You’re a translator looking to improve your skills. What are the most important new technologies to learn?

1 Machine Translation

Machine translation (MT) is the process of using software to automatically translate text or speech from one language to another. MT can be a powerful tool for translators, especially when combined with human editing and post-editing. MT can help you save time, handle large volumes of content, and access new markets. However, MT also has its limitations, such as accuracy, consistency, and cultural sensitivity. To use MT effectively, you need to learn how to choose the best MT system for your needs, how to customize it for your domain and style, and how to evaluate and improve its output.

2 Computer-Assisted Translation

Computer-assisted translation (CAT) is the use of software to assist human translators in various aspects of their work, such as terminology management, translation memory, quality assurance, and project management. CAT can help you improve your productivity, consistency, and quality, as well as collaborate with other translators and clients. To use CAT efficiently, you need to learn how to select the best CAT tool for your workflow, how to optimize its features and functions, and how to integrate it with other tools and platforms.

3 Neural Machine Translation

Neural machine translation (NMT) is a type of MT that uses artificial neural networks to learn from large amounts of data and generate translations. NMT can produce more fluent, natural, and context-aware translations than traditional MT methods, as well as handle complex linguistic phenomena, such as idioms, metaphors, and word order. To benefit from NMT, you need to learn how to train and fine-tune your own NMT models, how to use them in combination with CAT tools and MT engines, and how to evaluate and enhance their quality.

4 Speech Recognition

Speech recognition is the technology that enables computers to understand and transcribe human speech. Speech recognition can be useful for translators who work with audiovisual or spoken content, such as podcasts, videos, or interviews. Speech recognition can help you speed up your transcription, translation, and subtitling processes, as well as improve your pronunciation and listening skills. To take advantage of speech recognition, you need to learn how to use different speech recognition software and applications, how to adjust them for different languages and accents, and how to edit and verify their output.

5 Translation APIs

Translation APIs are application programming interfaces that allow you to connect and interact with various translation services and resources, such as MT engines, CAT tools, dictionaries, glossaries, and corpora. Translation APIs can help you automate and streamline your translation tasks, as well as access and integrate diverse and dynamic data sources. To leverage translation APIs, you need to learn how to use different programming languages and frameworks, such as Python, Java, or Ruby, how to write and execute scripts and commands, and how to troubleshoot and debug errors.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?