Can I Trust Google Translate? - French

Today is the acid test.  You may remember this experiment was the result of my husband gently reminding me that the academic French I was trying to recover wasn't going to be very useful on our upcoming trip to Canada.

It's one of the age-old dilemmas of language acquisition - Do you practice saying "my aunt's pen is on the table" (good practice for possessive adjectives, agreement of articles, and prepositions), or do you learn "where is the restroom"? (inelegant but potentially very useful)?

I knew I would be resorting to Google Translate to turn my ten top useful travel phrases into French.  But are Google translations accurate?  I still have enough ego remaining from being a former language instructor to want to be correct when I speak any language.  I experimented with first Spanish and then Portuguese, writing my translations and comparing them with Google's (see last two posts).  At this point, I am feeling pretty confident in Google, but I did have some background knowledge in both Spanish and Portuguese to help me out.

Now for the French!  I pulled my old Amsco French dictionary off the shelf, and I'm ready to go.

My favorite  publisher.  Wish I had this dictionary right now! 

My translations are in red, and Google Translate's are the second in blue. Differences in the two translations are underlined.  Discussion follows each travel phrase.


1.  Where is the restroom, please?
Où est la salle de bains, s'il vous plaît?
Où sont les toilettes, s'il vous plaît?

[Of course!  Google's translation for "restroom" much better]

2.  I have a (room) reservation for tonight.
J'ai une réservation pour ce soir.
J'ai une (chambre) réservation pour ce soir.
[Okay.  I shouldn't have put the (room) in.]

3.  My name is Linda.  What is your name?
Je m'appelle Linda. Comment vous appelez-vous?
Mon nom est Linda. Quel est votre nom?
[Both are correct.  Two ways of saying the same thing.]

4. When does the train leave/arrive?
Quand est-ce le train part/arrive?
Quand le train partent / arrivent?
[Both question forms are acceptable, I believe.  But why did Google use a plural verb?]

5. How much does it cost?
Combien est-ce que ce coûte?
Combien ça coûte?
[Oops.  I had "ça" and then changed it.]  

6. Pardon me.
Pardon.
Pardonnez-moi.
[Both okay.  Google gives my translation as an alternative.]

7. Do you have a vegetarian dish?
Est-ce que vous avez un plat végétarien?
Avez-vous un plat végétarien?
[Okay.]

8.  May I have a glass of water please?
Est-ce que vous pouvez me donner un verre d'eau, s'il vous plaît?
Puis-je avoir un verre d'eau s'il vous plaît?
[Two different question forms.  Google's more literal]

9.  I want to buy a ticket please.
Je voudrais prendre un billet, s'il vous plaît.
Je veux acheter un billet s'il vous plaît.
["Acheter" is certainly the general word for "to buy", but my dictionary specifically gives "prendre" for buying a ticket.]

10. Where is the restaurant (bus station, train station, museum)?
Où est le restaurant, (la gare routière, la gare, le musée?
Où se trouve le restaurant (gare routière, gare, musée)?
[Both verbs work, but I like Google's more.  I'm going to use it.  The definite article needed to be included with each noun, because some take "le" and others take "la".]

Whew!  I'm glad that's done.  I felt like I was turning in a test paper to Google and waiting for my grade.

At this point, Google is very helpful but not perfect, but then neither my transations from personal knowledge or dictionary help have been either.  Next week, I'm going to look at some recent opinions about using Google Translate and compare my findings.

Have you used Google service to translate?   Did you find it useful?