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Click For Cymraeg: Translation Innovation

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Click for Cymraeg: Translation Innovation

BBC Radio Wales - Click For Cymraeg: Translation Innovation

Rory Cellan-Jones discovers how machine translation has impacted the Welsh language

Thanks to computers, the ability to translate Welsh is just one click away. But how good is it? Rory Cellan-Jones discovers how machine translation has impacted the Welsh language.

In 2009, Google introduced the Welsh language to its Translate service, meaning that quick, easy and free translation was just one click away. But how good was it?

Nearly a decade on, BBC technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, is exploring what machine translation has done for the Welsh language. Has this online presence helped unleash a new lease of life or has it instead diluted a traditional language in an online world?

Speaking to Macduff Hughes, Google Translate’s Engineering Director based 5,260 miles away in San Francisco, Rory finds out how the technology has developed over the years.

He’ll also speak to those who love the platform, including NHS translator Ben and Welsh language teacher, Abgaili Rees. 

Yet, whilst there are plenty of fans, there are also those who believe that these translators are having a negative impact. This includes comedian Gary Slaymaker who uses examples of badly translated Welsh, coined ‘Scymraeg’, as part of his stand up routine. 

Lastly, Rory heads to The National Assembly for Wales where human and machine translators work in tandem, but for how long? Will the day ever come when machine translation fully takes over?

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