As a professor and columnist, I am always on the lookout for information, images and artifacts that someday may come in handy in the classroom, in my writing or just in everyday conversation.

During a trip to China, I huffed and puffed up the steps of the Great Wall, whose construction cost an estimated 1 million lives. I was amused by some of the bilingual signs posted along the way. One of the metal signs warned, "Speaking cellphone is strictly prohibited when thunderstorm." Another read, "Please protect caltaral relics." Odd translations with typos and bad grammar, but passersby who understand English get the message, even the Tarzanesque iterations.

Translation is not easy. It is a profession that requires years of study and demands fluency in the languages you are translating to and from. But for some reason, many people think that anyone with basic knowledge of the required languages can translate.

"Do you know anyone who can translate this into Spanish?" "Yes, I have a cousin, who took Spanish in high school." That often leads to botched translations like one I recently saw (and photographed) at a construction site. In English, it said, "This area is a designated constrution site and anyone trespassing on this property upon conviction shall be guilty of a felony." The Spanish translation is a barely intelligible mess: "Esta zona es una construcción designado sitio y violación a nadie en este propiedad convicta que fuere será culpable de un delito."

In 2006, the almighty and omniscient Google created Google Translate. A gift that human translators welcomed with the same enthusiasm airport "maleteros," porters, accepted the innovation of wheeled suitcases. But Google translates the Spanish word "maleteros" into trunks, as in car trunks in which you can place luggage.

There is another form of translation for which the wizards of Silicon Valley cannot create programs, webpages or apps. It is cultural translation, requiring a deep understanding of cultures, not just material culture but also the intangible: beliefs, values, social norms and cultural assumptions.

In these times of increased attention to cultural awareness and sensitivity, all kinds of institutions, including government entities, colleges and universities, and corporations, are seeking expert advice from individuals and agencies that offer help on matters of transcultural communications.

But as is the case with purely literal translation, you can do it on the cheap — ask the niece who spent two weeks in France — or spend a couple hours cruising Wikipedia to gain superficial knowledge of other cultures.

Here are two examples of attempts at cultural translation, first, one of cultural translating gone awry.

Perhaps you have heard this one. Some experts use the example of Chevrolet Novas selling poorly in Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking countries because "Nova" sounds like the Spanish phrase "no va," which literally translates to "does not go." To begin, the presupposition that Nova cars did not sell well in Puerto Rico is wrong — "fake news," in today's parlance. That model was actually very popular; that was our family car.

The little story may be cute and even generate a quick laugh from an audience in a multicultural awareness session. But when you think of it, it is offensive, a suggestion that Latino or Latin American consumers make major purchase decisions based on such silly considerations. The Nova, "sí, va" — it goes.

Now an example of a thoughtful cultural translation. When a Spanish language U.S.-Mexico coproduction of the "Sesame Street" children's program was launched in 1972, instead of using the literal translation "Calle Ajonjoli," or "Calle Sésamo," they named it "Plaza Sésamo," with the accent mark on the first E and all.

This was a culturally sensitive decision, reflective of the understanding that in the Hispanic tradition, a town's central plaza is significant as a place of encounter and community building. In North America, by contrast, the main street is usually the center of a town or city's social and commercial life.

And what does Google Translate have to say about that? As expected, when I type "street," the result is "calle." But when I input "Sesame Street," it is translated into "Plaza Sésamo." The program translated it that way, not because it is culturally sensitive but because it "learned" it by gathering linguistic data and looking for common usage patterns.

Experts agree that it is not as accurate as human translators, especially when it comes to vocabulary selection.

Will I someday receive a Google Alert informing me of the launch of Google Opinion Column Generator?

Readers can reach Luis Martinez-Fernandez at [email protected]. To find out more about Luis Martinez-Fernandez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: jairojehuel at Pixabay