Google Translate is a statistical machine translation system, which means that it doesn't try to unpick or understand anything.
Having found the most likely existing match through an incredibly clever and speedy statistical reckoning device, Google Translate coughs it up, raw or, if necessary, lightly cooked.
Now on 57 languages as of this month and counting, Google Translate seeks to help us move seamlessly between Urdu and Swahili with little effort.
As a non-native English speaker, I credit Google Translate with helping me prepare for countless presentations in English and avoid embarrassment in an even larger number of email correspondences.
Google Translate can provide stupendous services in many domains, but it is not set up to interpret or make readable work that is not routine - and it is unfair to ask it to try.
