It seems like something that, on paper, should be very easy to accomplish. Is it just down to the fact that certain things cannot be translated directly from one language to another?
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> Is it just down to the fact that certain things cannot be translated directly from one language to another?
Usually, yes. One word in one language can have a dozen or more meanings, and each of those meanings might require their own word in the other language. If the software can’t understand which meaning is being used, then it might choose the wrong word in its translation.
There are very serious grammar considerations, too. For instance, many languages just use one verb in the present tense to show both repeated/ongoing actions and a one time action in the present, but in English we express this differently (“He goes to the theater on Saturdays” versus “He is going to the theater right now”). So in a case like that, the software might not know which version in English would be required based on the input in the other language.
Or like, in English you say “I would do this” and that could mean that you *did* do that in the past, or that you *would* (conditionally) do it if your situation were different (“I would buy a used car any time my old one broke down.” as opposed to “I would buy a Ferrari if I won the lottery.”). Well, in another language, you might just use simple past tense to express the first idea but you might need additional words and participles to express the second idea and the sentence becomes more complicated.
Then there’s also different word orders, or the fact that you can omit words in other languages that you can’t in others.
Languages are complex as hell man.
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