Know a Korean Translator?

[Pilgrim]

I have a friend who needs to translate about 6 paragraphs into Korean. I wonder if anyone out there knows someone who might do this for a small fee.

Mahalo!

[SBH]

Try this for free: http://translate.google.com

[punafish]

I don't speak Korean but can guarantee that a google translation from English to Korean will be a disaster. You'll need a competent Korean translator.

[ericlp]

Hey now ... Don't be dissing google translate. I use it a lot and it's better than nothing. Sure it's a work in progress ... but you can't say it's bad just because you used it yesterday. Google updates it almost daily. Some languages are definitely more polished than others.

[punafish]

Eric, computers are not even close in translating properly. I was a linguistics major in college, speak Japanese fluently and have to deal with these silly google translations all the time. Language is not logical, idioms/slang rarely translate without turning into nonsense. Google translate is good for looking up words, but even then it sometimes falters. It's not a shortcoming of google as much as it's the nature of language.

[SBH]

I've never used google translate either, just try to help find a solution for a fellow punawebber.

[hikatz]

Call the Hilo Korean Church in Kurtistown 966-6511 they may know of someone that could help with the translation.
University of Hawaii http://hilo.hawaii.edu/catalog/english-l...e-eli.html (worth a try)

[punafish]

SBH, sorry if I offended, I believe your heart is in the right place. We're both trying to help a punawebber. Language is tricky in many ways, especially Japanese and Korean, as both have extremely complex levels of politeness based on the rank of the person being addressed (ESPECIALLY Korean). Inadvertently using the wrong type of honorific form runs the risk of offending the Korean recipient of the message. Hence, translating requires more than linguistic competence; it also requires a deep understanding of the nuances of culture. That's why I recommended Pilgrim find a competent translator, specifically a native Korean language speaker who knows the culture.

[ericlp]

PunaFish... Yes I am aware of the complexity of language. Makes it a bit of a challenge for AI. The more it learns and evolves the better it becomes. Like I said, some languages are more polished than others. Still it's very good at what it does ... if you're in a pinch and need something quick and dirty it will do.

I guess it really depends on what your attentions are. If I were trying to make a sale, or writing to my lover I probably wouldn't use google for that.

[Pilgrim]

Thanks to everyone for your help.
I will tell him to contact the church and also UH.
Great ideas all around. I actually tried to decode something about a hotel in Japanese once on google translate with pretty hilarious results. You could sort of tell how some of the stuff went wrong.
As I remember there was a part that said all the hotel staff and management were "constantly gay" which I think in that case meant they always had pleasant attitudes. Another part said the rooms were all "full of grace, wheat and birds". I'm thinkin that one is lost in translation.

Thanks again to all!