For a proficient, sophisticated translation it is always best to choose a professional translation service that can be tailored to your needs and that offers a high level of language knowledge.
The alternatives, such as, Google Translate, do not yet understand nuance, culture, customs or some language differences, and therefore, cannot provide the exceptional level of translation that is available from a professional, human translation service.
The benefits listed below will highlight why a professional translation is necessary and will give you a notion as to what your money is buying.
Meaning and Nuance
Humans have the ability to comprehend nuance, meaning and importance, whereas, a machine translation such as Google Translate does not.
There are many words or expressions that have more than one meaning; polysemous words, are notoriously difficult for machine translations as the initial meaning may be altered.
For instance, if you are working on an instruction manual to accompany a toilet and need the word ‘flush’ translated into English, you could well end up with ‘embarrassed’ as the original word has more than one meaning.
By using a professional translation service you can avoid costly mistranslations which lead to confusion and a lack of confidence in your product or service.
Customers expect accuracy in all areas of your business, from initial web contact to product or service delivery, and language is an essential part of this.
There are also safety implications to be considered, especially when producing legal and technical documents, as a mistranslation could lead to misuse of an electrical item or a medical device.
Relying on the simplistic device of machine translations, such as Google Translate, means you risk your corporate image and customer satisfaction, and you waste money on re-working documents. Investment in a professional translation ensures these mistakes are avoided and will give an assured return for your money.
Political and social correctness
Human translators are trained to take account of connotation in local languages so they are aware of social and political correctness when translating documents.
For instance, “The old and wise man” is often translated from English to Spanish as “el viejo y sabio,” which in Spanish, is seen as disrespectful. When referring to old people, it’s appropriate to use the term “anciano.” “Viejo” is more equivalent to “codger.”
Machine translation cannot cope with tone and manner so it doesn’t differentiate between the nuances of how you speak to people with whom you are familiar compared to someone you have never met.
This isn’t such an issue when translating into English, due to the casual nature of address in the English language.
However, if you are translating into Arabic, French or many other languages that use distinct formal and informal address, then this is very relevant.
A professional translation service will take account of these cultural differences and tailor the translation to suit the application.
Confidentiality
A professional translation service will always offer a confidentiality agreement which machine translations like Google Translate do not.
Google Translate doesn’t offer a nondisclosure agreement. The opposite is in fact true as you must accept their terms before use which includes the right “to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.”
This is obviously important for translations such as legal documents that require client confidentiality, but it is also essential if you wish to protect intellectual property, exclusive rights and company policies.
Choosing a professional translation service becomes the most viable option for companies wishing to promote their product or service with insight into the culture, language and social customs of the market they are moving into.
The shortcomings of machine translation can be costly and time-consuming due to unnecessary mistakes made by literal translations that can misconstrue meanings and confuse clients and customers.
Professional translation is more expensive but as you can see, you get what you pay for!
