền Linh - Ngọc Lan se duyên
với cô nàng Lê Thị Thu Thuỷ (35 tuổi, TP. Hồ Chí Minh)
Appearing dapper at You want to date episode 828, Le Trung Khanh (33 years old,
Quang Ngai) - a man who had broken his marriage was married to a matchmaker, Quyen
Linh - Ngoc Lan, and fell in love with Le Thi Thu Thuy ( 35 years old, Ho Chi Minh
City).
In addition, applications also cause learners to lose their natural reflexes in real-life
communication.
Conclusion
Using a translation app is more suitable for intermediate/advanced learners, not for
elementary and pre-intermediate levels.