Speech Technology - June 2008 - (Page 40) SUE ELLEN REAGER IN OTHER WORDS Is Machine Translation Ready for You? Software is good for some tasks, but the results can be fun for others nticipation is growing that translation software (known as machine or auto-translation) is ready for prime time. With it, you’ll be able to drop text into a field, press a button, and receive the results automatically. To see how far we’ve come, my staff and I ran a few tests using a variety of translation software, ranging from free to expensive. The results almost took our breath away. When you input in English: For U.K. English, press hash (#). A JAPANESE: 1:22 PM your ticket is the June 1 will be scheduled for shipment. Current Deficiency Machine translation will not attract customers or sell your product. Not yet. It has no persona, creates no corporate image, and engenders no emotional impact. IBM makes good auto-translation software, but doesn’t use that The result is: software to translate its main Web pages. Why? Because GERMAN: For Great Britain English, press a big mess. IBM understands that there is more to attracting sales than JAPANESE: For the United Kingdom English, publications word matching. Sales require expressions with cultural commutated meat dishes. impact and relevance, a need not met by software. But if Phew! As a translation professional, I wiped the sweat you are a reporter searching for articles around the world from my brow in relief. I can keep my day job; software is on a certain subject, machine translation is brilliantly not ready to replace me just yet. But the time is coming— effective in narrowing the scope. soon—when translation software will be availFor speech professionals, auto-translation able at high quality and for low cost. can have dire consequences. The most serious I can keep Indeed the future for auto-translation is problems are introduced by complex senmy day job; bright. Although no software has conquered tences with multiple subphrases that involve software perfection, one day it will. Then you will be from and to expressions, dates, and times. is not ready to replace me able to press one button to translate your When translated, these phrases must often just yet. interface, Web site, voice prompts, email, and move to a different part of the sentence, or are telephone conversations into multiple lanspoken in flipped order, and degenerate into guages and regenerate prompt files with text-to-speech. incomprehensibility. For example: When you input in English: Please say the name of the city you are starting from, followed by the city name you are traveling to. Machine Translations That Almost Work The result is: For general business documents, help pages, and thick SPANISH: Please to say the name of the city you yes to be manuals, machine translation is powerful and saves thousands of dollars. Software can be trained for repeated starting from, to follow by the city name you yes to be travelexpressions, such as This agreement is by and between, or ing to. MANDARIN: Your name says you are from, city name follow Click on the print icon. Most manuals are now translated by auto-translation or memory-aid software and then cleaned start your travel city. JAPANESE: Depending on your journey you have to be folby human drudge translators, who tediously perform the lowed by the name of the city began to say the name of a city. same task every day. Optimal results from machine translation are achieved Auto-translation results improve the closer the target language’s grammatical order is to the original. Intelligibility with one subject, one verb, and one direct object. Keep senalso improves when fewer adjectives, metaphors, imagery, tences short. Do not abbreviate, shorten, or add metaphors. Remember that out of sight, out of mind becomes invisible and technology expressions are contained in the text. When you input in English: Your ticket is scheduled for pickup on insane, and keep text simple and direct if it goes to translaJune 1st at 1:22 p.m. tion software. Considering the time it takes to train transThe result is: lation software to sometimes be correct, you could have MANDARIN: Your ticket in June 1 schedule hitchhiking at hired a professional translator to always be correct. Now. 1:22 p.m. At this time in history. But the future is coming. RUSSIAN: Your ticket is planned for a sensitive element on June 1 for 1:22 p.m. Sue Ellen Reager is CEO and founder of @International Services, a global translation services company and developer of localization software. GERMAN: Your ticket will be held for recording on June 1 She can be reached at sueellen@internationalservices.com. around 01:22 pee emm. 40 | Speech Technology JUNE 2008 www.speechtechmag.com http://www.speechtechmag.com
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