What is Professional Translation?
Professional translation is a technical discipline that must meet high precision, safety and productivity constraints. The jargon can be very specialized or brand-specific and must be respected in all the languages. The translation can be done by a professional translator (human translator) or by a machine (machine translation). It can also be hybrid and involve the machine and then the human in the correction/adjustment phase.
The use of professional translation software can enable the translation of text from a source language into a target language without human intervention. The tool allows you to instantly translate a sentence, a paragraph, a file, a web page into the language of your choice, which can also serve as a working basis for a human translator.
What is the advantage of a machine translation solution?
Why use a machine translation tool?
Machine translation and human translation are complementary. Machine translation has advantages: a professional translation solution can process large volumes of texts to be translated in a short time, to increase the productivity of human translators.
Machine translation software also potentially has better language coverage, thanks to its database and AI. Human translation is limited by the number of languages a translator knows, while a machine translation tool can translate into more than 100 possible languages.
In addition, for better machine translation, it is possible to have specialized and tailor-made translation models that offer better raw quality before any human intervention. These translation templates improve the accuracy and speed of the automatic language translator to perform its translations.
Machine Translation: what is the use for translators? Zoom on CAT tools
The translation of the contents is done by a translator assisted by a computer-aided translation (CAT) software, such as SDL Trados Studio, MemoQ, etc. This software provides matches between the texts to be translated and those already translated, recorded in the tool.
The translator validates or modifies the results of the translations obtained: he then brings his linguistic expertise, which ensures the homogeneity of the text and the high quality of the translations.
The use of TAO and machine translation software by a translator therefore saves time and costs: the translator focuses only on its added value, it performs the editing of segments already translated automatically by the tool.
Another advantage is the ability to translate any type of file formats and media to be translated – an essential flexibility for design or non-editable formats such as PDFs.
Collaborative translation is also possible on CAT tools – a translator can work on several projects simultaneously.
Machine translation as a first step
Machine translation solutions can plug into CAT software, allowing the translator to make a first translation pass with the machine and then bring his or her expertise in post-editing.
This technique ensures a precise translation and greater consistency of the texts. It also saves money and time: translation is faster, while being valued by the translator’s linguistic expertise.
How does a professional translation software work?
The industry’s professional translation software is available in different architectures and deployment modes: in the corporate IS, in a private cloud, in a public cloud.
A cloud-based service allows you to access translations from any computer or phone, and integrate the translation solution into your desktop tools and business applications directly with plugins.
The “neural” translation
“Neural” translation is the intelligent instant translation process that is performed using AI. The machine translation solution is a neural network inspired by the human brain. This network is composed of approximately 300 million parameters, which explains its effectiveness in analyzing and processing translations of professional documents.
The machine learns on the basis of translations validated by humans: we are talking about the training of translation engines.
Storing your professional translations
The storage of the translated data can be done in two ways. Either by solutions hosted directly on your company’s computer server that ensure their security, or the translation goes through a cloud where the data is stored.
In general, free software stores translated data, as mentioned for example in DeepL’s GTC.
But if the servers are not managed by European companies or located outside the territory, the data may not be protected…
The solution to this problem is to have a “sovereign” cloud that is not subject to the extraterritoriality of laws.
It also gives you control over data deletion: other solutions offer not to store translated data. This option can snap in after a few seconds, after a given time, or you can even take control at any time to delete what you want.
Few machine translation solutions guarantee the deletion of stored data and data sovereignty. SYSTRAN is one of these secure solutions, which makes protecting your data a priority.
The different types of translation
There are several types of translation depending on the field of activity, its own vocabulary, idioms and language level.
Focus on the different translation possibilities, depending on the formats to be translated and the types of translation.
How do I translate a PDF?
A PDF is a document whose layout cannot be modified without the appropriate software. It can contain various things, such as images or text, or even editable fields – for example, if it is a form. This type of document is not suitable for copying/pasting, and not all solutions accept PDF formats.
However, it remains one of the most exchanged document formats in the world of work, and therefore a professional translation solution must be able to process them – offering the same quality of service, with a precise and specialized vocabulary.
The challenge of translating documents in this format is also to maintain the formatting of the content once it has been translated.
Translate official documents, opt for certified translation
Documents of a legal or professional nature, such as Kbis, contracts, invitations to tender, etc., must be translated according to precise conditions: their translation is said to be certified and must be carried out by a translator certified by the Court of Appeal only, with the imposition of a seal and an identification number on the translated text.
The role of machine translation will be to serve as the first translation base for the sworn translator, who offers him his linguistic expertise and
guarantees the legality of the document.
How do I translate a web page?
There are plugins that automatically translate visited webpages, which can be set to translate pages automatically or just on demand with one click.
These plugins are available on all browsers, in mobile and desktop versions.
How do I translate an email?
In order to communicate with your customers, suppliers and international collaborators, the automatic translation of your emails in foreign language as well as any attachments allows you to save time and fluidity in your exchanges.
However, be careful about privacy issues and hosting translated data, as the information exchanged via e-mail may contain sensitive data.
Conclusion
Professional translation meets a number of challenges. Accuracy and homogeneity are necessary, especially in an international group where information must be transmitted uniformly in all subsidiaries. In addition, professional translation is performed on different content formats and affects several types of translations.
The information to be translated can be sensitive: keeping it confidential is essential – as is managing and storing the translated data. Choosing the right professional translation tool helps ensure their confidentiality
Want to learn more about translating sensitive data?