Okay, so this game has no utility other than getting a laugh. Credit where credit is due, I was inspired by the YouTube channel Translator Fails, where she takes song lyrics, runs them through a whole bunch of languages on Google Translate, and then sings out the nonsense results.
So, of course, I decided to do the same thing with the first 100 words of my story. I copied and pasted it into Google Translate, and then translated into a good dozen or more languages before bringing it back to English. This was my result:
"Lara did not stop. At the end of the cave, the stone roof was covered with stone, but its function was to be very different. Luke tried to break into a small hole in the castle. Many people do not believe it's an obstacle. It's a dish and solved secretly. It may take time, but it is possible. Unfortunately, some people can not stand it."
Some top-notch writing there. Enjoy playing around with (and sharing) your own translated work.
Revisiting this game because we could all use a good laugh right now. The horribly translated opening lines of my most recent WIP:
The evil God and the first sin opened Knox's house and waited for his loved ones.
Yes: They said: There are ghosts in the box.
They both look at us.
"The lake is closing again, but we can still take it."
If you want an idea of what the tone should be, just know that the lake is actually a clogged toilet.
Oh, and there's no specific word count you have to plug in, but I have noticed that too long sections won't work, especially when you start translating into things like Punjabi that have different characters and seem to take more characters than when in English.
I cheated, using 146 words from a scene in development, prose I knew would be difficult to translate. I chose these languages because all are relevant to the selected paragraph, and were used in this order: Russian, Persian (Farsi), Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Chinese (traditional).
Ahem:
In the early 1980s, the U.S. Fund was severely accused of military-industrial patriotism because we crossed the red back of the Moscow Olympics and accounted for a third of Earth's geography. Our hostages were brought in from Iran, crossing exciting flags in the Heroes Valley of Manhattan. President Geber assured his parents of a frightening, meaningless smile. General Liberty received the Nobel Peace Prize for herding asylum seekers during the tropical massacre. Most importantly, Larry's shuttle and roof chairs ensure a profitable paradise: the humiliation in Vietnam and the Champions League was broken, Lebanon won easily, and SENTRI began a new surprise show. Of course, unemployment and gas prices are high, but others believe in the dream of achieving full commercial democracy. Coca-Cola and Pepsi entered China. We want, we have, MTV.
I don't know - I might like that better. :)