MACHINE TRANSLATION
Translation of text by a computer, without human involvement
What is machine translation?
Still, it retains the 'artificial' feel that would not appear in a human translation. Machine translations (MT) are useful for getting a general idea about the meaning of a text written in a foreign language. However, "general idea" isn't always exactly accurate; the program literally translates (word to word) the text which often results into an unprofessional and inaccurate result which is grammatically incorrect, or sometimes a completely incoherent text.
How/for what is machine translation used?
It is a common practice to use free translation programs available online to read a document in a foreign language, or to translate a document into a foreign language. It is also sometimes used off-hand for Indian languages. See an example in Hindi in Image 1! This is an actual snapshot taken by our team, of an ad appearing on a website!!!!
Image 1 – Machine translation from English to Hindi for an advertisement
Indian language perspective –
The image 1 in itself is a proof of how free machine translation
works in Indian languages, language pairs in which the technology is in a
nascent stage of development.
Foreign language perspective -
However, the situation gets
worse when MT is used for translating into a language one does not know. In
such cases, the translated output cannot be read and therefore cannot be
verified by the person. He/she then just blindly uses the output for whatever
purpose, blissfully unaware of the problems that could arise.
Multiple issues of using MT in the corporate world
Now
consider a scenario where a Project Manager is translating a document related
to a Tender from Portuguese – English online on a free translation portal, just
to roughly understand it- here the problems are manifold
Even if the PM understands
English, how can he be sure that:
i.
All data has been translated – he does not
have the time to verify and check with the original, whether all text,
numerals, etc. have been translated and transferred fully.
ii. That the machine has interpreted the meaning
correctly
iii. That no linguistic nuances have been ignored
iv. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, such sensitive
information has been passed on to the MT provider, and this data will be stored
by the program! This means, though it will not immediately affect your
business, this data loses the confidentiality you require! MT providers
claim rights to using that information for their own purposes.
Data leakage through MT – a real threat:
a. Data leakage:
It is well known how critical information can leak
– sending or accessing it over unencrypted connections, through unsecured Wi-Fi
networks or storing it on cloud servers. These are risks that most of us are
aware of.
What most people are unaware of are what the
online machine translation providers do with the data users input.
b. Rights to your data:
These sites exercise the right to use your data in
ways you may never even have imagined. When you enter text for “Free
translation”, you inadvertently provide the MT companies a worldwide license to
use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate,
publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.
c. Types of data divulged:
Millions of people use MT services daily to
translate text from emails, text messages, project proposals, legal contracts,
merger and acquisition documents, and other sensitive content.
d. Risk:
Organizations worldwide are realizing
that confidential information, trade secrets, and intellectual property (IP)
are thus open to eavesdroppers and interpretation by the free MT providers to
the world. The
bottom line: Data leakage via MT is a real and present danger to
enterprises.
Solution:
If MT is required to produce professional high
quality translation, a trained MT engine is necessary, together with specialist
translators and post-editors (proofreaders of text post Machine translation!)
who can check, edit and validate the MT output. However this is only possible
for large corpora of data. When it comes to a one time translation requirement,
especially for your commercial or technical data, it is always better to get it
translated through a human being!
Difference between human and machine translation:
Artificialness in
language after translation – problems in syntax (sentence structure) influenced
by source language, therefore providing translation that seems
unnatural/artificial.
WORDS
a. Untranslatability: The
vagaries and origins of different languages mean that some things cannot be
expressed – a concept known as untranslatability. E.g.
Ushta (in Marathi) or Jootha (in Hindi) [Food that has been half-eaten by someone] cannot be translated into English/ any
other European language as the concept itself is untranslatable. A human translator in such a case inserts a translator’s note to explain
the meaning.
b. Choice of words: You can get the gist of the draft or documents through automatic
translation, but machine translation only does word to word translation
without comprehending the information. So the words placed in the translation
don’t necessarily mean what is said in the original document. A human
translator on the other hand can re-express in his/her own words in the target
language. Moreover, since the words in machine translation are statistically
selected, it means if a word is used by a large number of people incorrectly,
the same word is used in machine translation.
c. Unknown words, incorrect language: Words that the
machine is not trained for or does not know are not translated and are retained
in the source language as is, even after translation! Sometimes, even basic
things like spelling mistakes, grammar errors are left in a machine
translation! A professional human translator can avoid such issues due to
his/her long standing experience, knowledge of the language, and getting proofreading
done by another translator.
d. Context: A word can have many different meanings and connotations depending on
the context in which it is used – and it is difficult for a machine to
comprehend these minute differences yet.
E.g. “order” can be related to:
a. something you place in a
restaurant,
b. a government order,
c. a superior’s instruction to
you,
d. law and order,
e. order of different things in a
system, etc.
Depending on these meanings, the
word is translated differently in the target language by a human translator.
However, it gets complex for the program to translate it in such cases & it
chooses a statistically highly used word. Things get worse when such words are
not available in the target language at all. In such cases, a human translator
will normally put in more words and make the term comprehensible, whereas a
machine translation will just replace the word by any translation it has depending
on the statistics of the word being used in a corpus on which it is trained.
UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF A TEXT:
a. Mental outlook: Systematic and formal rules are followed by
machine translation so it cannot concentrate on a context and solve ambiguity
and neither makes use of experience or mental outlook like a human translator can.
b. Literary ‘machine’ translation
not possible: As human thoughts are not predictable and mechanical,
computerised system cannot translate most literary works or regular general
texts, like humans can.
c.
Emotions/nuances/double
meanings: Software programs have no “soul,” no rational, emotional
faculty that could translate hidden meanings, irony, subtle humour and all
those linguistic details that make a language what it is.
Repercussions of using Machine Translation on your business:
Poor product quality -
Think of the consequences of such irresponsible use of MT in business situations! The results can be catastrophic. We have been thinking of writing to the Marketing Department of a Large FMCG group in India, the food labels of which have been translated into painfully incorrect French and have been printed on their packs. This not only annoys the respective buyers (as most Europeans are very particular and proud about their language) but leads them to question the quality of the products also (from India).Solution:
It is
clear that automated translation software is here to stay, and there is no
turning back. What should you do? First of all, know that automated
translation software has its place, but only for a certain applications. Since
it is free, you can always use it for general purposes, such as chatting with a
friend abroad, expanding your vocabulary, etc.
Apart
from that, you should use translation services provided by trained
professionals to
achieve desirable results; otherwise, problems are bound to arise. If, however,
you cannot avoid using a software application, make sure to hire a professional
translator/editor to give your document a second look. This kind of
final-editing and quality check is always recommended, even for a translation done by a human,
because it reduces the inevitability of mistranslation and errors, and thus can
turn a translated piece into something worthwhile.
At
this point of time, at least, that what is written by a human can be properly
translated into another language only by another human. Computers with
translation software can get very close indeed, but excellence is not about
getting close. It’s about delivering accurate and professional translation results.
A good translation is a basic requirement for any company
selling a product or service worldwide. It makes good business sense to have
brochures, website, promotional literature and contracts translated in the
language of the target country. At times, it seems easier to use free
translation software through a search engine or other websites. However, one
shouldn’t forget that incorrect translations of documents can be
disastrous for both the company and clients.
For
the last 37 years, Language Services Bureau has helped the Indian Industry to
bridge the communication gap while interacting with their foreign clients,
collaborators and counterparts. Right from translating websites, brochures,
product labels, patents, legal documents, agreements, contracts, recipe books,
to general correspondence, technical manuals, drawings, standards and specifications,
LSB has consistently delivered high quality reliable and timely
translations. For more details visit our website www.languageservicesbureau.com or get in touch with us at info@languageservicesbureau.com
Devaki Kunte
Head of Operations
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