Decemberist
Serbian:
Verujem ti da nisi nevin.
Correct translation: I believe that you are not a virgin. 
Google translation: I believe that you are not a virgin. - PASSED!
Another sentence:
Nemoj da dozvoliš da te iznerviraju.
Correct translation: Don't let them annoy you.
Google translation: Do not allow it and annoyed. - FAILED!
It really depends, I must say. Sometimes it's perfect, sometimes it's godawful.
The sin of silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
Wouldn't this be better suited to Forum Games? After all, we all know already that it's a mixed bag; and all you need to do is find web pages in other languages and look at the barely intelligible shit that comes out when you translate them to realize there are problems when dealing with idioms and ambiguous syntax.
And better than thy stroke; why swellest thou then?
It depends on the language. For instance, English-French translation is very impressive since the grammar structure is quite similar. This is because Google Translate tends to do things word-for-word.
Now using Trivialis handle.
watching down on us
Pushing Old Norse poetry through the Icelandic —> English translate produces absolutely hilarious results.
EDIT: I'm actually interested in the accuracy of the translation between English and other West Germanic languages such as Dutch and German.
edited 3rd Aug '11 3:05:01 PM by annebeeche
Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
Eh, I've read a few pages that were originally in French, and I had found them very poorly translated.
And better than thy stroke; why swellest thou then?
In Riastrad
Milos: Ah, I know what you're talking about. That's not why I was pissed.
Anne: Then test 'em.
Also, yeah, two things I've found suck terribly: Poetry, and wording that isn't direct and to the point.
My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.
Actually, you don't need to speak a foreign language to test the accuracy of a translation. Just translate any phrase, using Google, into another language, any language, and then cut and paste the results,using the translator, back into English. If the result is identical to the phrase you started with, the translator is pretty good.
edited 3rd Aug '11 5:22:59 PM by DeMarquis
In Riastrad
Not necessarily. Internally consistent doesn't mean accurate.
My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.
Micromastophile
I can tell you that the untranslated posters in Nehrim (the full sentence ones "The x of Magic - Forbidden!") and the Pokemon Black And White foreign language guys come out comprehensible.
I've heard mixed reviews of www.translate.google.com; some say it's awful, some say it's decent, some say it's a mixed bag.
ITT, we test it. For science.
Premise is simple: If you speak a language other than English, post a sentence or two, post the actual translation of the phrase(s), and then post what Google Translate produced from running the sentence through.
My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.