About Using the Translator to Gain Reputation
First of all, I would like everyone to know that I am just wondering and not taking any sides. So, on that note, how do you know whether or not someone has used the translator to answer a question or whether they just don't know how to speak Spanish very well? In other words, how did you find out that people were doing this?
Again, not to take sides. I would also like to thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully to answer it.
4 Answers
Ok, first I'd like to thank you for answering my question. Secondly, that makes sense. However, I know a lot of kids in Spanish 1 or 2 who speak just as badly or worse than some of the things the translators will give you. Basically, to ask the same question many of us have been asking, how can you tell whether it's a new speaker or someone who just wants to cheat and gain quick reputation? Of course, it's been said that you can tell the difference between machine errors and human errors, but anything can happen, and I don't think it would be fair to anyone to lose their account simply because it was thought that they were "cheating" and using the translator when they were honestly attempting to learn the language. I do know that this would never have come up in the first place if people didn't feel obligated to cheat, but since the cat has now been let out of the bag, these sorts of questions need to be addressed. I know that I don't have the sort of authority needed to ask these questions, or have them answered, but I would like to know. I apologize if I sound angry or heated, I'm just standing up for the new Spanish speakers. Many of them will be scared to post now and it will be frustrating for them to have that happening when they are honestly trying to learn the language.
I hope this sounds like an open-ended argument, because I DO NOT agree with the cheaters AT ALL.
Dear Vince,
Here is a thought to keep in mind.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
he he he
If every person who consults the translator will be labeled a cheater, then I guess a good number of folks here would be called one. That's ridiculous. One of the translator's strengths is that it makes sense of otherwise unintelligible Spanish phrases. It's true that the translator is not very reliable & most of the time gives out "laughable" results, but for me the person who posts those results as they are w/o proper editing (& putting some thought into the answer) would be worse, & I don't think that the "regulars" here at SpanishDict could be considered guilty of that.
Basically the translators range from bad to laughably silly. They'll often give you a good start, and, like a broken clock, they are occasionally right. But quite often you can tell from the use of completely wrong words or ungrammatical phrases that it was done by computer. The mistakes look different than those made by a human learning the language.
