Translation Software 4u - Language Innovation and Technology

Many companies are looking for solutions to have large volumes of content translated in less time and for less money.  The first choice for translating large amounts of data is to automate the process by using translation software.

Software can translate documents faster than a human but the accuracy can vary depending on the type of documents and the subject.  The human cannot physically translate at the speed of translation software can but it will be more accurate.

Blended Translation

The best solution is to blend human translation with translation software.  The blended translation method is not new to the industry but recent advances in Systran technology are delivering higher accuracy that makes it easier for translators to work with the translated results.

With software a translator can create a rough draft of a document and then work with the software to train it to understand specific phrase and terminology control the output, and then do a final edit to create a publishable document.

Professional Translators

Translators are getting more and more requests to “blend” or mix their by-hand translations with translation software due to the increase in the accuracy with some of the latest developments. This way companies not only save money, but also time by having a lot of content translated faster.  

Translation agencies are adopting the use of software at a much faster rate than in the past because it can save them time and increase productivity but also help them to gain clients. 

In Summary

Companies that want to ensure their important documents are translated quickly and accurately can choose to blend software translation with human translations. The quality of the translation is higher than if only traditional translation software were to be used. In the same time, the cost is lower if the company were to pay exclusively for traditional human translation.

It is important to note that software is not perfect for every situation or type of document but the technology keeps improving and will require less human intervention. 

Recently a professional translator stated in an article that he saw the industry changing, translators of the future would do more editing and proofing than actual translating from scratch.

What is Social Media Monitoring?

From blogs to Facebook to Twitter, social media monitoring makes sense for business.  Since brand monitoring shouldn’t be limited to just one country, using translation in social media is not only helpful, but necessary.  By looking at the global picture when it comes to brand management and brand promotion, businesses are able to see how their brand fits into the marketplace and whether changes are necessary to promote future growth.

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If you’ve been frustrated with the search for good translation software for the Mac, you’re not alone.  With the fast expansion of the internet across the world, the demand for a translation program has increased dramatically.

Systran, the world leader in translation software had been planning to produce a Mac compatible translator but due to developing a new translation engine this last year, the only Mac translator they had time to release was the Systran Widget translator. Apple included the Systran Widget on every new computer, it was great but it only allowed small sections of text to be translated at a time.

One thing was learned from the launch of this new product, even Systran was not prepared for the over whelming response from Apple users, servers were overloaded with the demand. This proved Mac users wanted a translator for the mac.

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Systran can quickly translate Excel documents to and from foreign languages. There are actually three ways to translate Excel files. The easiest and most popular way is to open the document in Excel, go to the SYSTRAN tab at the top of Excel, set your languages and hit translate. How you decide to translate really depends on the product you have and what you want to do with the document after translation. 

Step 1: Open the document in Excel and go to the Systran tab (older versions will show it on the front of Excel)
Step 2: Choose the Language  (ours is Spanish to English)
Step 3: Click Arrow under the Systran Icon and Choose “Translate Document” from the menu

Original Excel Document in Spanish

A new window will pop up with your document translated into the target language. The software will not overwrite your orignal document so you can easily proof and edit the new document.  Be sure to save your new translation. One feature I really like in Systran is the automatic naming of the files. Everytime you hit ‘save as’ the software prefills the name of the document and adds the language.  Example, if I translate a file named “budget.xls, it will automatically save it as “budget (translated English to Spanish).  This makes it much easier to find later.

Here is the translated result:

You can see that each tab still shows the Spanish lable but each sheet in the Excel file was translated. You do not need to open each sheet, it does the complete file.  The software will retain your formatting. There are times formatting can be an issue and it usually goes back to the original Excel file having characters that are non standard.  I have found the more current the version of Microsoft Office and the most current Operating System , ie Windows 7, the less formatting is an issue.

Stay tuned, we will show you in an upcoming post how to improve the accuracy of your translations.

Testing post

Why is Systran’s Language Translation Software Superior? Systran’s secret to success is the development of a superior translation engine that combines both Rule Based and Statistical translation techology. This translating software can deliver a higher level of accuracy, recognize tens of thousands of phrases, has extensive language dictionaries (largest in the industry), built in linguistic rules and logic as well as advanced tools for a more productive and seamless work environment.