Language Translation Software

Language translation software is a tool that can translate a document in less than a minute. Much faster than waiting for a translator to translate a document. Software will not replace a human translator, lanuage is too complex but it can be used as an effective tool to reduce translation costs and increase productivity. Read the information below before translating a document for tips on better results.

Translation accuracy is improved when the document you are translating is written correctly. Below are some tips that will help you get better translation results.

The document you are translating has to be grammatically correct
Use complete, grammatical sentences.
Punctuation is important; clauses will translate best if separated by commas.

Try to use simple, declarative sentences
Avoid ambiguity (examples: 'the moving car' or 'moving the car', rather than 'moving car'; 'the brake light and the tail lights' rather than 'the brake and tail lights').

Avoid abbreviations and colloquialisms
Translation Software cannot determine what you are abreviating. Try to spell out Abbreviations, for example instead of, D.O.B., put Date of Birth. Avoid colloquialisms, example, a word like 'snakes' in the sentence 'The road snakes around' will not translate properly if the word 'snakes' is not used as a verb in the target language).

Do not put slashes in a word. Example: Spanish/English, the software will see this as one word, you can seperate it by adding a space. Putting Spanish / English (with a space on each side fo the forward slash) let's the software serperate the words and translate it properly.

Be Direct. Write in a Simple, Clear Manner
The translation software can handle complex sentence structures but avoid getting too complex, ambiguous phrases, extra clauses, and sentence fragments, and unnecessary words. Use complete short sentences and do not leave out necessary grammatical elements.

Concise and To The Point
When you are writting a document that will be translated try to use words that are simple with out double meanings. For example the word "right" could mean opposite of "left" or "correct" or "privilege".

Use Nouns instead of Pronouns
Pronouns are words like it, him and those ones. Different languages use different word orders, so your meaning can be lost. Also some languages use different genders for different objects, unlike English. By using the noun and the article (the or a) this will help the software choose the correct translation.

Try to Avoid Compound Verbs
Compound verbs are like "was looking", "has been","head up", "give over" and "bring out". Compound verbs are can be mistranslated.

Do Not Leave Out Necessary Words
The English language allows us clearly convey our intentions even when we omit certain words, such as relative pronouns (who, whom, that, which), prepositions, and parts of verbs. These words are required in other languages and must be included in documents that will be translated.

Try Not Use Slang or Idioms
Idioms or slang documents you plan to translate as these terms differ from country to country. Terms commonly used in the US will not accurately translate for use in other countries. Example of an idiom:: take the wind out of (one's) sails - To rob of an advantage; deflate.

Use Proper Punctuation
Be sure you use correct punctuation. Punctuation offers guidance for both humans and computers. It is used to divide a sentence into logical parts.
Without correct punctuation, sentences can be interpreted in several ways.

Adjectives and Adverbs
Keep adjectives and adverbs near the words they refer to. In complex sentences, adjectives can become separated from their nouns and adverbs separated from their verbs. Again keep your sentences simple and to the point and you can avoid this problem.

Spell Check Before Translation
Check your spelling and use your spell-checker before clicking the translation icon. If you give the computer incorrect information, your translation will be misinterpreted.

Articles Are Very Important (the, a)
An article is a word used to indicate a noun and to state its purpose. For example, in English, the definite article is 'the' and the 'indefinite articles are 'a' and 'an'. The use of articles reduces the amount of incorrect translated words.

Consistent Use of Terminology and Abbreviations
Always use the same word, phrase or abbreviation to describe the same object or actions each time that they appear in a document. Inconsistent wording can cause confusion for both humans and computers.

Building Customer Specific Dictionaries
More professional versions of language translation software let you create your own dictonary, this can increase the accuracy of your translations. This tailors the software to your specific style of witting or subject matter.

When adding words to any customized dictionary remember there can be double meanings for many English words.  
The following word has two meanings:
Wind
1. Wind; meaning, a strong breeze. (This is a Noun)
2. Wind; meaning, To wrap (something) around a center or another object once or repeatedly. (This is a Verb)

You want to add the article with the word for example, in the dictionary put in "the wind" (noun) "a wind" (noun) and then also add "wind up" (verb) "to wind" (verb). Now when you translate your document and it has these words / phrases it will see how it is used in the sentence to determine the translation.

Retranslate and Check Again.
Once you have translated your text and your version of language translation software allows you to add words to the dictionary then you can increase the accuracy even more by finding the words that it did not translate or translated incorrectly and add those words to the dictonary. The next time you translate a document it will use your new dictionary.

Once the changes to the system are saved, retranslate the text to verify that the new entries are in effect. It is important at this stage to check for regressions. Regressions occur commonly in Machine Translation output. They can sometimes originate with an incorrectly coded dictionary entry. For example, a user might supply a translation that is correct in the context of one sentence, but incorrect in another context.

Following these tips will help increase the results you get from Language Translation Software. We carry translation software by Systran and LogoMedia.