What do you think of machine translation? Are you a supporter of it, or do you see that it spoils the art of human translation? Do you go to a translation office to translate what you need, or do you see that it is a waste of money? Whatever your decision and bias, wait until the end of this article, perhaps your point of view will change.
What is translation?
The translation is an art. The translation is one of the most important tools used to connect people and cultures. Without translation, we would not be able to know what is going on everywhere around the world. Translation is the process of converting an original written text (called the source text) from the source language into written text (the target text) in the other language. But translation has different types, including literal translation, simultaneous translation, legal translation, literary and scientific translation, and other types. Any accredited translation office can provide these services and more, such as our Active Translation Services.
Who is the translator?
The translator is the person who does the translation. Although the translator looks at him and shows me who is the writer; Where most people think that the writer is more skilled than the translator and that if the translator was as competent as the writer, he would not work as a translator. But no, this is not what I think, since the task of the translator, in my opinion, is more difficult than the task of the writer. Why? Let me tell you that the writer has the freedom to choose the subject and synonyms and to sail in the sea of writing as he wishes, while the translator does not have this freedom. The translator must adhere to what is written, and he must convey the feelings of the original writer and convert them into another language for the reader to understand.
Because of the difficulty of the translator’s task, I see that he must be highly accurate and proficient. Therefore, I see that he must be a certified translator working in an accredited translation office so that I can rely on him and trust him in the translation he provides.
What is machine translation?
Machine translation is the use of artificial intelligence in translation through a built-in database. In my simplest sense, it is to replace simple words from one language with equivalent words in another country, but this may create a problem as it cannot produce a good translation of the text; Because there is a need to perceive entire phrases and their closest counterparts in the language to be translated.
We can also improve the quality of production through human intervention: for example, some systems can translate more accurately if the user has an unambiguous determination of whether the words in the text are the names of real people or things. With the help of these technologies, machine translation has proven useful as a tool to assist human translators, and in very small cases machine translation can produce text that can be used as is (for example, weather reports).
Why do some resort to machine translation instead of any translation office ?
Large companies know that automatic translation is not accurate, so large companies see them using translation experts in most cases, but there are some cases that they think may resort to automatic translation, and here lies the question, why? And why does the general public resort to it as well?
First: speed
Machine translation is faster than human translation, especially when there are a large number of papers translated. But this may lead to translation disasters, especially when the papers are sensitive and important.
Second: the prices
For example, automatic translation provided by Google is a free translation. You do not need to pay any amount for this service. In the case of using any translation office, especially if it is an accredited translation office, you have to pay for their services. This poses a problem for many people; There are translation offices and services for a large sum of money. But this is what you will not find here; We have an “Active Translation Company”, as our prices are competitive. Contact us.
Third: consistency
Sometimes machine translation may provide better quality than human interpretation of texts. This is mostly due to consistency in style and wording, which is where machine translation exceeds expectations. But machine translation fails to choose the right words due to cultural differences. It cannot judge the correct meaning based on the context as it cannot understand it, and this is what distinguishes humans.
Human translation represented by a translation office
Human translation does not need to know, it explains itself. Because this type of translation is the translation that a person does. This type of translation may not make mistakes at all. Why? Let me tell you why. Because the translator is fully aware of the mother tongue of the text to be translated. The translator is also fully aware of the language into which he will translate the text.
I see that there is no similarity between any translator in a translation office and a writer or journalist. But I think we can liken the writer to the editor who is constantly molding a piece of writing and making it perfect for public consumption.
What are the benefits of human translation?
First: Quality
Can you tell a high-quality translation from a low-quality translation? Simply a high-quality translation, you will find it free of linguistic errors and looks natural, which is what any translation office offers.
Second: cultural sensitivities
One of the big differences between human translation and machine translation is cultural sensitivities. Whereas, when translating a text from a text, you are not only translating the text, but you are also transferring one culture to another that suits the reader whose language you translated the file into. I believe that this essential point can not be made by any god.
Third: Linguistic expertise
When it comes to local translators and translation bureaus. Their experience helps them in both languages. So they provide a translation of the content to suit the needs of the audience. Although machine translation is more economical and faster than human translation, it cannot understand the implications of a document.
Conclusion
Although machine translation is faster, it is not reliable and can put the owner of this option in a bad position. I believe that in some areas that require translating huge content. If you use a dedicated machine translation engine in addition to a translation office with human editors. This will provide you with satisfactory results at lower costs than working with humans alone. Machine translation has its importance and this is indisputable. But if we do not take into account the speed in the competition between machine translation and human translation. The human translation sweeps the competition undisputed. In the end, I hope this article has helped you. After all this, have you made up your mind about which of the two translations you think is better than the other?
