[s-cars] Why is ETKA site only in Russia?

[Igor Kessel]

Kenneth Hayes wrote:
>
> for you guys who are language challenged, as i am, you can use this
> translator website.  although i've been told the translations done through
> this website may not be 100% accurate, it's better than guessing.  i think
> it works pretty well, but to qualify my last statement; it's hard for any
> translation software to be 100% accurate because of innuendos or words that
> are used in multiple ways, etc.
>
> this site does russian to english phrases or web pages.
> http://babelfish.altavista.com/
>

Well, Ken, I am not exactly challenged when it comes to my mother
tongue.
;)

As for the altavista translation, here's my old post to the A4 list of
31 July 2002 posted on the identical occasion.
===========

Audi A4 wrote:
>
> If you go here:
>
> http://babelfish.altavista.com/
>
> You can translate the entire page and browse it.  Use the "translate
> a webpage" dialog box.
>
> Jon


Well, I am a bit skeptical about bablefish successfully translating such
an enormously complex language as Russian into such fairly simple
language as English, where the word largely stays the same, yet its
meaning depends on its position in the sentence. No cases, no
declensions, no genders, no prefixes, no suffixes to worry about like
the case with Russian would be.

As an example I have taken one of my cars, a '98 A4TQ and drilled down a
few pages:
http://194.87.53.210/audivw/vag4.asp?cid=219&motor=AEB&cyl=4&vol=1,8&myear=1998

Here's the result.
Lines 1 through 4 are OK.

.....
Line 5.
The actual Russian page: Final Drive, Differential, Steering
Babelfish translation: Front axle, differential, steering control

Line 6.
The actual Russian page: Rear Differential
Babelfish translation: Rear axle

.....
Line 8.
The actual Russian page: Steering, Pedal Cluster
Babelfish translation: Control, the treadle knot

.....
Line 10.
The actual Russian page: Electrical System
Babelfish translation: the electrician

It gets worse if we drill down further, say into the Engine link.
Firstly babelfish has no way of knowing that the left button's caption
reads "Search"

Secondly, it can't decipher abbreviations and instead it simply
transliterates them. Such as:

Line 1.
The actual Russian page: Air Pipe, Viscous Coupling (the long Russian
adjective "air" is abbreviated)
Babelfish translation: vozdushn. pipe the viscose clutch

.....
Line 3.
The actual Russian page: Clutch (the long Russian "Clutch" is
abbreviated)
Babelfish translation:  it is coupled.

:)

Nothing beats owning the Family Album.

--
Igor Kessel
two turbo quattros