Fresh look at modern translation tools
By the emergence of translation software, the translator seemed to be such a teacher-donned character, surrounded by mountains of dusty books and very heavy dictionaries. However, today a translator is a person equipped with the latest technology. The automation of translator’s work is gaining momentum every year, allowing you to reduce the time to complete the work and improve the quality of translations.
Of course, it is not possible to fully automate the translation process. The machine will never catch all the meanings of the text (especially the artistic one), it may not be able to guess the idiom and break it into separate words, changing the whole meaning. Still, translation is more of an art, so a car will never replace a person, but it can ease the work a translator through correctly chosen approaches.
Software tools help to make automatic the process of text recognition (for example, when translating a scanned document in Word); extraction of terms from the text; creation of a common database of all completed translations and translation based on this database; quality control of translations, their adjustment etc.
As an example to it, Universe Baku LLC, who has been in the local translation market since 1994, uses a variety of means to save time and effort of a translator. Terminological dictionaries can bring together the entire set of terms for a specific area or a specific project i.e. terms relating to the promotion of sites or paint coatings. In this case, if the translator again encounters a similar subject, he will not have to painfully remember what a particular term means, it will not be necessary to even pick up old entries. It is enough to look in the terminological dictionary and find the right concept.
Translation Memory Software which has been developed by language experts of Universe Technical Translation in the United States (head office of Universe Baku), is a database of all translations. The algorithm of its work is simple: it breaks the text into a certain number of segments, and then compares them with the already completed translations. If there are matches in the database (and with significant groundwork, they can be up to 50% or more), the program highlights the segment and offers options for its translation. Certain varieties of such software can be found online, but they are not as concise as the one we talk about. The advantage of using our TM-technology is a significant increase in the speed of translation, as well as ensuring uniformity of terminology within one text. Unfortunately, to reduce the number of matches to 100% is not possible in free downloaded versions, so that the manual labor of the translator remains in demand. The database is developed over the years..
If you correctly combine these tools, you can achieve significant improvements in the productivity of translators. Automating the work of a translator is crucial in the modern world, where, with daily increasing volumes of orders, the main role is played by timeliness and quality of translation.
However, it can in no ways be likened to translations by using Google! I know many translation companies who are champions in applying incredibly and unbelievably bottom-rock prices to clients and their trick involves translation of texts through Google and then slightly correct it and Bob’s is your uncle.
But as soon as it comes to a complex text, replete with professional terminology, for example, oil, energy, medical or technical, the electronic assistant immediately begins to falter. Here, even a person who has devoted translation to life, can make a mistake, what can we say about electronic dictionaries!
Undoubtedly, electronic translator will never replace a specialist. He, unlike a professional, does not have that intuition that is accumulated over the years and at the right moment works like a pop-up hint, offering the correct translation.
In most cases, the electronic translator will not be able to recognize a steady turn in the original language. It not conveys the inherent atmosphere of the original text. An erroneous comma in the source document will confuse such a translator.
It should be borne in mind that electronic translators are not suitable for performing translations that require maximum accuracy, consistency and correctness. They will not cope with technical texts. They will be able to convey a general meaning, but no more.
It especially refers to technical translations. Among other fields, technical translation is considered one of the most difficult types of written translation. It is interesting to read such texts only to professionals: otherwise they are dry, hard to read, they have a lot of specific vocabulary that makes it difficult to understand the text. Technical translation is necessary when it is necessary to translate the instructions for the equipment, the contract, the dictionary, the reference book into another language. The complexity of a technical translation is that it must be done by a person who has excellent terminology, because any inaccuracy in the instruction manual can lead to equipment failure. It is important that the idea was expressed very clearly and did not allow different interpretations. Unfortunately, finding a good technical translator is not so easy. There are few options: either a person with a technical education who knows a foreign language or a linguist who is well versed in technical subjects works as a translator. You can certainly try to translate such text on your own, but in this case you are not immune from errors. In addition, translation agency professionals can bring the text into the proper form, keeping the location of the diagrams and drawings in the instructions.
Given to the above statement, if you need really professional literate translation, it is better to contact a specialized translation agency, like Universe Baku LLC. Our professional translators with ad hoc editors can perform a high-level translation of text on any subject and complexity.
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