Is Google Russian / English translation of value?

[Isthmus]

Mendeleyev, I bought Russian for Dummies and The New Penguin Russian Course a few months ago, but didn't really approach it very methodically, just some casual skim reading. Actually learnt cyrillic by starting to SMS text in Russian for kicks (my friend is fluent in English, so I don't need the Russian for pure communication purposes, but I think it impresses her that I am willing to make the effort).

I have enrolled in an introductory Russian course, hoping that the structure will motivate me more than casual reading in my own time before sleep. 

But already speaking another slavic language means I know some basic Russian without even trying and the sounds and grammatical concepts are not alien, but very familiar. So I am hoping it isn't too difficult. Not looking to be fluent, just basic conversational Russian will do me 

[dre]

Thanks for the posts. I am just getting started and appreciate all tips & suggestions.
Mendelleyev, thanks for the link to language.

As to starting a relationship with Google, well, I have not even met anyone yet.
Just trying to get a foundation for being able to communicate with a FSU woman.
Now that I have just "cracked the door" I will be reading and asking many more questions,
so I will appreciate your patience as I will test it.

Again, thanks everybody!

[Juvenal]

I've used google translate a lot, albeit for other languages i've alreay have some working knowlegde of and found it quite effective.

Not sure how acurate the Russian would be but, a good way to check your sentance is to translate it then copy and paste the translated message back for a reverse translation.

For best results:
Keep your sentances short. Try not to make gramatical errors in your source language.  Don't forget puncuation and write out words like don't as do not.

Some words might need to be looked up individually and a more suitable one sellected. For instance "Nice" sometimes gets translated as "Good" in different languages and can cause some miscommunication. So when using words which have multiple synonyms which would change the meaning of the sentence, look those words up by themselves

Example 1: Correct
English -> Dutch
Hi, My name is John Deere
Hallo, Mijn naam is John Deere

Dutch > English
Hallo, Mijn naam is John Deere
Hi, My name is John Deere

Example 2: Mistake made in source .. "have and occured" the result is correct (But reverse translation used different verb, albeit one which is also correct)
English -> Dutch
How has this terrible situation occur?
Hoe heeft deze vreselijke situatie voordoen?

Dutch > English
Hoe heeft deze vreselijke situatie voordoen?
How has this terrible situation arise?

Example 3: Incorrect Grammer and sentance construction 
English -> Dutch
When using this, i realized that complicated sentences we write as though it is spoken might come out wrong.
Bij gebruik van deze, besefte ik dat ingewikkelde zinnen schrijven we alsof het wordt gesproken zou kunnen komen er verkeerd uit.

Dutch > English
Bij gebruik van deze, besefte ik dat ingewikkelde zinnen schrijven we alsof het wordt gesproken zou kunnen komen er verkeerd uit.
When using this, I realized that we write complex sentences as if it is spoken may come out wrong.

[Uncle]

Hi Manny,
Am still getting my sea legs... Thanks for letting me aboard you little adventure boat...

I looked up the usual wiki on the translators that were readily available on line... and got the following link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_machine_translation_applications

Hope it helps a little bit.  I tried to use a mail.ru program and had challenges just reading the registration and login information for their web based email site, so had to rely on the machine based systems to log in and send my first FSU email.   

Without going on and on about whether they are good or just available: if the words for translation are approached individually or in short clear sentences- they seem to have about an 85% viability- if the sentences get longer, more complex or use sophisticated words and try anything other than clear concise information transfer... well, that’s hard enough in a primary language for a native speaker... don't try it with the machines unless you speak digital.

If you’re a conversationalist that relies on innuendo, nuance, double intender and obscuration: better hire somebody from a large city university or government translation area that has worked in multi-cultural negotiations. 

I have used Google, Bing and Babylon- Babelefish for different projects and needs.  They all seem to work well for services that are provided without cost for basic functions or trial. 

Some of your regulars have told me I have to have 500 posts before I get my wings, club key and office name plate, so I may be around for awhile.

Thanks again,
Uncle

[Alneverus]

I had an alternative for Google sent to me: http://www.translate.ru/

Generally I'll run three windows. Two of this and one of Google. It will have some differences, but can generally get the point across for the moment.

[mendeleyev]

I had an alternative for Google sent to me: http://www.translate.ru/

Generally I'll run three windows. Two of this and one of Google. It will have some differences, but can generally get the point across for the moment.

Alneverus, that is the old Prompt.ru platform. Not bad if you have some basic Russian knowledge but not as user friendly as the Google translator. Glad it is working for you.

It can be very difficult for beginners:



First beginners must decipher the Russian name for the English language. You and I know to select английский but this tool apparently leaves it to the beginner to figure out that it should be translated from английский (English) into Russian and the beginner must figure out that русский is Russian.

The beginner types in the word for wedding and the first thing he sees is Глагол. If he copies and pastes that into a letter thinking that he is asking her about a wedding, she'll read it and see Глагол which means "verb" and wonder why he is asking her about their verb.

Perhaps he moves down to what appears to be a second definition, существительное.

If he puts that into his letter he'd be asking her about their "noun."

Only if he understand this format, which is in Russian, will he know to select свадьба, wedding. And we're giving him the benefit of the doubt in knowing that the green button marked переводить means "translate." 

[Rasputin]

I find Google Translate to be a decent tool. If I have to translate something, I use it and then correct the grammar and any mistakes. It speeds things up and that is good. If I want to translate a word and get all the potential meanings of that word, then I use the Reverso online dictionaries. I find that they will give me many more options so I can choose the best word to use.

[andrewfi]

I use www.translate.google.com a lot. it ain't perfect but as others have noted as long as one takes care to be grammatically correct and to spell correctly then a lot can be done with the tool.

I have yet to see a better software based translator and the best thing is that it gets better over time as more documents are used to train the translation engine.