Machine Translation and International English

Machine translation (MT) is the automatic translation of text using only software without the help of a human translator. An alternative name for machine translation is automated translation.

TechScribe (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

Why Qualified Translators Are a Must in Product Localization and Translation?

Money paid to qualified technical writers and translators in a localization project is money spent very well indeed. Why? Because the worst thing for a project is to have the customers or end users switch to another product since they either cannot understand the instructions and the way an interface works, or the localized copy contains embarrassing mistakes that damage the brand name and image.

Akinci, Ugur. Technical Communication Center (2008). Articles>Language>Localization>Technical Translation

Benchmarking Translation Agencies  

Whether you are new at the translation business or a veteran of many globalization projects, a benchmarking study of your translation supplier(s) is a worthwhile endeavor. In benchmarking, you compare suppliers against one another based on specific criteria. The suppliers’ performance in the study can reassure you that your current relationship is a good one, or can lead to you a more compatible agency.

Finan, Jill. STC International TC SIG (2001). Articles>Language>Outsourcing>Translation

Choosing a Translation Agency  

There is no single factor that will determine your best choice of a translation agency. It should not be based on price alone, because as the old saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. Nor should it be based solely on the company’s size, number of employees, or any similar strictly objective measurement factor. Although such information may be important, and should be considered, it is just part of the total picture you need to adequately evaluate an agency.

Nagy, Charlene. STC International TC SIG (2001). Articles>Language>Outsourcing>Translation

Client Language Review—The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly  

Your company's overseas personnel are important to its success. It's natural to want their input on translated documents. Including them in a review of the translation before it's published gives them a chance to contribute their knowledge. Understanding the purpose and structure of the review can help you avoid trouble down the road. Here are some details to consider in advance.

Smith, Jackie. STC International TC SIG (2001). Articles>Language>Translation

Evaluation of Machine Translation

Many methods and measures for evaluating machine translation (MT) systems have been developed over the years. The ISLE project, funded jointly by the European Union and the US National Science Foundation, is continuing the work started in the EU's EAGLES project on systematizing these methods and measures.

Klein, Fred. STC International TC SIG (2001). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

How to "Proof" a Translation

As the global economy expands, American companies are translating large numbers of documents into multiple languages. As a technical writer, my job is to read documents in German, Italian, Danish, French, Spanish, Greek, and Polish among other languages. I also review documents in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, but the process is harder and less productive. This article will provide a few practical tips for "proofing" translations of Western documents.

Ribert, Roger. STC International TC SIG (2005). Articles>Editing>Translation>Language

Reducing Translation Costs

Over the past two years my team conducted an extensive review of translation process and costs, and we found a lot of ways to reduce translation time and costs. This including exploring use of machine translation. In the end, we found that machine translation created more hassles than it fixed. It was hard to explain to upper management, but the concept that helped most was explaining that translators aren't translating word for word, they're translating thought for thought.

Brewer, John. STC International TC SIG (2005). Articles>Content Management>Translation>Language

The Translation Memory Advantage  

Have you ever wished you could remember everything you've written over the past few years, and reuse it whenever needed? Now that would be a valuable, timesaving tool. In the same vein, it would be worth a great deal if a translator could recall every sentence translated for a client, and recycle it wherever appropriate. Today there are tools that help translators do exactly that. These tools are programs, called translation memory software, which allow translators to store and retrieve text. Using this software saves time and money and contributes to a better translation.

Smith, Jackie. STC International TC SIG (2001). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

What Type of Translation Agency Staff is Right for You?  

When you have materials that need to be translated into a foreign language, how do you decide where to send them? Your basic choice is between an agency that uses only freelance translators or one that has employee translators in-house. Your decision on which to use should depend on the type of final product you are looking for and the subject matter of the material to be translated. This article describes the two types of agencies in more detail, to help you make an informed decision regarding the type of agency that will work best for you. We have tried to maintain an impartial view of both types while making potential clients aware of the industry and its various practices and levels of quality.

Nagy, Charlene. STC International TC SIG (2001). Articles>Language>Outsourcing>Translation

Where Writing and Translation Meet  

Just as developing an English document may take months as it crosses the desks of subject matter experts, sales and marketing managers, and editors, so does producing translations. Documents to be translated can go before a translator, editor, subject matter expert, proofreader, in-country reviewer, and client before a final version is ready for distribution.

Kramasz, Deb. STC International TC SIG (2003). Articles>Language>Translation>Writing

Machine Learning for Asian Language Text Classification    

The purpose of this research is to compare several machine learning techniques on the task of Asian language text classification, such as Chinese and Japanese where no word boundary information is available in written text. The paper advocates a simple language modeling based approach for this task.

Peng, Fuchun and Xiangji Huang. Journal of Documentation (2007). Articles>Language>Taxonomy>Machine Translation

The Trouble with Translation Memory Programs

Translation memory is not a burden to be vilified, but I do think translation agencies and some TEnT developers should think long and hard about their practices. We pay for our tools – not the agency. Why should we be paid less to use them? That just doesn’t make sense.

Sommer, Jill. Musings from an Overworked Translator (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

The Long Road to Embrace Domestic Multilingualism

People often ask us which commercial market is the most advanced when it comes to viewing linguistic diversity as a boon instead of a bane. Language service providers (LSPs) in other countries often point to the United States, which in 2010 will support an estimated market of US$765 million for telephone interpreting services, largely generated from organizations that sell goods and services to its multicultural residents. However, is the U.S. market truly 'mature' when it comes to embracing multilingualism? Not by a long shot.

Kelly, Nataly. Global Watchtower (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>United States

Ten Irresistible Potholes that Writers Find on the Road to Globalization

Optimizing the translation process has two basic components: improving the writers' source texts and improving the translators' process. For the moment, we'll focus on the writer's job. Dear Translator: Please remember that most writers never had any training at all about translation and usually know one lonely language. Many of them can only rely on the limited writing advice that they got in school. They're never aware of how they can make life hellish for translators and for international readers. So, don't blame them; help them out. Pass this list on to them and discuss it until they understand.

Dillinger, Mike. Content Wrangler, The (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>Writing

International English Gives Satisfactory Machine Translation into Spanish

An article about machine translation was translated into Spanish by Google Translate (www.google.co.uk/language_tools?hl=en). In September 2009, professional translators evaluated the translation for fluency and for accuracy of meaning.

TechScribe (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

Using EN 15038:2006 as an Assessment Tool

If you have struggled with a good way to assess the countless translation agencies vying for your business or looked for a way to assess your current provider, you’re not alone. Companies around the globe have longed for a standard objective means by which to carry out their assessments. Some help has arrived in the form of European Standard EN 15038:2006, “Translation Services — Service Requirements.”

Heaton, Jason. TC World (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>Assessment

Dispelling the Myths of Machine Translation

It is not surprising that myths, half-truths, and misunderstandings abound regarding machine translation: It seems as if the experience most players in the translation field have with this technology does not go beyond toying a little with one of the free online translation tools. Almost every week, I come across an article informing its readers either that machine translation is and always will be a complete waste of time or that machine translation, while being a waste of time today, might actually be useful some time in the distant future. In the hope of setting the record straight, here is a closer look at some of the most common myths about machine translation.

Muegge, Uwe. TC World (2008). Articles>Language>Localization>Machine Translation

Translatable but Debatable גורם 

When there’s a decision to be made and several gormim are consulted, a complication for the translator is that a גורם can be an individual or a whole department or company. Personally I sometimes get away with office as a translation because the גורמים can presumably all be found in offices of their own. But only sometimes. A גורם that you consult could also be a sample of schoolchildren, shoppers, or beachgoers. Sometimes גורמים can be stakeholders, but again only sometimes.

Levinson, Mark L. Elephant (2009). Articles>Language>Translation