Malinda Kathleen Reese – Google Translate: A Song lyrics

When your friend from France says, "Comment ça va?"
And you're not sure what to say back,
Well it sure would be great
To have Google Translate
To get you back on track.

Google Translate uses data from millions of sources
Like our websites and books and all the rest.
Many are from the United Nations,
Where the translators are the best.

It maps your inputted words to concepts,
Tries to figure out the context of the contents,
Even if it's nonsense,
To make translated comments to be a better respondent,
To whatever correspondence you couldn't understand.

Language is messy and its rules are there for breaking,
Cross cultural communicating can be a struggle for you and me.
But never fear, Google Translate is here
Whatever imperfections may appear
At the end of the day,
The more we know the more we'll say,
And the more we say the more we'll agree
And the more better the world will be.

"So why did I still get an F on my language homework?"
"Um... Well... Well, it sounds like you need to learn how to use Google
Translate responsibly. "

For the world's most spoken languages
Documents abound
But if you're working with, let's say, Corsican
Less resources can be found.

'Cause spoken words are not just concepts,
They have culture and intent.
And grammar is a pain to master
It's not easy to say what you meant. (... what you mean.)

Language is messy and its rules are there for breaking,
Cross cultural communicating can be a struggle for you and me.
But never fear, Google Translate is here
Whatever imperfections may appear
At the end of the day,
The more we know the more we'll say,
And the more we say the more we'll agree
And the more better the world will be.

Sometimes we find the grammar is just a wreck,
Or auto-detect thinks you're speaking Czech,
Or when the inflection goes up when it should feel like a frown,
Or the circumflex is inside out and upside down,
Or you meant to say "Hey" but instead said "Go swim"
Or you meant to say "Where?" but instead said "Who's Jim?"

Technology isn't perfect
But hey - neither are we!
As long as we know its limitations,
We can learn to use it wisely.
Like not translating lyrics to songs 14 times in a row...
But, hey, it makes for a really good laugh and makes us smile so,
Just as long we know

Language is beautiful, logical and free.
How else understanding be possible between you and me?

But never fear, Google Translate is here,
Whatever imperfections may appear
At the end of the day,
The more we know the more we'll say,
And the more we say the more we'll agree
And the more better the world will be.