With the increasing popularity of online machine translations, one question that is increasingly being asked is this: Will there be a time when human translators become obsolete?

Having worked as a translator for a few years, I have had some experience using online machine translations. Let me answer this question with a confident NO! I will explain why below.

Firstly, the key reason why machine translations work badly is because they do not understand ‘context’. While humans intuitively understand what this means, ‘context’ is a difficult word to explain properly. Teaching it to a machine, or writing it into a programme, is consequently fraught with difficulties. For those with some background in IT and programming, a common way to do so, is to search the words before and words after in order to figure out the correct translation (think optimization or probability), but this method is still not too accurate and more often a case of ‘hit-and-miss’. As anyone who works long enough with languages know, there are all sorts of exceptions with regards to the rules of any language, let alone translating into another language. How to optimize and increase the accuracy of such a procedure is currently a matter of intense research.

Hence, we find that translations work fairly well for singular words used generally, where context is not so critical. On the other hand, translations of whole sentences leave much to be desired.

The source language and target language also greatly affect the accuracy of translation. Since English is the most common source language (and also target language) of translation, let me use this language to illustrate my point. From my experience, I have found that if the target language is an “anglicized” language (like German, Malay, French, Spanish, etc), the translations tend to work better.

However, if we translate into “non-anglicized” languages (like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc), we often find that the translations do not make much sense. This has to do with the fact that the structures of such languages vary quite differently from English and most translation programmes were first written primarily to translate between European languages, not to mention that most European languages are rooted in Latin.

In conclusion and to reiterate the question posed:  Will there be a time when human translators become obsolete? My answer is a resolute NO!

PS: All opinions expressed above reflect the views of the writer only and do not in any way represent the views of Whizwordz International. While all due care and attention have been made with regards to the content, the writer cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracy or factual error.

I wake early this morning to go for jogging.  A habit that is long forgotten but I pick it again to keep myself fit and healthy.  And perhaps, to jump start my “engine” for a wonderful day ahead!

Usually, I would play a motivation cd in my little “cargo van”  to perk myself up mentally…if the physical exercise did not work on me.  Today, I am listening to Joe Girard.  In case, you are wondering who is Joe Girard.  He is the world’s Greatest Salesman.  During his 15 year selling career, he had sold 13,001 new cars and trucks, and all at retail.  This is a guiness record and is still has not been broken yet.

While listening to the cd, my attention is drawn to him mentioning that “honesty is the best policy”.  I truely agreed with him that when faced with a difficult situation and if we are caught in between, it would be wise that we own up to our fault and tell the truth to our friends and colleagues.

If we betray the trust between both parties, we might not win back that trust again.  This is especially true in our translation work.  If we find out that certain terms are not properly translated, then we need to highlight to the client.  The client will definitely not be pleased to hear about the mistakes.  We will also be reprimand by them.

But at least, we are able to maintain the friendship between both parties.  If we admit to our mistakes with the best intention of resolving the issues, our client will understand it and accept us better.  In a way, we may even solidify the working relationship further.

I truely believe that Honesty is even more important in our everyday’s dealing be it in business, our working place or with our loved ones than ever before.

As I was reading the latest issue of Times magazine, I came across an article that talks about “ideas that are changing the world”. One of them would be our jobs being the new assets now.

It used to be when we are trying means and ways NOT to work, and making passive income and investments, such that we can have more free time to ourselves. Times when we talk about the new properties whether they are worth investing, or when the latest designer brand or clothing is out and comparing whether who has more collector items.

Somehow, it seems like we got more materialistic and everything we own is more of a shown off and a signification of our status. We forgot our roots and how some of us started out less well-to-do, forgot our humility that we once started with little or nothing. Slowly as we climb up the ladder we decided that we want to work less for more, and our payroll does not justify the amount of work we do. So we start to source for other means of getting riches. We start investing on bonds and properties, and thinking that one day we can depend solely on investments we can stop work for good. We think we were smart, until the collapse of the economy. Now it seems that those who are still hold a job are having the last laugh.

Many times we fail to realize that our greatest asset is ourselves. We have knowledge and skills that cannot be taken away from us until the day we die. Upon discovering that, we begin to look at our jobs differently. What we do now could be our only source of income. We need to relearn what we have learnt, back to where we began. Only this way will we be able to look at our jobs from another angle, learn to appreciate and enjoy what we go.

After all, simplicity makes one more content with what is laid on the table for them.

I have just finished reading “The Fifth Mountain” by Paulo Coelho.  For those who do not know him yet, he is the same author who wrote the international bestseller “The Alchemist”.  This book “The Alchemist”  has been translated into over 60 different types of languages and has sold over 75 millions copies!

As I am reading “The Fifth Mountain”, I found that it is immensely intriguing and it keeps me reading on to find out what will happen to the main character, Elijah.  It is a story about a person finding his own courage and commitment to his higher purpose.  All of us have our higher purpose when we are born, but many of us choose to ignore or defy that purpose.

Well for me, this book brings a great sense of inspiration to me.  I will follow my instinct and achieve my higher purpose in life – to serve mankind through better communication and education.

Because Paulo is a Brazillian writer, so I assume that the book is written in Portugese and translated into English and other languages.  Kudos to the translators who did a marvellous job.  The whole book is very well written and the principles behind it are timeless.  I believe the team of translators and editors have spent lots and lots of time doing research, translating, proofreading, re-editing and proofreading the content before it is good enough to be published.  The team effort and synergy is enormous.

I guess the translators and editors have a great responsibility to the author and the readers.  The writing style and flow must be consistent  without losing any flavour as compared to the original copy.

We are in the midst of doing a book translation.  Hence, we can share their feelings and responsibilities.  We will definitely keep you update on our new book launch.

For those who would like to have a read of the reviews or to get the book, here’s it:

Recently, I just watch this movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. It is a very compelling movie illustrating a man’s journey in finding his own dreams, true love and destiny.

It strikes a deep thought for me. We will never know our true purpose until we step out and start this self-discovery journey. We just gonna keep on believing and taking actions towards our dream.

When I first joined my friend’s translation company, a lot of my people (even my family members) start to question me. Are you making the right move? What if the situation does not turn out the way that you want? Are you getting enough to spend each month? Blah…Blah…Blah. Lot of negativities being thrown to me.

I have been with my company for almost 2 years now. Looking back, it has been a very fruitful experience for me. We have led our company to new heights each year. Our team of translators has also grown in size to over one hundred till now. This is definitely a more challenging experience than my previous engineering job. Besides equipping with good translation skills, I also need to do project management, sales and marketing and leading my own translator teams. The true joy is seeing your company and yourself growing daily.

If you ask me, what it takes to be a Successful Translator? Is it…
a) Passion
b) Perseverance
c) Continuous Learning
d) Continuous Improvement

Well, my answer is all of the above. Hopefully at the end of our journey, we would become a better person to our society and this world. And not forgetting, to fulfill our ultimate destiny and purpose in life.

Well, some said it is written.

Machine Translation (MT) is generally understood as the process in which a “machine” (specificaly a computer program or software) is substituting words and phrases in one langauge to another.

But if you do understand a little bit of the language in which you have translated your document into, you will quickly notice the translation problems.  And the end result is definitely not what you have desired and clearly not of publishable quality.

MT Softwares consist of dictionaries and algorithms to compose a sentence according to grammar rules of a language. The inherent difficulty in machine translation is that it does not discern the context and intended meaning the way humans can.  It doesn’t take into the meanings of words, word combinations, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole text structure. It knows nothing about rhetoric and style. It only diligently substitutes words and expressions taken from a dictionary into another language.

Of course, nobody wants their document content to be turned into a meaningless word mesh.  And there are specific styles of translations that machine tools cannot handle properly.  The basic purpose is to translate the message and meaning of the document and not just words and phrases. For this, it is always better to engage the services of professional translation agencies that employ native speaking human translators.

A human translator is still needed to correctly convey the exact meaning of the source text. No matter how advanced translation tools have become, they cannot be regarded as a substitute for a competent human translators.

It is true that MT can offer better alternatives in term of speed and cost. But if you intend to have a good translated document or marketing collaterals, accuracy is still of utmost important.  As of now, MT has not achieved that kind of high accuracy yet.   In a way, you would not want to submit a document full of syntax and grammar errors to your clients.  The “translated” copy will not make any sense to your clients.  Eventually, it will cost more if the documents need to re-translate again by a human translator.

Developers of Machine Translation software recognize these limitations and advise to use these translations as drafts only.  This is to enable the users to check the meaning of the foreign language document quickly and inexpensively.

Do you think that translators only do document or manual translation?  Well, think again… our job can be fun and challenging at times.

Some of our clients come from the Advertising industry.   Most of the times, they do not want direct translation.  They would prefer copywriting.  This means that our translator would need to write in a creative style and still capture the essence of the whole copy.  Yes, the skill level needed for such job is higher.

Having to say that, if you have great passion for language semantics, I believe it would not be too difficult to translate into a good copy.   Moreover, it would be a great satisfaction to see your translated copy being published for the mass public.  You can also keep the published copy in your portfolio and show to your future clients.  This will definitely raise your profile as a translator.

So, what are the types of translation jobs that you can expect to get from a Advertising agencies?

1.  Above-the-line advertisement.

Above-the-line is the term for mainstream paid advertising.  Such advertisement is to appear in newspapers, magazines, transit ads, outdoor poster etc.

2. Commercials

Script translation for television and radio commercials

3. Sales and Merchandising Promotion

These will include brochures, leaftlets, pamphalets,  posters, signage displays, window banners, floor stickers, shelf stickers etc…all these marketing collaterals would definitely need translation if the client wish to create a greater brand awareness to the public.

If you wish to know more, we welcome you to send your enquiries to us at hr@whizwordz.com.

According to Wikipedia, the action of interpretation of the meaning of a text, and subsequent production of an equivalent text, also called a translation, that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the source text, and the language it is to be translated into is called the target language.

As a translator, you have to be a language expert in both the source and the target language, in order to understand fully what you need to translate, and what you have translated. Though there are different expressions to the same word, how you manage to crunch those source words and bring out the gist of the message across is very critical. With globalisation, more people are beginning to speak more languages than what they used to a few years ago.

Not too long time ago, when I was on a trip in US, an American reporter was interviewing a group of Chinese. What impressed me was that he did not speak English! He was using Mandrin to converse with them! For the Chinese, and as a Chinese myself, in order for an American to learn Mandrin is way too difficult, not to mention converse eloquently! He was praised by that group. What matters most was that he was able to ask questions very well, and could totally understand what the responses were. He could laugh and joke with the Chinese too.

Then I realised that the world is becoming smaller. We can no longer stand in the current location and speak only our own language. In order to market ourselves to the world, we HAVE to be able to speak the other languages! And with so many people moving across the globe, all the more we have to be able to understand them in order to live and work with them!

Of course it is not possible for us to learn all the languages of the world. That’s why translators and interpretors exist.