One popular misconception about the world of translation is the degree to which machine translation (MT) will one day transform linguists into the next class of panhandlers disrupted by the miracles of modern technology. While automated translation tools online have made significant gains in the arena of basic communication, they remain impractical for the gold standard messages business rely on to build brand, differentiate their voice, and connect with customers.
There are, however, situations where MT can offer significant time and cost savings over pure human translation. If your translation agency has recommended you consider MT, you’ve probably brought them a sizable project that meets specific criteria. How sizable? Try more than a million words.
So what can you do to further smooth the way for your big translation project? In this post we’ll talk about some simple preparations you can make to feed the machine.
¿Cómo se dice "disaster" en español? The U.S. national healthcare exchange website launch has been plagued with problems in more than just English.
As thousands found out this winter, “CuidadoDeSalud.gov” was considerably less fluent than it needed to be to serve Spanish-only populations in the U.S.
The Spanish version of the enrollment website provides a cautionary tale on the topic of localization, machine translation (MT), and why quality assurance is a must.
Sometimes when I tell people my company helps companies increase their global reach through language translation services, I’m met with a skeptical grin.
“Is that going to be around much longer?” they say. “I thought Google Translate and other automated translation tools were making that kind of thing obsolete.”
And here’s one of the reasons Machine Translation (MT) is such a complex and contentious topic. Yes, it is can be a powerful tool for businesses rapidly looking to adapt to foreign markets. Yes, it can drive down costs and speed projects along. But applied to the wrong projects in the wrong way, it can have just the opposite effect.
As Acclaro gets ready to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we're taking a look back at some trends that have changed the way we do business today.
Throughout the history of the translation industry, human translation has always been the best way to get the best quality. Over the past ten years, however, machine translation has matured into a viable solution for more and more industries. Translation is not just cryptography. Language is often a fluid and illogical medium and good translation requires fluent knowledge and careful attention to detail and nuance, something that computers just don't do very well. However, that doesn't mean they aren't trying...or at least, getting better.
Machine translation. It sounds simple, right? Rather than use a human translator, you put the burden on a computer. How hard could it be?
That depends, of course, on how much you value making sense from what you’ve translated. And that depends on what — and how much — you’re translating in the first place.
Machine Translation (MT) is a powerful and evolving solution to the complexities companies face when they must quickly and inexpensively make large amounts of information available to international audiences.
In this six question Q&A we’ll give you the “nuts and bolts” (if you will) about the current state of MT and how it might help you save time and money on your next translation project.
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