If you're in the business of learning a language, you know that the first site to go to is google translate. It's free, it's quick, and it could translate pretty much any relevant language in the world. Heck, I even put the link to my blog in case any visitors can't understand what I'm saying. The thing is, should you actually use it?
When you're a teacher, you might think using google translate is cheating. And I don't blame you. Your students are supposed to learn materials the old way (a.k.a what you teach them). But think of it this way: It's not that different from looking up things in the dictionary, just a lot more sophisticated than the usual dictionary in book form we all used to carry. Even as teachers, we all carry dictionaries to class. Heck, one of my teachers in high school carried two dictionaries: one in book form and one Alfalink electronic dictionary. What matters is the context on where and what they use it for. If they're using it for a take-home assignment or an assignment where grammar doesn't matter that much (i.e storytelling or writing an informal letter), then you don't have to punish them that much. You can still deduct points from said assignment, but don't focus on the grammar that much. However, if they're using them in Assessments or on their final exam, then you can rightfully deduct their point or fail them outright. Exams are made to test the students' abilities, and they shouldn't be using any outside help for that.
For students, google translate is easily the quickest and easiest tool to use for language-based problems. Like I said earlier, it's free and easily accessible as long as you have internet connection. But it's also very predictable: it either translates the sentence word-by-word (which makes you look like you don't have any grasp of basic grammar) or does it so rigidly your teacher can spot which sentence is the product of google translate and not your own: they just need to type the exact same sentence, and if the result is similar to "your" sentence, then you're busted. Any teacher worth their education knows this, so don't be surprised when your assignment suddenly gets a C, they're not psychic, they just have enough common sense to check for google translate sentences.
All in all, I don't oppose the usage of google translate, but at least be considerate in using them. Treat them like a dictionary: use them when you're allowed to, but don't use them in exams or assignments. We would like to test your abilities, not google's.
When you're a teacher, you might think using google translate is cheating. And I don't blame you. Your students are supposed to learn materials the old way (a.k.a what you teach them). But think of it this way: It's not that different from looking up things in the dictionary, just a lot more sophisticated than the usual dictionary in book form we all used to carry. Even as teachers, we all carry dictionaries to class. Heck, one of my teachers in high school carried two dictionaries: one in book form and one Alfalink electronic dictionary. What matters is the context on where and what they use it for. If they're using it for a take-home assignment or an assignment where grammar doesn't matter that much (i.e storytelling or writing an informal letter), then you don't have to punish them that much. You can still deduct points from said assignment, but don't focus on the grammar that much. However, if they're using them in Assessments or on their final exam, then you can rightfully deduct their point or fail them outright. Exams are made to test the students' abilities, and they shouldn't be using any outside help for that.
For students, google translate is easily the quickest and easiest tool to use for language-based problems. Like I said earlier, it's free and easily accessible as long as you have internet connection. But it's also very predictable: it either translates the sentence word-by-word (which makes you look like you don't have any grasp of basic grammar) or does it so rigidly your teacher can spot which sentence is the product of google translate and not your own: they just need to type the exact same sentence, and if the result is similar to "your" sentence, then you're busted. Any teacher worth their education knows this, so don't be surprised when your assignment suddenly gets a C, they're not psychic, they just have enough common sense to check for google translate sentences.
All in all, I don't oppose the usage of google translate, but at least be considerate in using them. Treat them like a dictionary: use them when you're allowed to, but don't use them in exams or assignments. We would like to test your abilities, not google's.
