Machine Translation Post-Editing Services
For most of human history, translation has been strictly confined to the realm of humans. After all, languages are incredibly complicated and intricate, far beyond what machines could handle up until the recent past. Now, with the advent of deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, we have access to machines that can translate human language with relative accuracy. However, they have a lot of drawbacks, while human translation services tend to be expensive and time-consuming.
Machine translation post-editing is the ideal middle ground, and we at TranslationServices.com are proud to offer this service. Get in touch with us today to find out more.
Machine translation: Lots of shortcomings
While machines have dramatically enhanced their linguistic capabilities over recent decades, they still can’t rival humans. In particular, machines can’t easily judge what sounds natural, and it’s difficult for them to translate the literary style of creative texts. They’re apt to stumble over technical terms, slang, and cultural references, and the technology would have to improve considerably before AI could smoothly handle the translation of jokes and puns. And let’s not forget all the subtle nuances embedded into the utterances of any language, which can convey important information but may escape a machine translator. The struggles of machine translators are amplified when translating uncommon language pairs, such as Estonian and Swahili, or dramatically different languages, such as English and Japanese.
Human translation: High quality but expensive
Humans, who remain the undisputed masters of language, can produce high-quality translations that smoothly convey both the message and style of the original text. Those who need technical translation can hire subject-matter experts familiar with industry jargon, and those seeking literary or creative translation can work with human translators to ensure their creative genius shines through in the target language. The drawback? Human translation services are expensive and can take a long time, depending on the length of your translation material. In translation, it really is a matter of getting what you pay for.
Machine translation post-editing: The best of both worlds
There’s a way to enjoy the high quality and accuracy of human translation without the high prices that such services usually demand. Combining the best of both worlds, you can have your text translated automatically by a machine translator and then edited by a human translator to ensure the translation is accurate and the language is natural and appropriate. This is known as machine translation post-editing (MTPE).
Since MTPE demands much less rigor from a human translator, the process is cheaper and quicker than traditional human translation, making it an economical way to obtain high-quality translation. Depending on the level of quality you’re looking for, you can choose between different tiers of MTPE: light post-editing or full post-editing. If you opt for light MTPE services, the translator will simply correct spelling and grammatical errors and ensure that the translation is accurate—this is the bare minimum service and may leave you with an awkward or unnatural text.
If you’re concerned about quality and are willing to pay more, you can instead elect to purchase full MTPE services, which will see the translator dive deep into your content to address not only spelling and grammatical errors and inaccuracies but also stylistic issues. In this service, the translator will ensure your translation sounds natural and is appropriate for the context, whether academic, corporate, creative, or anything else. They’ll also ensure any cultural references, slang, technical jargon, jokes, or puns are translated as smoothly as possible.
Ensuring quality in our MTPE services
To facilitate smooth MTPE services, we have our translators scan the original text for errors or ambiguities before it’s run through the AI translator, identifying problem areas even pre-translation. We also equip our machine translators with glossaries to increase the chances of smooth technical translation. Our translators then use specialized machine translation systems to check over the translated text, which saves time and promotes consistency.
We’re dedicated to providing quality in both our fully human translation services and our machine translation post-editing services. If you’re interested in MTPE services, just reach out today and ask for a quote.