Web-Based Translators in the Technical Communication Classroom: What Use Are They?

The author discusses the usefulness of web-based translators in the technical communication classroom. He reports on the pedagogical application of web-based translators in a technical communication course. The author concludes that while web-based translators do not offer accurate translations, they do offer possibilities to the instructor who wants the students to learn about the benefits and hazards of using web-based translators to localize technical documents.

Tesdell, Lee S. ATTW Bulletin (2005). Articles>Education>Localization>Machine Translation

What to Expect from a Translation Agency

Leverage, CAT, translation memory, and aligning are quite interrelated and build on each other in the process.

Musgray, Uta. Boston Broadside (1997). Articles>Language>Translation>Localization

Whoops: Translation Trouble

Quotations of translated material from all over the world.

ISTC. Humor>Language>Translation>Localization

Why Are Most Translators Underpaid?

It is a common observation that most professional translators are not paid well. Most attribute this to the low perceived status of translators and their work. Because of the low pay, many good translators have left the profession for other jobs. This line of thought sounds reasonable but it is also highly evaluative which makes empirical testing impossible. This paper offers an alternative explanation which is descriptive in nature and draws heavily from the theories of information economics.

Chan, Andy Lung Jan. Translation Journal (2005). Careers>Salaries>Translation

Why Can't a Computer Translate More Like a Person?

Translation is difficult, even for people. To begin with, you have to know two languages intimately. And even if you speak two or more languages fluently, it is not a trivial matter to produce a good translation.

Melby, Alan K. TTT (1995). Articles>Language>Translation>Machine Translation

Calculating the Financial Impact of DITA for Translation

Success in a global marketplace requires translating content into multiple languages. Moving to a topic-based XML architecture, such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), can help you control the translation process and save money.

Swope, Amber. TechCom Manager (2008). Articles>Management>Translation>DITA

Think Globally, Write Locally

Using a process called localization, language professionals translate the source document’s words and adapt its content to the needs and norms of the target country or market. Because language professionals can work only with what they are given, the document’s creator is partly responsible for ensuring the localization process is effective. After all, poorly written English cannot be turned into good Japanese.

Giovanis, Kristen. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Language>Localization>Translation

Translation and Localization Options

How do you identify the many options available for localizing your products or materials, and how do you select the right ones for your company?

Johnson, Dan. TechCom Manager (2005). Articles>Language>Localization>Translation

Lost in Translation: Contributions of Editors to the Meanings of Text    

Authors of scientific articles in one language are often required to provide abstracts of their papers in a second language, and they use a variety of ways to achieve this.

Hartley, James, Alan Branthwaite, Frank Ganier and Laurent Heurley. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Language>Editing>Translation

Intersection of Content and Translation Management  

In today's global economy, multilingual communications are the conduit to multinational revenue profiles and global brand recognition. Buyers in countries large and small are increasingly demanding local language materials as a condition for purchasing products. Laggards that deliver multilingual products and services late to regional markets lose market share and see their global brand fragment and decline in value. Multinational business demands that organizations redefine the value of content to drive global customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, promote brand awareness and consistency, and support time-to-market goals.

Ciarlone, Leonor. Multilingual (2009). Articles>Content Management>Localization>Translation

Evaluation of International English and Machine Translation

Machine translation often gives humorous translations or incorrect translations. Usually, a bad translation is because the source text is not clear in a way that a machine can 'understand'. If text is optimised for machine translation, machine translation gives excellent results. There are two sets of texts. The first set is written in standard English. The second set is equivalent to the standard English text, but it is optimised for machine translation. Google Translate was used to translate the texts into Bulgarian and into Spanish.

Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2009). Articles>Language>Localization>Machine Translation

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

Tips for Writing a Document Destined for Translation    

When writing a document that is going to be translated, writers should avoid certain terminology, take into account various aspects of a translation vendor, use a style guide, and more. Rimalower provides tips on how to create successfully translatable documents.

Rimalower, George P. Intercom (2009). Articles>Writing>Localization>Translation

Building Efficient Multilingual Workflows    

O’Keefe gives detailed information on two technology standards that may be used in multilingual workflows: XSL and XLIFF.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Intercom (2009). Articles>Content Management>Workflow>Translation

Preparing Text for Translation: One Translator's Perspective, Reliable Translations

Provide a glossary of terms specific to your product and/or industry. Consider other languages' space requirements and writing conventions (e.g., right‐to‐left). Provide context, especially for translating interfaces only. Provide original (Word, Excel, ...) documents rather than PDFs.

Jungwirth, Barbara. STC Proceedings (2009). Presentations>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 an XML-Based Content Management System in the Translation Process

Translation companies typically embrace innovations in methods for efficiently creating final formatted documents. About a year ago a client asked if we would be interested in testing and evaluating a content management system (CMS) and how it would relate to our translation process.

Argondizzo, Peter. STC International TC SIG (2008). Articles>Content Management>Translation>Assessment

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

How to Save Money on Translation By Editing the Source Text  

If translators had a list of FAQ's, the number one question would undoubtedly be "What can we do to cut the cost of our translations?" There are a number of answers to this question, but the simplest is to reduce the number of words in your documents before translating. Translation is usually priced by the word; therefore the fewer words for translation, the less it costs.

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

Managing Product Translation: One Technical Communicator’s Experiences  

As Documentation Manager, I was recently responsible for selecting a subcontracting company to localize one of our applications and its related manuals into three European languages: French, German, and Spanish. Concomitantly, R & D hired quality control testers, with fluency in each of the three languages.

Carmel, Patricia. STC International TC SIG (2003). Articles>Project Management>Translation>Case Studies

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