The other night, I read a Japanese picture book to my son as usual, and I wondered if I could translate it into English and read it.
However, if my translation is wrong, it will affect him badly.
Original text (Partially omitted)
何してるの？ふくろうおじさん。
電話で話をしていたんだ。
誰と？
それは内緒。
どうやったら話ができるの？
この電話のボタンを押せば、誰とでも話ができるよ。
My translation
What are you doing, Mr. Owl?
I just talked on the phone.
With who? → Who? (AI-edited)
That’s a secret.
What the way to talk? → How do you talk? (AI-edited)
You can talk with whoever if you push the buttons of this phone.
→ You can talk to anyone if you push the buttons on this phone. (AI-edited)
It was only one page, but I made several mistakes.
If I actually read it to my son in English, I have to take enough time to check the correct translation first.
Headline image by tomstuffuk on Unsplash
@Teten, I'm suggesting changes to the AI edits to make them sound more natural. I hope I haven't changed the meaning.
@SEQ77 Thanks to you, I can find AI isn’t completely right anytime. I really appreciate your advice!
@Teten Sometimes AI suggests wording that a native speaker wouldn’t use or is too formal. For instance, it might not suggest the commonly used I was on the phone to mean “I was talking on the phone,” although they mean the same thing.