How Good are Automatic Spanish Translation Tools

By: Clint Tustison
Submitted: 2007-01-17 11:30:33
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No matter what industry Spanish language translators translate work in, they all seem to have at least one thing in common: defending their profession against those who believe that automatic Spanish translation tools can replace professional translators.

This is one of the biggest myths that translators have to deal with on a daily basis and even though we are constantly trying to educate our clients and others about this misconception, it still seems that many people still believe it.

Those who don't understand what it takes for a professional translator to accurately translate a document often say that automatic Spanish translation tools like those you can find online at various search engine websites are better than ever and are all that someone needs when they need a translation.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I admit that these automatic Spanish translators are getting better and better, but they are nowhere near what they need to be to even remotely compare to work done by a professional translator.

Many times, these tools perform word-for-word translations and are unable to take into consideration any type of context needed to understand what the document is all about. To illustrate this, I've decided to take a sentence from a Spanish-language newspaper, plug it into a popular online automatic Spanish translation tool, and then show the result.

Here is the Spanish (it's from a Spanish language newspaper):

Repitiendo a gritos una y otra vez ?Alahu Akbar? (Al? es grande) y otras proclamas m?s, en tono desafiante, mientras bland?a un ejemplar del Cor?n, el depuesto presidente iraqu? Saddam Hussein escuch? la sentencia que le conden? a morir en la horca.

...and here is the English translation:

Repeating to shouts time and time again ?Alahu Akbar? (Al? is great) and other proclamations more, in challenging tone, while he brandished a unit of the Cor?n, the demoted Iraqian president Saddam Hussein listened to the sentence that condemned to him to die in the gift.

Even if you don't speak Spanish, it's easy to see that while you can get a gist of what the sentence is about, there are a few really glaring errors that don't remain faithful to the original version, when you need a translation that is truly correct and faithful to the original document, you will need the services of a professional translator.

So while we Spanish translators have our work cut out for us in terms of defending our profession against those who would whittle it down to using automatic Spanish translation tools, I say the results speak for themselves. Who would you rather trust?

Clint Tustison is a translator interested in helping other translators improve their businesses. His website, Spanish-translation-help.com is filled with information helpful to translators regarding the translation industry, and his free monthly newsletter, Translator Techniques, has tips and techniques for translators.

Article source: Expert Articles

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