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English to Japanese: Web Article General field: Tech/Engineering Detailed field: IT (Information Technology)
Source text - English Despite the tremendous technological innovation we’ve witnessed over the past two decades (smartphones, cloud computing, social networks), search interfaces and their underlying mechanics have remained fairly stagnant. The familiar portals of the early naughts are largely what we see today: empty text boxes, user-typed queries and blue-link responses that point users to web pages or documents.
We think of search as being a “state-of-the-art” product — an index that can provide answers on anything. But think about it. Isn’t it strange that some people are “good” at Googling, as if it’s a skill? If this were a human-to-human interaction and I asked my “smart” friend a question, I wouldn’t have to be “good” at asking questions to get the information I needed. She’s smart, she can infer what I’m saying, regardless of how I phrase it. If I’m ambiguous, she’ll ask for clarification. If my question is too broad, she’ll ask for more details. If I am too precise and she doesn’t know, she’ll inform me that she doesn’t know.
Why search isn’t working
Despite years of aggressive investment, search technology still fails to solve meaningful, tangible problems in the world today. This is largely due to:
No authority. When the Internet started, the digerati were the ones writing and sharing content. There were lots of answers to lots of questions, and we trusted the answers. Now, everyone writes and games the system, and the Internet is full of spam and trolling. Authority is becoming harder to obtain, and we’re left not only trying to decipher the information we’re reading but also wondering if the source we’re retrieving it from is credible. Ultimately, you have no idea if the answer you’re getting is right or wrong. Google has made progress fighting spam, but the cold war between spammers and search is bound to continue until a paradigm shift occurs.
Higher expectations. People are becoming more data literate and expecting data and facts to back up their queries. Now more than ever, everyone is asking an increasing number of complex questions. In the past, people searched for the best ski resorts. Now, they want to know which ski resort has the optimal balance of vertical drop, skiable acres, and total snowfall. They have more precise questions; they want more precise answers.
Interfaces are shrinking. Perhaps mobile interfaces were once little desktop interfaces, but the paradigm continues to shift away from traditional GUIs. There is no space. We’re seeing an uptick in the popularity of voice interfaces. The traditional search experience with a bunch of blue links that open pages of articles and ads does not shine in a mobile world.
With the advent of the Information Age, people are increasingly digitally literate and have higher expectations of technology’s ability to answer their most complex questions — especially when they’re on the go. They’re not going to tolerate a slow experience, an ad that interrupts their workflow, or a system that fails to answer their questions.
Translation - Japanese 過去20年間我々が目のあたりにしてきたすさまじい技術革新（スマートフォン、クラウドコンピューティング、ソーシャルネットワーク）とは裏腹に、検索のインターフェースとその基本構造はほぼ変わらずに停滞を続けている。2000年前半によく目にしたポータルが、今日でも我々が主に目にしているものである。それは、空欄の入力ボックスであり、ユーザーが入力するクエリであり、ウェブページや文書につながる青色のリンク先でありといった。
Translation - English The following should be noted as you write a business document:
1. Keep it simple and accurate
Use accurate and concise expressions in business documents. It is unsuitable to write a wordy sentence with many adjectives and modifiers in business documents. Try using bullet points. When you use them, you are more likely to find an inconsistency in your sentences. You should first focus on conveying the accuracy of the message without worrying too much about how you write.
2. Keep it clear
When you use "around" to communicate a deadline, it can be ambiguous. So, give a time frame instead. For example, you can say "by..." or " plus/minus one hour of..." to be more precise. Try to be as concrete as possible in business communication. Avoid using the expression like "I am fine," because it can be ambivalent. Instead, use clear terms. Always proofread your document and look for ambiguous sentences that could lead to misunderstanding.
3. Keep it professional
You have no control over external documents once they are off your hands. Your readers can be confused by a typographical error that could cause misinterpretation. The document that sounds unprofessional (improper word choices and informal expressions) could also create a bad impression of your company. If you are not so sure about your writing, ask your supervisor or colleague to proofread it for you and have them look for unsuitable phrases.
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Translation education
Master's degree - The University of Iowa
Experience
Years of experience: 4. Registered at ProZ.com: Jul 2016.
Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Indesign, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Adobe Premiere Pro, Powerpoint
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Bio
I am a former ESL and Japanese language teacher and have been working as a freelance translator since 2012. I pay attention to details and take deadlines seriously. I have always been fascinated with languages. The job of a translator is really rewarding and intellectually exciting, and I appreciate every opportunity of working on my translation projects.
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