Best translation software?

[gemma]

Just had a thought, you could try putting in some of the examples Bart mentioned above through a Chinese-English translator. You might get something a little more comprehensible. But you still couldn't get your full sentences...

[Barticle]

I guess a Chinese translator system would fall down on katakana and hiragana though?

[Shirluban]

Using a Chinese-English translator for some specific words can work ... but not with Google Translate.

Google Translate [Japanese-English] converts 和了 as Kazu Satoru (a name?) instead of "win". 場 (ba) is field not wind-round, 親 (oya) is parent not dealer, 半荘 (hanchan) is semi villa not half-game, etc etc.

Google Translate Chinese-English converts:
和了 as "And the"
場 as "Field"
親 as "Parent"
半荘 as "Semi-Chuang"