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Monday, August 27, 2012

What to Expect With Machine Translation?



In the world of business, whether you're working for a huge multinational company or as a freelancer who loves to write, times will come when translation is necessary. Most people are not fluent in more than one language, so they turn to machine translators for help. What should you expect when you use such devices?




Positives

With a machine translating device, you will find incredible ease with the project. You'll simply have to input what you want translated, and then you will see the results come to life right before your eyes. Additionally, these types of translators are readily available, and you can usually find them online without too much of a struggle. Be certain to use a reputable one.



Negatives

One of the both the problems and the privileges with machine translators is that they often make direct translations. Let's say that you were trying to translate the American idiom "A stitch in time saves nine" into Spanish. The phrase would be literally translated, and the voice and purpose of the idiom would be lost. Additionally, sometimes there could be two spellings of a word or two variations of a word. Not knowing which one you intend to use, the machine translator might select the wrong one. Some translators out there are unreliable, and you never know who is actually operating them.



The Alternative

While machine translators have excellent benefits, you might feel that the negatives outweigh the positives in this situation. You could try turning to a translation dictionary so that you can translate every word by itself. Remember though, you still cannot translate the distinct voice used in idioms and other expressions that are specific to certain cultures. If you're going to be doing a lot of translations into another language, why don't you work on learning that target language? You can enroll in some classes at the local community college, or you can purchase some DVDs and tapes to teach yourself this new language in the comfort of your home.



Another Option

Learning a new language takes some time, and looking up every word of a lengthy document in a dictionary can become truly mind numbing. What is a person supposed to do when he or she is in need of translation services? Instead of scrambling, consider hiring a translator for your company if you do a lot of work that requires such a specialty. Perhaps you don't have a lot of money to spare or maybe you only need a translator for a couple of projects every year. If that's the case, see if you can find some translators around town who work on a freelance basis. Fluent speakers are excellent choices because they can make correct translations, and they can tell you if there are some words or phrases that don't directly translate.



Having to do translations for work can be a trying task when you don't have the proper equipment with which to do so and you have no one on task who speaks the target language. Review these rules for the best way to efficiently complete translations at work.



This is a guest post written by Robbie Montgomery who  writes about finance, business & more at http://flowerdelivery.net
  .• All rights belong to Ostom. • Use of this post is allowed provided this link is present at the end of the article. http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com • Hire me for translation into Bengali and Hindi www.indianscripts.com/ • Visit my Blog on Indian languages http://motso.wordpress.com