Why wait for a human to do something that a machine can do in a fraction of the time?

In a world where technology is getting better all the time, we’re always looking for ways to do things faster and cheaper. Machine translation has the potential to do precisely that. The good news is that automated translation tools are continually improving. The not so good news? Despite the hype, machine translation isn’t perfect.

However, if your content is for information only, will have limited visibility, or has a short lifecycle, you may not need a translation that has been:

  • crafted from scratch by an experienced professional translator with subject matter expertise
  • revised by a second linguist, and
  • rigorously QA checked

In these cases, machine translation post-editing could be a cost-effective alternative. This is where a specially trained linguist edits the raw MT output to produce a translation that meets your needs.

Depending on your requirements, Planet Languages can provide you with full post-editing or light post-editing services as an alternative to our full TEP service. The aim of full post-editing is to achieve translations that are comparable to human translation, while light post-editing is suitable if you are looking for a comprehensible translation for internal use only and are not too fussed about style or minor linguistic issues.

Planet Languages is certified to the ISO 18587 – post-editing of machine translation output standard – and takes a responsible approach to integrating machine translation into workflows.

 

What level of post-editing does your project require? And how does post-editing differ from full TEP (translation, editing and proofreading)?

Light post-editing Full post-editing Full TEP (translation, editing and proofreading by professional human translators)
Translation accuracy: no omissions or additions     Flawlessly accurate transfer of information and excellent command of the subject matter
Editing any inappropriate content     Potentially inappropriate content in the source text flagged to the client before delivery
Restructuring sentences in the case of incorrect or unclear meaning     Complete comprehension and appropriateness of rendering and lexis
Translate untranslated source segments     No unjustified omissions or additions
Integration with computer-assisted translation tools      
Formatting Not important    
Grammar Minor issues acceptable Correct Correct
Spelling Minor issues acceptable Correct Correct and consistent, in keeping with client/house style and/or reference dictionary spellings
Punctuation Variations/errors acceptable Correct and consistent Correct and consistent, in keeping with client/house style
Terminology Understandable and usable Adherence to domain terminology; consistent Adherence to client and/or domain terminology; accurate and consistent
Tone Not offensive Appropriate for content Faithful to brand tone of voice, appropriate to the subject matter and to the spirit and intention of the source text
Style Variations acceptable Consistent Choice of language and register entirely appropriate, in keeping with client-specific style guide

 

Some content types are better candidates for machine translation than others. If your content involves highly creative marketing copy that includes plays on words, we would recommend our creative / marketing translation services. However, if you have a huge volume of content that needs to be translated quickly and is not intended for high-profile publication, machine translation might be an option for you.

If you’re wondering whether your content is suitable for a workflow that includes machine translation, get in touch. We will be happy to advise on the best approach for you.

FAQs
Machine translation post-editing combines the accuracy and skill of human translators with the speed of machines. It is the process of amending raw machine-translated content to produce a translation that is comprehensible (light post-editing) or comparable to human translation (full post-editing). Despite the advances in machine translation technology, errors in the raw output are very common. Even if your content is meant for information only, we would still advise having the output post-edited to ensure that it does not contain serious mistranslations or culturally inappropriate or offensive content.
A translation memory is a linguistic database that stores source sentences and their corresponding translations as segment pairs for future use. When translators work on related content, the database offers up similar matches. This helps translators maintain consistency with previous translations and can increase their productivity.

In contrast, modern machine translation systems leverage neural networks to automatically translate text from one natural language to another.
Our language technology team is closely monitoring the latest developments in machine translation technology. We have evaluated various models over the years and have found that neural machine translation (NMT) systems perform better than other systems. However, the output typically still needs to be post-edited for most use cases, especially in a business context where even slight ‘noise’ can have serious consequences for your brand reputation.
Yes. Our CAT tools allow integration with all major machine translation providers, and we also work with clients’ custom machine translation systems.
If you have a huge volume of low-visibility content that needs to be translated quickly, machine translation might be an option for you. You can harness the speed of machine translation with the accuracy and expertise of a professional human translator to achieve the quality you are aiming for.
Machine translation tends to work best with highly restricted source text written in controlled natural language. It is not a good choice for highly creative content such as taglines, marketing or advertising copy. If you want to inspire, persuade, intrigue or engage with readers in the target language, you’d be better off opting to work with a professional human translator.

If you’re wondering whether your content is suitable for a workflow that includes machine translation, please get in touch with us. We will be happy to review your requirements and advise on the best approach for you.
This is a very good question and the short answer is… never!

You are right to be concerned about this. Over the last few years, a number of fake translation agencies but also well-regarded translation companies have sold raw machine-translated output as publication-quality translation. The standardization community responded to this concern by publishing an ISO standard that outlines best practice for LSPs to incorporate machine translation into their workflows. Planet Languages was among the first companies in the world to achieve certification to the ISO 18587 post-editing of machine translation (MT) output standard. We use machine translation wisely. We would never provide clients with machine-translated output that has not been professionally post-edited.
As an ISO 18587-certified company, we incorporate thorough quality assurance checks within our machine translation post-editing services. Please see the table above for what is included in each level of MTPE service. If you are unsure, we will always be happy to advise on which level best suits your specific needs as soon as we get a good understanding of your project.