When Machine Translation Takes the Tram… Straight into Chaos

When Machine Translation Takes the Tram… Straight into Chaos

You know that moment when you read a translation and think: “Someone trusted the machine a little too much.”

I recently spotted the following in a tourism text (English into German): “Board tram X” → “Vorstand Tram X”

Unless you're inviting the executive management team to take public transport together, this is certainly not ideal.

The correct meaning in German is “in die Straßenbahn X einsteigen” or “Straßenbahn X nehmen”.

But MT confidently went with “Vorstand” – the corporate board – because of the lack of context.

This is precisely why English–German machine translation can produce hilarious and inaccurate results.
- Missing context: machines love to guess. Unfortunately, they guess wrong, which is something that happens quite often.
- Public-facing texts: where clarity matters, but machine translation can be problematic.
- Safety-critical instructions, such as those relating to travel, tourism and signage, are another area in which machine translation can be deeply unhelpful.

What this means for tourism brands:
Incorrect instructions frustrate travellers and confuse visitors. They also chip away at the trust you’re trying to build. One mistranslation might be amusing. Repeated errors? That’s when your message starts to fall apart.

This is where a professional human translator can really make a difference: I consider meaning, intent and tone, as well as real-world readability, to ensure that your visitors end up on the right track.

📩 Email me for English–German translation and transcreation services to bring your tourism and marketing content to life.

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