Nic Dafis

Once again, a nonsense “translation” in a publically funded web-app.

“Bwyd anifeiliaid” is literally “animal food”, and it took me a minute to work out why this was relevant on a website about active travel. Since there’s no obvious way to switch interface languages I can’t be sure, but this might be a machine translation of “browsing”.

#TransportForWales #TrafnidiaethCymru https://toot.wales/@nic/114262083452959672

Nic Dafis (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Unwaith eto, cyfieithiad anghywir ar app gan gorff cyhoeddus. Dw i’n cymryd mai “browse actions” neu rywbeth oedd y Saesneg gwreiddiol? #TrawsCymru

Tŵt Cymru | Toot Wales
Apr 1, 2025 at 9:57amWeb
Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025

Found the language switch thing, the English text is “Activity Feed” - don’t #TransportForWales have a single Welsh speaker that could have told them that the translation is nonsense?

I’m pissing in the wind here, obviously, but this isn’t some funny “Scymraeg” scenario, this is public money being spent on a bilingual website that only works in English.

Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025
More absolute nonsense on the #TransportForWales site. “Swyddi diweddaraf” means “Latest jobs”, and “Weld yr holl” is something like “See the all”, but with an unnecessary mutation for some reason.
Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025
This isn’t the first time #TransportForWales have messed up on bilingualism. A recent update on their TrawsCymru bus app informed users of the T5 Haverfordwest to Aberystwyth services that disruptions were being caused by roadworks in Newport, which was true, except the Welsh language version had “Casnewydd” (Newport, Gwent) rather than “Trefdraeth” (Newport, Pembs).
Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025
I’ve tattled on #TransportForWales to the Welsh Language Commissioner. As a publicly funded body, they have a legal obligation to use Welsh and English on an equal footing — which they usually do, fair play — but there seems to be very little oversight, and since none of these bodies (including the Comisiynydd’s office) have left the oligarch-verse, email is the only way to contact them.
Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025
And on it goes… just had an automated email response from #TransportForWales and wondered why they were thanking me for my “PIN” - of course, the software they’re using doesn’t recognise that a “pin” dropped on a map is different to a “PIN” on an account log-in or whatever.
Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025

The rest of the email shows obvious marks of having been machine translated: “am eich cyfeirnod” is a literal translation of “for your reference” but it’s the wrong noun.

There’s a couple of things which have escaped the “translator” completely, including “Transport for Wales” itself.

I bet someone at TfW has noticed that they’re getting far more “PINs” dropped on the English-language version of this survey than on the fersiwn Gymraeg; I wonder if they’ve realised why that might be.

Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025
Another email, another mistranslation. The text of this was fine, but it looks like the subject line didn’t get checked: it’s got all the right words, just not necessarily in the right order, so it reads something like “Reset password instructions” — again, not the end of the world, I might not even have noticed on another day (especially as I’d already found my password, so didn’t need to change it), but it’s indicative of a problem at TfW.
Show threadCalligrafaeApr 1, 2025
@nic ffs
Show threadCalligrafaeApr 1, 2025
@nic 🙄
Show threadNic DafisApr 10, 2025
Just received a response from the Commissioner’s office, asking for URLs of the pages I was complaining about, because apparently Google is blocked in Cardiff.
Show threadCalligrafaeApr 10, 2025
@nic *snort*
Show threadNic DafisApr 10, 2025
@welshpixie sort em out, Del
Show threadSzescstopniApr 10, 2025
@nic Now that would be a good thing. But it also means they can't google "qwant"
Show threadHelen in WalesApr 1, 2025
@nic How on earth have they arrived at "Bwyd anifeiliaid"? "Pori" is the translation that Google Translate gives. However they've done this, it's worse that just putting the English version into Google Translate.
Show threadNic DafisApr 1, 2025
@Dewines it might have been a monoglot with an online dictionary, just looking up individual words.