NOW Translations - Language Translation

Translation Software: The Promise
The Grail of localization is translation software, also known as: Machine Translation (MT). We're going to take a look at why this is (as yet) not a salvation over doing traditional translations. We'll also look at when MT can be used effectively.

What is Machine Translation?
The idea of MT is to feed a source (original) language document into a computer and have the resident translation software produce a document for a target language. The MT software uses a sophisticated combination of databases and glossaries to create a source document which, in theory, is understandable to a native speaker of that language.

Make no mistake, the software is "sophisticated," and the very idea that a program can make a reasonable stab at turning one language into another is astounding. However, even the best programs offer only up to 90% accuracy. What does that mean? Literally every tenth word or phrase will have something wrong with it. This isn't such a problem if you know what mistakes the software has made, but all too often, companies rely on this software for finished documents, getting no editing or proofing by a native speaker. That would be a bad idea even if the "90% accuracy" claim was true. Read on.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
Let's look at an example where the MT is absolutely correct, yet utterly wrong. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" is a phrase we all know, right? The MT interpretation was, "Invisible, Insane." It's not wrong. The phrase could mean that, but it doesn't.

Imagine submitting a business proposal and it was at best, only 90% accurate; what about packaging, recipes, auditing statements, even love letters? While some of those errors might be typos or garbled sentences that the reader can either figure out eventually or skip with no harm done, other errors can be insulting, misleading, ridiculous. Insulting, misleading, and ridiculous aren't the usual goals for business or romance and probably wouldn't make for a good batch of cookies.

Would MT help me if I had some grasp of the language, maybe some college courses?
Using MT could work for you if:

You were an excellent student, both in terms of writing, reading, and speaking.

You are up-to-date on your language skills.

The document you need translated isn't crucial (a note or short letter to a friend, for example).

There's no page layout, web design, or multimedia concerns you need to worry about.

If you can't confidently answer all the above, MT could get you into more trouble.

If I hired a professional agency to edit and proof the MT work, would MT work then?
Now you’re getting closer to when MT might make sense. You’ll need to be up-front with the agency you hire, because they’ll want to know the material wasn’t translated by a person before you show it to them (nobody likes surprises). Depending on the complexity of the original document and the facility of the MT software and its operator, you’ll encounter one of the following from the agency’s review:

1	The target document is stilted and literal; there are mistakes, but it can be edited to improve the readability and accuracy.

2	The target document is stilted and literal and much of the terminology or vernacular are wrong; an edit would improve the document, but don't expect it to read like it was done by a native speaker.

3	The target language is so poor that it would cost you more to edit it into something serviceable than to translate it from scratch - it still wouldn't sound as good as an original translation.

So How Accurate is MT
In our experiments, we have yet to run into anything approaching 90% accuracy and have, in fact, found whole sentences, paragraphs, and pages which are the opposite of that claim. Even a children’s text like “See Spot Run” yields meanings akin to: “Visualize stains that leak.”

MT is now common, even on web browsers. We’ve had fun (and so can you) translating foreign phrases into English and vice versa.

We took our NOW Translations slogan, “Only the best: Expertly translating and localizing your company’s products and services into all the languages of the world!” and using the MT supplied by one of the major web search engines, translated the text into German. The outcome was this: “Only das beste: Sachverständig, übersetzend und Beschränken der rodukte und der Dienstleistungen Ihrer Firma in alle Sprachen der Welt!”

How accurate was the German? Here it is in English: “Only the best: Expertly, translating and limiting of the products and of the services your company in all languages of the world.” The translation starts out OK, but upon hitting the word “Expertly” the MT added a comma, perhaps thinking this was meant to be the first in a series of modifiers for “your company’s products” though there is no grammatical reason it should have made this error. The word “limiting” is also not what we’d want to have a client think we do for their products and services; finishing up, “of the products and of the services your company in all languages of the world” leads the reader nowhere, the entire sentence being a fragment and incomplete.

Let’s not stop there. Here’s the text for a software upgrade we were sent in the mail; the original is on the left.

English Original

Spanish Software Translation, that was then translated back into English

Confirm your name and address as printed below. Note any corrections. Confirm the last registered version in use as printed below. Your upgrade price is noted. If you have purchased a more recent version than the one shown, see “Upgrade Reservation Pricing” on the reverse of this form. Complete the reverse of this form, insert in the postage-paid reply envelope, seal, and mail.

Confir to me its name and address according to the form down. Observe any correction. Confir to me the version registered happened in use according to the form down. Its price of the improvement is observed. If you have bought one more a version more recent than the one than she is shown, she sees the “reservation of the improvement appraising “ in the misfortune of this form. The misfortune of this form, the separator of thousands finishes in on franking-paid of the answer, the seal, and the mail.

It can’t even get the first word right (what is a “confir”?). And it’s downhill from there. But if you think we’re being unfair, that we should go real easy on the MT, let’s use the words of the “Great Communicator” himself, Ronald Reagan. Reagan was known for using simple language to make a clear point:

"It matters little that you hold the title to your property or business if government can dictate policy and procedure and holds life and death power over your business. The machinery of this power already exists."

Portuguese	German	Italian	French	Spanish
It imports little that you arrest the heading its property or business if the government will be able to dictate to the politics and the procedure and to arrest the power of the life and the death on its business. The machinery of this power exists already.	It constitutes few that you stop the name to your characteristic or to business, if government can prescribe politics and procedure and living and death energy over your business continue. The machinery of this energy existierent already.	It imports small that you hold the title to your property or commerce if the government can dictate to politics and the died procedure and has the power of and of life over your commerce. The machinery of this pontenza already exists.	It is essential little that you held the title on your property or businesses if the government can dictate the policy and the process and holds the power of the life and dead above your business. The machines of this power already exist.	It concerns little that you carry out the title to your characteristic or business if the government can dictate to the policy and the procedure and carries out power of the life and the concluído death his business. The machinery of this power exists already.

Well, the common man may have understood Reagan, but the common MT did not. Something so simple still got lost in the translations. Note where the various language databases don’t even cover all words, which is why some remain in their native languages. The strangest thing about the examples above, however, is the next to last word in the German “existierent.” This is probably supposed to be a German word, but certainly one we’ve never heard of. So, not only are the databases incomplete, they’re inaccurate!

So much for simple text. How does it do with a tougher challenge. This time, William F. Buckley Jr. is at bat:

"There is nothing so ironic as the nihilist or relativist (or the believer in the kind of academic freedom that postulates the equality of ideas) who complains of the anti-intellectualism of American conservatives."

The problem with MT is that it does not question. It does not struggle. It does not search for meaning. It simply throws out the best it can whip up as fast as it can whip it. It isn’t even able to look at your face and realize it just fed you several spoonfuls of nonsense. Language is alive. MT is not.

One last test before we go, keeping it as simple as we can: "It takes one to know one."

Portuguese	German	Italian	French	Spanish
It makes one examination to know one.	It takes in, in order to know in.	It takes one in order to know one.	It takes to know one.	Taking one to know one.

Success! Well, the Italian makes sense anyway. So, from all the examples we’ve seen, at last we come to something like 20% accuracy.

If MT is so poor, then why does even exist?

Machine Translation that is used to completely and accurately translate one language into another does not exist. Experiment with the on-line versions yourself.

There is, however, another kind of Machine Translation and this can be an excellent tool when used by language pros MTD, Machine Translation Database. The MTD software is used to compile a database of professionally translated materials. This is not magic; it does require a language professional to maintain develop it and maintain it. But once a company has a reliable MTD, it can use previously translated phrases, paragraphs, and pages automatically throughout future documents. This means those items don't need to be translated, edited, and proofed again, saving time and money.

Naturally, MTD is not something you use if your company only translates small items like brochures, ads, small manuals, etc. The time it takes to set-up and maintain would not yield any benefits. However, if your firm frequently needs massive projects transalted, where text changes come often, in a consistent, expected way, then MTD works. You must be commited to work closely with your translation agency to make MTD a benefit for you.

Agan, MTD will not save you time or money on ads, small manuals, etc. The large, specialized jobs where MTD can help require excellent, thorough project management (the glossaries and other resources built for these jobs are specialized and time consuming to set-up and maintain). The real savings for such jobs are in time, because the document modifications can be plugged in by the MTD and the operator and edited as required, which, thanks to the MTD and the nature of the rigid text, can be minimal.

Accurate, lucid translations are done by language pros. Accept no substitutes.