The False Economy of Machine-Generated Translations in the Translation Services Industry

The False Economy of Machine-Generated Translations in the Translation Services Industry

A statement we often hear from UK-based SMEs is "Why pay for professional translations when I can get it for free on Google and other sites?". They think they are saving money by using such machine-generated web-based translation services. But are they really doing themselves any favours in the long run?

Let's be clear about one thingfree machine-generated translations like Bubbles Translation Services own service http://www.bubblestranslation.com/english/translator.html DO have a place to play in business. However, since these are at very best only 70% accurate, they will only give you a "gist" of the meaning. This accuracy level decreases rapidly for non-Western European languages.

Here is an example. Using any web-based machine-generated translation service, translate the following paragraph into, say, Portuguese:

Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find there in 50 years. The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre (3ft) wide has been unearthed at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.

and you will get:

Arquelogos descobriram um henge segundo em Stonehenge, descrito como o mais emocionante encontrar l em 50 anos. A vala circular que cerca um crculo menor de poos profundos aproximadamente um medidor (3ft) largamente unearthed no local mundialmente famoso em Wiltshire.

Now unless you happen to speak Portuguese, you will have no idea how accurate this is. So, let's use the same service to "back-translate" this from Portuguese into English. You then get:

Archeologists had second discovered one henge in the Stonehenge, described as most exciting to find back in 50 years. The ditch circular that surrounds a lesser circle of deep wells aproximadamente a measurer (3ft) wide unearthed in the world-wide famous place in Wiltshire.

As you can see, although you do get a reasonable idea of the intended meaning, the text is very stuttering and lacks fluidity.

Now let's say you receive an email from an unknown person in Portugal and just want to get an idea of what it says. Machine-generated translation is fine for this you can then decide whether it is important enough to get translated professionally. If that email turns out to be from a potential client wishing to place a big order from your company, you have three choices on how you can send your quotation, covering email/letter and accompanying literature:

a) Send your material in English.

Not a good idea. This shows you are not personalising your efforts for that individual client. From the client's point of view, why are they going to bother considering a proposal they don't understand, especially when they may have several alternative proposals from local suppliers?

b) Use machine-generated translations to translate the material into Portuguese.

Are you sure? Yes, it will cost you nothing but considering the quality of the resulting material, what kind of impression will that give to your client? It will make them think that if you are not even worried about the quality of your proposal, will the quality of your products/services be also of an inferior standard?

c) Use the services of a proper human-based translation service such as Bubbles Translation Services.

This will tell your client that you are taking them seriously and want to provide them with a comprehensive, professional service. Make them feel special!

You would be surprised how inexpensive professional human-based translations can be, especially when balancing this cost against the potential value of new orders from your overseas clients. For the cost, you get a professional, accurate translation that has been fully checked, and hugely increases your chances of winning orders. Why go to all the cost and effort of marketing your company overseas, and then skimp on the final part?

There is no substitute for translations produced by humans that are native-speaking, professional, qualified, experienced and specialist in their particular industry areas. Translation is a combination of art and science it takes a professional to translate text in such a way that not only is it accurate, but also conveys the same style and tone of the original text, something that a machine will never be able to achieve. The golden rule of translations is that a person reading the final translated material cannot tell that it is a translation they believe that it has been written especially for them in their native language.

So think twice about using machine-generated translations. Is the short-term cost saving going to lead to long-term loss of business for you?

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