Whether we want it or not, we can’t stop some things from happenings. There are many people in the world today who are not big fans of technology. But they can’t stop technology from taking over our lives. Some of us might not be willing to admit it out loud, but we need our technological devices. We cannot do much in life without them. And it is not just individuals who have to turn to their modern devices; businesses also rely on technology. Without telephones and the internet, every company will find it difficult to connect with its audiences. Although advertising existed before the internet too, it is the modern technology that has made it simpler.
Translation Technology:
The most important service in the world that makes communication between the speakers of different languages possible is translation. It has been helping us for centuries. Without it, we won’t be able to understand each other. Companies will not enter foreign markets without translation, and states will not be able to engage in dialogue without it. But like every other industry, the language field also relies on technology in some ways. However, people incorrectly assume that translation technology only refers to things like Google Translate.
In truth, technology offers a lot of solutions to the language industry. It isn’t restricted to machine translation that we can get from Google or Microsoft. It is available in multiple forms. It can allow linguistic experts to access a glossary of terms. It can also provide you with easy access to dictionaries. One of the most prominent features of translation technology is the memory function. It can store your previously completed projects. By accessing the previously completed tasks, a linguistic expert can save their time whenever they come across similar phrases and texts.
Why So Many Translators Hate Translation Technology?
If technology is providing useful tools to linguistic experts, then why do they hate it? Well, in order to understand the answer to this question, it is important to figure out the differences between the translations completed by humans and those completed by machines. Translators are highly qualified professionals who spend years perfecting their skills. They don’t become the experts they are today overnight. They have to practice for a long time before they can be considered professionals. But machines only follow algorithms that aren’t always correct. Here are the main reasons why translators hate translation technology:
- Lack of Development:
Most of the tools available today have not gone through a lot of changes in the past couple of decades. The stagnation in development means that linguistic experts have to make do with an outdated user interface. Not only that, the lack of development means that the tools are not equipped to handle modern linguistic problems. They don’t help translators as much as they should. This proves that the creators of such tools do not care much about providing linguistic experts with the assistance that they need.
- Attack on the Importance of Quality:
No one cares about the quality of translations more than linguistic experts. Even when clients don’t care much about quality, linguistic experts make sure that their work is always accurate. However, with the introduction of apps like Google Translate, people have come to rely on fast-paced linguistic solutions. They don’t realize that a linguistic expert cannot provide them with accurate results within minutes. Sadly, a lot of people nowadays don’t realize that they won’t be able to get quality results from the internet. They are happy with getting urgent solutions from online software and apps. This has been a blow to the linguistic experts who have spent years learning translation.
- Competition:
Most translators aren’t big fans of technology because they think that the creators of modern tools don’t have their best interests at heart, and they are right. The purpose of language software and websites is to replace linguistic experts completely. They want people to rely on them for the solution of linguistic problems. As a result, many people think that they can get accurate translations from Google, and they don’t have to hire human experts. When people make such a decision, they not only end up with poor quality translations, but they also deprive human experts of getting projects.
- Cultural Perspective:
The biggest problem with the modern type of linguistic solutions is that machines and software cannot understand the cultural aspect of a language. They won’t be able to provide customers with culturally accurate results. Linguistic experts, on the other hand, not only know the cultural aspects but can also incorporate the right words in their translations. Many companies have suffered the consequences of ignoring the cultural values of their target audience. They opt for machine translations and get results that don’t match the cultural needs of their audience.
It is true that tools can be helpful for linguistic experts in a lot of ways, but they still need a lot of improvements. It is also important for people to understand that only linguistic experts are the ones who can handle translations and deliver accurate results. Machines can only help translators to some extent, but they cannot complete tasks on their own. They will not be able to deliver culturally accurate results. It is in the best interest of people and businesses to get the help of qualified experts instead of turning to Google Translate for the solution of linguistic problems.