How Accurate Is Google Translate For Shona?

Everyone in the world enjoys a lot of opportunities these days. Regardless of where we live, all of us have access to countless facilities and services. A product being produced in America can be found in a small country of Africa. The modern world and the means of transportation used by companies today are a blessing for the consumers. They don’t have to wait or visit far off areas to get the goods they require. However, we still haven’t achieved a world where every service is customizable for all the nations on earth. For most services, it isn’t even possible either. A mobile network operating in a few countries may not have the resources to go global.

It is one thing to want a world where everyone has access to everything, it is another to think of it logically. It is just not possible to make some things available everywhere in the world. In fact, it is better if some services are only available in limited areas. That keep their quality high and give their users a better experience then they would get if the whole world was the audience of the company. It is not easy for a business to continue giving good performance if their audience is diverse and each group requires a different kind of marketing strategy.

However, in the world of social media, companies can’t take help from such excuses. The internet is available everywhere and people from so many different backgrounds log on to it every day. Even in countries where a website is blocked, the population manages to access that site to stay connected to the world. This is why the internet users expect more from websites and companies. They want to feel included, which is only possible if services are customized according to their values and traditions.

Google is the one website everyone visits multiple times a day. It is a teacher even once you have passed school. It continues to help us out in various eyes. No matter what you are looking for, Google can help you find it. And if it can’t, that’s when you know something isn’t available on the internet at all. It is helpful for everyone from students to professionals. Whether someone gets stuck while doing an assignment or when they can’t find a solution to a problem at work, they will turn to the search engine and find they answer they needed. People can also customize results on the search engine and easily find relevant answers. They can also select the option which shows them results from their country. However, the customizing option ends with the search and unfortunately does not extend to Google Translate.

The Shona Language:

One of the official languages of Zimbabwe is spoken by the majority of the population of the country. It also has a considerable number of speakers in Mozambique. The language is said to have originated from an ancient tongue which was brought to this region by the earliest settlers. It has gone through different phases to reach its modern form. It is written in the Latin script and is known for having whistling sounds. That characteristic makes it difficult to pronounce for the students of the language. It is not an easy to learn tongue but it is still very important in the region. Including the dialects, the language has 8.3 million native speakers. There are a few tongues which are considered to be dialects of Shona but some linguists don’t agree with that notion.

How Accurate is Google Translate for Shona?

The debate about Machine Translation (MT) has been going on for a long time. People can’t help but question the accuracy of the online tools and software. It is true that the software can’t perform as well as a human translator but when it comes to simple translations, they do alright. However, there is one problem with online language option like Google Translate, it works better for the more common tongues.

If you need a simple translation of one of the most spoken languages in the world like Spanish or German, you will be able to get it from Google Translate. But that is where the accuracy of the service stops. Most of the time, it is useless for people who speak lesser known tongues. It is the same way the world treats people of far off regions. They can not catch a break even from the internet. Although Google Translate is always adding new language to its database and working to improve its algorithm, it is nowhere near to establishing a well laid system for translating the tongues common in African region which have less than twenty million speakers.

The complexity of the Shona language also doesn’t help its case. Which is why anytime someone needs a translation they are better off contacting a qualified professional. They will have a better chance with a reliable agency if they want an accurate translation of the Shona language. Google Translate still has a lot of work to do to achieve accuracy which can be trusted by people. Even for the more common tongues, it is nowhere near perfect and will have to put in a lot of work to become authentic. For now, people can turn to it for simple translations but anytime there is a high stakes situation, they will have to contact an experienced language services provider for the task.