I am the worst texter in the world! I really am but try multilingual texting and I get even worse. Thank God for the translators on the phone or I would never be able to send a text message. In our Bicultural Life we text in both English and Spanish. Although it is more often Spanish since the hubster’s translator is messed up.
What happens is he sends me a text and then I try very hard to translate it on my own without any help. Occasionally I manage to do just that (pat myself on the back!) Most of the time though I get a second text that reads: “Utilice el traductor” which means “Use your translator” So I give in and use my translator. You would think that I would speak perfect Spanish after 8 years but I don’t. It is so hard for me.
There is however a downside to translators! They are not perfect and there are many words that have multiple meanings. Not to mention that if you don’t put the symbols in then the words can have a completely different meaning. For example when written like this: tú it mean you but like this: tu and it means your. also translators don’t know what the meaning of the sentence is, they just give you the first word in the dictionary.
Of all the translators I have ever use I really like the MyLanguage app on my phone. It recognizes Mexican words, many Spanish translators actually simply use Spanish as in from Spain. While the languages are almost identical there is a difference. We have fewer arguments because I said something that I didn’t mean.
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What sort of a texter are you?
I live in a small Georgia town that you most likely have never heard of and I LOVE it! My house is more than full as I am a single mother of four & caregiver to my aging mother and uncle. Lover of all things Outlander. Goes to the beat of her own drum woman.
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The phone I currently have makes it too difficult to text so I barely do it anymore. I use to do it more often with my old phone. And speaking Spanish….I’d need a translator also that worked well. Lately, I’ve been having a difficult time even speaking English…lol so I’d be lost for sure trying Spanish
I can’t manage to text in 1 language much less 2! I didn’t even realize they had translators for phones. I rarely text (I have to pay for each that I send and receive) and I don’t have a smart phone so it’s not easy for me. But I think it is wonderful that you are doing so well! I have often heard that it is much more difficult to learn to read and write a language than it is to speak it. Keep up the good work!
I was hoping you were going to share some “oops” texts, a la Damn You AutoCorrect! I would love to see what the translator came up with when it didn’t understand! I will have to try this with a friend of mine. She is trying to help me learn Spanish, but I am terrible at translating!
Good grief…texting! First, I’m the only one in my family–including grand-daughters—who has an older phone, so texting is hard anyway. My grand-daughters think I must be from the stone age or something. But to text in two different languages??? That must be tough because “text speech” is not even usually the full language.
I text a ton. My kids are always texting me so I have gotten much better at it. I am kind of old school though I like to talk to the phone. I would rather call someone then text them. I would love to be able to text or even speak another language. I can barely handle English most days. LOL at least you try Rita. Good job!!
I love to text, and it’s probably my go-to, rather than making a phone call. Sometimes I just don’t have time to talk on the phone. Would definitely love to give the app a try. I think it would be neat to send some of my friends’ texts in their native language.
I speak spanish fluent it was my first language and i have to agree translators are awful sometimes they completely miss the meaning of a sentence. My problem is that i speak spanish but since I switched over to all english in 5th grade i’ve lost my spanish writing skills i cant spell at all so i try to use the translator to help me write sentences.
All we can do is keep on practicing
i really i was able to speak spanish and could teach it to my daughter but its really hard for me to learn another language. I know I wouldnt be able to speak spanish fluently either after 8 years of marriage. I didnt know you could translate text but I have seen it on FB so thats been helpful for me!
Yes, translation is a tricky thing….language isn’t a straight-forward thing, and yet automatic translators are a straight-forward thing. I love, love, love language, and have worked hard at learning French and Spanish and even a bit of Vietnamese. Not straight-forward at all. I didn’t realize there were translators for texting, but that’s good to know.