Using Machine Translation: Peculiarities and Caveats

The use of machine translation (MT) in the work of a translator and translation agency has its own characteristics and precautions. Here are the main points to consider:

Features of machine translation

1. Types of MP systems:

  • Rule-based systems: Use language and grammar rules, as well as specialized dictionaries. These systems ensure the accuracy of terminology, but can be literal and stylistically imperfect.
  • Statistical systems: Analyze large amounts of data for each language pair. Translations sound smoother, but may be less accurate and consistent.
  • Neural systems: Use neural networks to learn translation. These systems show improved results compared to other approaches, but may not always accurately convey the meaning of the original.

2. Application of MP:

  • Household level: Helps users understand the general meaning of text, such as instructions or articles.
  • Corporate level: Used to quickly understand the content of large volumes of text.
  • Internet communication: Provides high speed of translation and understanding of what the interlocutor says.

Precautions when using MP

  1. Translation quality: MP is suitable for internal use, but does not always provide acceptable quality for official documents, marketing materials, or creative writing.
  2. Need for editing: Translations done using MT often require human post-editing to correct errors and improve style.
  3. Limitations of MP systems: MP may not be able to handle the translation of complex texts containing specialized vocabulary or complex syntactic structures.
  4. Ethical and professional aspects: Translators should be aware that the use of MT may affect the quality of their work and their reputation. It is important to inform clients about the use of MT and the need for post-editing.

Recommendations for using MP

  1. Pre-editing: Simplifying syntax and eliminating elliptical constructions before translation using MT can improve the quality of translation.
  2. Post-editing: Includes correction of lexical and syntactic errors, as well as adjustment of linguistic resources of the MP system.
  3. Choosing the Right System: Different MT systems may be suitable for different types of texts and tasks. It is important to choose the system that best suits your needs.

Using machine translation can significantly speed up the translation process and reduce costs, but it requires a careful approach and mandatory editing to ensure high quality translation.

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