Professional translators use a wide range of technology to convert documents into multiple languages faster. The challenge is to decrease the turnaround time for translation projects without reducing the quality of multilingual content in any way.
Machine translation is one of these tools, offering almost instant translations of text material. However, even the best translation algorithms struggle to deliver the accuracy required for corporate translation – so how do professional translators use this technology to deliver faster results?
Machine translation delivers instant results
The key strength of machine translation is its ability to deliver almost instant results. All a translator needs to do is copy and paste text into the software’s interface, select the desired output language and the software will return translated text either instantly or in a matter of moments.
This is no different from using a machine translation tool like Google Translate.
The challenge is, machine translation can’t be relied on to translate text with 100% accuracy. In fact, the technology can even struggle with relatively basic text, especially if there are significant grammatical differences between the input and output languages.
So while machine translation delivers instant results, there is still a lot of work for human translators to do.
Machine translation provides a first draft
The best way to think of machine translation is to imagine it as a first draft for human translators to work with. Even if the software tool only achieves a level of 20% accuracy throughout a document, this is still 20% of the work that human translators do not need to perform manually.
In some cases, machine translation can achieve higher accuracy levels than this and every percentage counts – especially on large-scale projects.
With machine translation providing a first draft, human translators can move straight to the reviewing stage. This is where they check the translated text, verify its accuracy and fix mistakes. While this process takes longer than it would if the first draft was created by a human translator, algorithms deliver an instant first draft and the combined time it takes for both processes to be completed is shorter.
Machine translation is not the only tool translators use to deliver results faster, either. Language experts also have technologies like translation memory that cuts out repeated work, and terminology management, which increases consistency and reduces mistakes. By the time you combine these tools into a comprehensive translation process, the time they save across an entire project is significant.
By using the latest technology, professional translators are able to complete their work at a much faster rate without compromising on quality, which allows us to pass on the time and financial savings to you.
To find out more about our own machine translation solutions, please contact us.