>Sergio Russo [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: MT list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [MT-List] questions on MT usage >I assumed that MT usage will grow in the >next years, thus raising new consequences. I have a few questions over >this last point: > * What can possibily change in a professional translator's approach? > And what about his required background knowledge?
This is partly described in: "Repairing Texts: Empirical Investigations of Machine Translation Post-Editing Processes" by Hans Krings. A short abstract about the book and ordering information is available at: http://bookmasters.com/ksu-press/ksu071.htm My long review of the book is expected to appear in upcoming issue 46 of Multilingual Computing and Technology magazine (http://www.multilingual.com). Given that the book was recently published several years after having been written, there are many points that I address in the review which give up-to-date information on the status of postediting. > * Translating will become mainly a post-editing activity? There has been a considerable increase in the number of contracted posteditors and postediting agencies for the European Commission. See a current list of contractors at: http://europe.eu.int/comm/translation/free-lance/en/ao00-en.html In North America, a few localization and translation agencies are known to offer MT postediting: Able International, Detroit Translation Bureau, Linguistics Systems Inc, Omnilingua, etc. Note however that in all of these cases, the type of postediting conducted by the external posteditors (agencies and individuals) is sometimes referred to as passive postediting. They receive pre-translated files and then must conduct the postediting in their own desktop publishing environment (such as in MS Word). Passive postediting is less productive compared to interactive postediting (cf: Postediting: an integrated part of a translation software program. In Language International magazine, Vol. 13, No. 2, April 2001. Pp. 26-29. Available at: http://www.language-international.com/) The US Air Force, the Pan American Health Organization, and a few large corporations have integrated MT and postediting into their translation processes. Some use the passive postediting approach and others use the interactive approach. It does not appear that MT post-editing is replacing other forms of translation. It is rather a type of translation service that is offered in parallel to human and translation-memory aided translation, and which is increasing over time for certain types of translated documents, and for certain organizations. > * Will translators have to use MT software (Dèjà Vu, Trados, etc.) > like everybody use word-processors today? Trados Workbench, Atril Déjà Vu, Star Transit, SDL's SDLX, Wordfast, and others are examples of TM (Translation Memory) software, not MT (machine translation) software. Yes, experience on TM systems is becoming more important than ever. Many help request messages on translation lists (LANTRA, traducteurs, etc) indicate how to optimize the use of TM software. Also, experience on TM software is often indicated as an entry level requirement for jobs in the translation field. Will MT software become a necessary skill? Probably not a necessary skill, but certainly a unique selling point for one's CV/resume in order to get a foot in the door within the market of postediting texts. Best, Jeff ---- Jeff Allen [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp -- For MT-List info, see http://www.eamt.org/mt-list.html
