Excellent article! As a more-or-less bilingual person, I find that it's easier for me to spot when something's an idiom than it is for someone who only speaks one language with any degree of fluidity. One of the most important parts of learning a new language is breaking away from the cultural and linguistic structures that dictate how we speak and write. I would never trust online translators with anything more than single words or very simple combinations!

My sister-in-law is a professional French teacher in New Zealand. She gave me this funny video she uses in her class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMkJuDVJdTw&feature=youtu.be ;

It takes the following lyrics and feed them in Google translate:

"In west Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground where I spent most of my days
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool
And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said you're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air"

Hello everyone! Thank you all for your interest in my articles over the last year. This is now time to say goodbye as I've decided to stop publishing articles here. I've had issues with the editing team for few months now, and even though they introduced a new editor recently, they still serve the same "Because I said so!" that passes as justification for just about everything. I'm simply tired of these shenanigans. If it makes me angry, there is no point in continuing. I like to have fun. Teaching is fun (I'm still teaching by the way!) Writing is fun. Sharing is fun. It's just a shame that there is something that has to get in between. Anyway, thank you all for your feedback, good and bad. It goes a long way! Cheerio!

Translators are funny. They translate words well, but when it comes to sentences they are disastrous. I remember I was writing my school papers in French and translate them to English. It's so funny to read these papers now. My teachers were certainly asking what was wrong with me. LOL

Someone in Québec made a brilliant compilation of awful translations presumably made with online translator. Have a look http://www.chuitropquebecois.com/16-mauvaises-traductions/