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Machine translation: Why you shouldn't make it too easy for the program.

6/20/2018

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Introduction

Ever wondered about what you have to do to get a free translation?

One way is to hire a good translator on a long-term basis. My advice for making your money go further: interact on a regular, as-needed basis and build up a database of texts and terminologies that you can use again and again and adapt to suit new developments or new product launches. Not actually free, but cheap in the long run because you’ll avoid delays and costly mistakes.

The other way is to use one of those free computer programs available online. You’ve probably heard of them: Bing Translator, Google Translate, DeepL.

But no doubt you’ve also heard about the problems associated with using one of those programs indiscriminately. That’s right. They get it wrong! But what other options do you have? How about writing in a ‘simple’ way to make it easier for the program to understand the text and do its work properly?

The idea of restricting certain elements of language use with the aim of improving comprehension is quite old, actually, and the simplification approach has been successfully implemented in a number of ‘controlled’ language varieties. It is also claimed that controlled, simplified language facilitates machine translation.

This is the topic I would like to discuss with you over the coming weeks here on the blog. As it is written, this blog article would not pass muster for ‘writing in a Plain English style’. Why not? What are the guidelines and recommendations for writing in a plain English style? Does it improve computer translation results? Or does it create new instances of ambiguity?

Watch out for weekly updates throughout July and August here on the Witinall Blog! Come and join the discussion!
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