PROBLEMS AND IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN TRANSLATION

The development of technology and translation tools have helped enhance translation skills and has made the process a lot quicker. Today we have a lot of tools that enable us check grammatical errors, spellings, etc., thus assisting the translator to complete his / her work more accurately.

Before the emergence of translation technology, translation was done manually, with translators consulting paper dictionaries and using their best judgment.

The negative impact on business was substantial as a result of delayed time to market, general loss of consistency across content, high costs of inefficient operations, and lower output quality resulting from having to manually check for errors.

The birth of translation technology changed it all. 

Modern translation technology is constantly evolving, with innovative solutions coming every year.

Translation technology is the use of software tools to facilitate the conversion of text from one language to another. Translation technology tools can increase productivity, efficiency, and overall effectiveness in managing multilingual content for different target markets.

Translation technology include:

Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools - CAT tools are software applications created to support translators in their daily work. CAT tools usually have a large number of functions, such as:

·       Translation memories, which allows translators to reuse previous translations

·       Term bases or glossaries, which can be used to search for brand-specific or project-specific terminology

·       The option to click through to secondary resources for additional context, such as images or comments left by other translators, the project manager, or other company stakeholders

·       Advanced search and navigation tools

·       Reports detailing how much of the translation has been completed

·       Auto-completion of segments if they are an exact match to previously translated content

·       Quality assurance tools to search for errors in the translation, such as untranslated segments, missing numbers, or instances where the same word has two different translations

·       The possibility of generating a final translated document that automatically mirrors the original document’s format

·       Integration with other translation technologies, such as neural machine translation engines

CAT tools have revolutionized translation technology, making it easier for companies to optimize the translation process and handle large amounts of content in a more efficient way, saving both time and money.

For translators, the main benefit is that they can use the time saved on repetitive tasks to focus more on the translation itself.

CAT tools are also highly scalable and customizable, making them invaluable for any business seeking to streamline its translation process based on the specific needs of its content and target audience.

 

Machine translation (MT) software - Machine translation software is an automated system that allows for the production of translated content without human intervention. The quality of machine translation output varies depending on factors, among which the language pair, subject matter of the original text, type of content, and the MT engine used.

 

Translation management systems (TMS) - is a software platform designed to facilitate translation projects by automating manual or repetitive tasks.

It streamlines the translation process from start to finish, creating a workflow from the initial request to project completion, and allowing users to plan, assign, and manage translation projects in an organized manner. 

Features:

·       Support for multiple languages and file formats

·       A dashboard that displays a project’s status and provides access to essential tools in one place

·       The option to automatically push (import) content into the TMS for translation and pull (export) it back after project completion

·       The ability to streamline processes by adding users or importing existing translation requests from other systems for easier collaboration with third-party providers

·       The ability to assign, modify, or release tasks at any point in the project

·       A reporting function that provides a clear overview of progress across all projects

·       User role management that maintains a separation between those who manage projects and those who translate them

·       Real-time collaboration for active teamwork and reduced project turnaround time

·       CAT-tool functionalities such as glossaries, term bases, and translation memories

·       Machine translation capabilities that help speed up the translation process

·       Out-of-the-box integrations and application programming interfaces (API) for connectivity with existing systems and other tools such as content management systems (CMS), UI design tools, version control systems, and more

The best TMS solutions are flexible enough to allow users to create their own workflows and customize the software according to the needs of specific projects, departments, and teams. They are highly scalable and grow together with your business.

Reasons for using technology in translation include:

·       Ensuring quality by checking for spelling and grammar errors

·       Increasing consistency across content by storing previous translations that can be reused or consulted in future projects

·       Improving operational efficiency by automating translation management tasks

·       Accelerating time-to-market by enabling the production of more content in less time

·       Reducing the amount of time to do research

·       Speeding up the process of searching for words

·       Being accessible from multiple platforms such as mobiles, laptops, tablets, etc.