Poll: Did you start using machine translation (MT) for some purposes before your clients did? Initiator des Themas: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Did you start using machine translation (MT) for some purposes before your clients did?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | I don't use MT at all | Feb 7, 2019 |
I’ve never used MT professionally and I wouldn’t even dream of doing that. Being one of those dinosaurs who hate working with CAT tools just imagine what I think of MT!
| | | | neilmac
Spanien
Local time: 16:38
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
Most of my clients are direct and I only collaborate with one agency on an occasional basis. I don't think any of them use MT, so the answer is probably yes.
I revise and correct texts written in English by non-native speaking authors, and nowadays they are obviously using things like Google translate to help them, but I think I was probably leveraging MT well before they were.
| | | | Jan Truper 
Deutschland
Local time: 16:38
Englisch > Deutsch
1) I use DeepL as a thesaurus (when you click on a word, several options pop up).
2) I translate EN -> DE, but sometimes the texts were written in another language originally (Japanese or French, for example) and then translated to English before they reach me. In such cases, I often put the original through MT to verify English passages.
3) I sometimes use MT in memoQ for certain passages (lists of countries, lists of months, etc.)
4) I sometimes activate ... See more 1) I use DeepL as a thesaurus (when you click on a word, several options pop up).
2) I translate EN -> DE, but sometimes the texts were written in another language originally (Japanese or French, for example) and then translated to English before they reach me. In such cases, I often put the original through MT to verify English passages.
3) I sometimes use MT in memoQ for certain passages (lists of countries, lists of months, etc.)
4) I sometimes activate MT in memoQ to quickly see another translation version than the one in my head, which can be helpful, even if the final result has little semblance with the MT version.
I've been doing most of this before any of my clients ever mentioned MT. I tend to be an early adopter, generally.
By the way, of the clients that I regularly work for, MT only has been mentioned in the context of "use of MT is not encouraged".
[Edited at 2019-02-07 09:45 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Rita Utt
Frankreich
Local time: 16:38
Englisch > Deutsch
+ ...
should be used by translators as one of the tools in their Toolbox
and not by clients trying to lower rates.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brasilien
Local time: 12:38
Mitglied (2014)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
I always used MT, such as GT, to understand things in languages I do not speak. And that is still the only feasible use for them.
I never did and never will use GT to translate documents as a professional. And I will not accept anyone in my team who does. I am able to identify a translation where GT was used in three lines, at the most, no matter how much the translator edited, corrected and rebuilt it. The quality is always bad and the naturality and euphony is always inadequate.
| | | | | "Proofreading" | Feb 7, 2019 |
When I come across a preposterous "translation" that I have been asked to proofread, I may MT some of it to see if that is how the translation has been achieved. I am generally right in my suspicions. Since I refuse to accept MT translations for proofreading, I then ask the client if they want me to translate, otherwise the project gets shelved.
| | | | Michael Harris
Deutschland
Local time: 16:38
Mitglied (2006)
Deutsch > Englisch
| I do not use it myself | Feb 7, 2019 |
Mario Freitas wrote:
I always used MT, such as GT, to understand things in languages I do not speak. And that is still the only feasible use for them.
I never did and never will use GT to translate documents as a professional. And I will not accept anyone in my team who does. I am able to identify a translation where GT was used in three lines, at the most, no matter how much the translator edited, corrected and rebuilt it. The quality is always bad and the naturality and euphony is always inadequate.
But in the mean time, if I am asked to do the translation by a regular customer that is also paying to have it done - and there are quite a few reputable companies out there being "forced" into it by their customers - then I do consider it.
I attended a conference of one of my local agencies last year and they explained how everything is probably going to be turning out in the coming years and some of the stuff seemed to be okay as the MT was not being left alone to do what it wants.
I am not really comfortable with the whole thing, but I do not think that we will be able to get around it in my field.
I have used it in MemoQ for a Swedish company once and the results were okay because the sentences suggested were not being forced on you.
By the way, what is GT?
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Laureana Pavon
Uruguay
Local time: 12:38
Mitglied (2007)
Englisch > Spanisch
+ ...
Moderator/in
Mario Freitas wrote:
I am able to identify a translation where GT was used in three lines, at the most, no matter how much the translator edited, corrected and rebuilt it. The quality is always bad and the naturality and euphony is always inadequate.
I truly doubt this
| | | | | MT speeds up routine jobs | Feb 7, 2019 |
1) Translation memory is a must. Unless you're translating Shakespeare you have no business not using your own translation memory to improve your own consistency. End of story.
2) Machine translation is speeds up routine jobs. Sorry you have to translate boring docs, I'm sure you'd prefer to translate only really special documents which require your special touch, but if it is routine, machine translation makes it much faster to edit and finish. Of course it is not acceptable for everythi... See more 1) Translation memory is a must. Unless you're translating Shakespeare you have no business not using your own translation memory to improve your own consistency. End of story.
2) Machine translation is speeds up routine jobs. Sorry you have to translate boring docs, I'm sure you'd prefer to translate only really special documents which require your special touch, but if it is routine, machine translation makes it much faster to edit and finish. Of course it is not acceptable for everything; far from it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
Englisch > Russisch
+ ...
| Every tool for its niche and purpose | Feb 8, 2019 |
I don't know what and how my clients did before, yet when I got tired of rush pre-translation provisional jobs just to select what they really required translated, I was the first to recommend them using MT.
Occasionally I also use and compare MT results, but considering the styles, areas, preferences, and other peculiarities, I also doubt one could easily tell short MT from human translations via a prosodical test or alliteration, unless in a certain context with the same pa... See more I don't know what and how my clients did before, yet when I got tired of rush pre-translation provisional jobs just to select what they really required translated, I was the first to recommend them using MT.
Occasionally I also use and compare MT results, but considering the styles, areas, preferences, and other peculiarities, I also doubt one could easily tell short MT from human translations via a prosodical test or alliteration, unless in a certain context with the same patterns. The antecedent and word choice rulez)
When I encounter some gibberish, I have to double-check whether it was a slip, a poor human translation, or some MT.
* Perhaps, it's a good idea for a "hummy-vs-lunker" comparative analysis in different areas and language pairs, yep?
[Edited at 2019-02-08 02:36 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 07:38
Mitglied (2003)
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
I was involved in developing an MT system starting in 1977. It became usable by 1980. I can't say that it has improved all that much over the decades, though many more language combinations are available for information-only purposes.
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Mario Freitas
Brasilien
Local time: 12:38
Mitglied (2014)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
[Edited at 2019-02-08 22:33 GMT]
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brasilien
Local time: 12:38
Mitglied (2014)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
Laureana Pavon wrote:
I truly doubt this
You can do the test yourself:
Take two DIFFERENT documents in a technical area (law or engineering are the best for this purpose). Translate one using GT first, and the other one without using or enabling MTs in your CAT. Save them and let them be for about a week.
In a week or so, take both (only the translations, without seeing the original), and read them carefully, as if you were going to revise someone else's work.
Then you'll see the difference, and you'll likely never use GT again to translate.
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