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Machine translation and the importance of a translator
You can do machine translation work, but it doesn’t come out right. You want someone who knows the market and knows the culture so they can properly translate and convey the message. We at DutchTrans highly recommend using a real translator over a machine. Automated translation systems are good for some things, but for broad, large-scale translation work, it’s good to use a translation company.
“Bad translations can cost you a lot of money
The importance
You, as a client, have to rely on the work of a translation agency. A professional well organized company that knows the risk of a translation product and the impact of bad translations.
Consider the case of the Canadian company translating baby formula labels into French. “They mistranslated the instructions in such a way that the mixture would cause illness or even death in babies. That was caught in time luckily, but it wasn’t good for the manufacturer. It cost millions of dollars.”
New York City pharmacies mistranslated prescription labels into Spanish. “…the sign for a 100-year anniversary that instead of “100 años” (100 years) read “100 anos” (100 anuses).”
A funny translation story
In Madrid a few years ago, some co-workers and I stopped at a café for coffee. At least that’s what I ordered. My associate from England was more interested in a lovely cup of tea. But as he looked up at the stunning Spanish waitress, his basic Spanish 101 request came out as “Te quiero” (I love you) instead of “Quiero té” (I want tea). Lucky for him, the waitress smiled – and sat in his lap! Of course, he was dead chuffed (utterly delighted) and now loves Spain. However, language blunders and poor translations rarely work in our favour.
Being bilingual does not make you a translator or an interpreter. In other words, it pays to use a professional over someone who thinks they are competent in a language but has little or no experience.
You want someone with cultural awareness who has lived in the country for a long time. There is zero substitute for language immersion. If you cannot rely on a translator and proofreader, what can a translation agency do to check the quality of the translation and to avoid huge mistranslations?
If you do not speak the language and you have the translation done by a native translator and checked by a native proofreader there are tools on the market that could catch what a translator’s eye and a proofreader’s eye could miss.
We have strict rules at DutchTrans. After the translator and the proofreader have translated and checked your document, we use ApSIC Xbench which is an integrated reference tool aimed to provide a clear and structured view of the terminology of any translation project.
It can be also used in QA checks for translation projects and can easily point out inconsistencies, mismatches, untranslated segments, punctuation and terminology errors. This is used as a last check before documents are sent to the client. A good translation can open up avenues to new markets and clientele and help a company establish strong relationships with non-English speakers and expand overseas.
We are here for you
We understand the need for the success of your business and that’s why we only employ professional native linguists, together delivering the most accurate and professional translation on time.
Feel free to contact us for any request at info@dutchtrans.co.uk 24 hours a day.
We are here for all your translation needs.
With technology being such a huge impulse in every domain, it has, of course, found its way into the hands of writers too (not that this is a bad thing). These new improvements can help in case writers have a lack of inspiration or journalists don’t have a topic.
Here are some apps, communities and tools for those bound by the written word.
- A great mobile app for journalists would be Bambuser which helps to share videos from their mobile via social media.
- Hootsuite is one of the most well known tools for managing social media presence.
- Again, for all the journalists out there, Storify is a tool which searches social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for different stories and topics and when found, the results can be easily added to the main text.
- Since its release in 2003, WordPress has continued to grow in such a manner that it is now the most used system on the Internet. This is the perfect tool for any writer considering the fact that anybody can run multiple blogs on it, you can post articles and your text will always be analyzed for any grammatical errors.
- Wired Journalists is an online system that hosts various groups, forums and headlines, designed to serve the purposes of digital writers who want to share the information.
- When it comes to your writing you can never be too careful with your files. Keeping them on your laptop might put them in danger. That is why Dropbox created a service that lets you upload your documents online so you can access them anywhere, from a mobile device through an app or from a pc from a browser or a desktop service.
- Another great tool for journalists is Soundnote, an app that allows journalists to tap one word from an interview so they can play back what they may have missed.
Aside from these tools, there are many other tools that when combined, can help you become a better writer and more agile journalist. By doing a “test-drive” you will realize which one best fits your needs. Please specify your favorite ones.
Among the many linguistic processes there is one that continues to grow due to popular demand – Transcription, which is the translation of an audio or video material into a desired language. This rise in popularity of this process mostly takes place in the
- Legal sector where interviews, oral statements or telephone conversations are requested to be translated
- Business sector for recordings of meetings or focus groups
- Media sectors where transcriptions are needed for world cinema and international marketing campaigns
The processes through which an audio recording becomes a transcription:
- First, it is determined which specialization it falls into.
- Next, the written document of the audio file is produced
- And Third, the written document is then translated and proofread by two separate native linguists
Determining the specialisation that the recording falls into is very important, because then the most specialised native linguists in that specific field will work on your project.
Producing the written document of the audio file (transcribing) is a process that can take some time, mostly because the recording must be listened to by the linguist and there are some factors that must be taken in to consideration such as, the file length, number of people involved in the conversation, dialog or any background noises. Generally, 1 minute of audio requires 4 minutes of transcribing, which means 15 minutes of audio requires an hour. That is why this part of the transcription process is charged by the hour for the actual time taken.
Now that the transcribing is done, the text goes through the translation and proofreading process which is done by professional native linguists the same way as any other translation project.
We can transcript any media file format that you send us as long as the audio quality is high. In this process even certain sounds are taken in to consideration, so, you have to make sure it is free from background noise so that the transcribing can take place.
Feel free to contact us for any request at info@dutchtrans.co.uk 24 hours a day. We are here for all your translation needs.
Financial translations are almost on the same level of sensitivity as medical translations, and the reason is very simple: even a missing comma “,” can determine huge loses, especially during a period of recession.
What to avoid in financial text translations and the damages they might cause:
- Never use a machine translation, no matter how technically advanced it is. These machines cannot understand and translate financial terminology.
- These errors can result in losing a major contract or even losing large amounts of company money. And all this from a small error.
- Avoid letting unqualified and inexperienced “translators” translate your text.
- A bad translation can even lead to legal consequences, when it comes to financial statements designed for legal or government purposes.
Usually, these texts consist of business plans, contracts, non-disclosure agreements, annual reports, balance sheets, P&L statements, auditing reports, due diligence documentation, etc.
When translating financial texts, there are some important aspects that must be taken into consideration:
- The Numbers are the most important factor for this specialization, this is why they must not be moved or changed. It is extremely important that the punctuation and annotation system is also taken into consideration, especially because the period/decimal system may differ from the original language to the target language
- New financial terms need extra attention when looking for equivalent words in the target language.
- Abbreviations in financial texts are usually known only in the sphere of financial experts.
For these aspects to be met, it is a standard requirement that the translators have to be specialized in this field and must have a basic knowledge of current financial terminology in both the source and the target languages.
Another very important aspect of financial text translations is the confidentiality
The figures related in a financial document must always be kept confidential, because any breach or leakage of information can produce major consequences to the market and stock prices.
That is why we will always have a serious commitment to protecting the confidentiality of your documents and the translated work.
DutchTrans can deliver you an accurate translation of your document, which you can be sure will be precisely localised in the requested target language, this way all your financial documents will accomplish their purposes.
Document translation may seem like a piece of cake. Something you could even cut and paste into machine translation software of some kind and be done in a few minutes.
You might think this is the way to go to save time and money on translations of important legal, medical, or even business documents. Think again! Studies show that mechanical translation is insufficient in translating basic sentences, let alone complex subject matter with legal, medical, or other important information. You may also think it can easily be done by someone in a far off country who will not charge you much. This is also a dangerous idea.
As a rule, if your business is important to you (and whose isn’t?) when it comes to the task of document translation, you should hire a professional translation service to handle your paperwork in an efficient, expert and timely manner
Most of the better services also offer higher quality standards because native speakers are proofreading every document that has been translated. So the document will be translated by a professional and double-checked by yet another professional. This service is worth the money and will save lots of headaches.
You may be able to find someone on Craig’s list or the internet who says they will translate your documents for you for a very cheap price. Don’t hire someone unless they can give you references of people who they have worked for that you can follow up and see if they’re legitimate and do good work that satisfies customers. If they can’t do that, then your money is better spent with another service. Another question is whether or not they have multiple translators. The answer should definitely be “Yes” because if not, if the person gets sick or delayed, so does your translation. With a larger company, more people are available to cover any holes. They also will have a second person to proofread and discuss the translation.
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