Complete beginnerLesson 5 of 55 min read
Translating, not just word for word
A course from the Academy: The requests that are used every day
Go to the quiz ↓An email in English, a notice, a message to someone abroad. An AI translates well, and above all it translates the tone, something a conventional machine translator doesn't do.
The prompt to copy
"Translate this message into English. It's for a professional client I don't know: keep it polite and not too familiar."
The detail that changes everything: register
"Translate this" gives a correct but flat translation. Specifying who you're writing to changes the result completely. A message to a friend and a message to an administration don't translate the same way, in any language.
Checking without speaking the language
Ask it to translate back into French what it has just written. If the result says what you meant, that's a good sign. It's not a guarantee, but it catches major misunderstandings.
What to do now
Write three sentences in French, have them translated with a note on who they're addressed to, then ask for a back-translation to check.
Complete the lesson
A 4-question quiz: 3 correct answers are enough, plus an exercise to practise. It opens in the Academy, on this same lesson.
Take the quiz and complete the lesson Free. With an account, your progress is saved and leads to the course certificate.