The translation of your website not only consists in changing words from one language to another. Translating is understanding the meaning of each word and giving it the correct sense, not only objectively but also understanding the range of feelings, emotions and motivations the original text conveys.
Consider what content needs to be translated
If you have doubts about how to find the most appropriate option for you, especially consider what type of content needs to be translated. It’s not a matter of always dismissing machine translation because if you need to understand a text in another language or communicate quickly, this type of translation is immediate and free of charge.
Nevertheless, when referring to a professional website translation which contains corporate content that reflects the image of your company, the best choice is to work with a translation company.
Why is human value essential in website translation?
The work of a translator cannot be dismissed, even when applying the best technological innovation of the sector. Both are supplementary and their joint work will help you obtain an unbeatable result.
The most advanced translation software has a substantial learning capacity and can rapidly translate a large amount of content. However, to guarantee a good result, it is essential to combine automation with human post-editing, in which the nuances and inflections of the language will be gathered and analyzed.
Website translation done by a human is necessary to ensure the cultural concept of the language:
- Correcting possible machine translation errors.
- Ensuring the original meaning of the content by contextualizing it to the local idiosyncrasy.
- Modifying turnarounds, irony and double meanings.
- Guaranteeing consistency.
Professional machine translation plus human post-editing: a winning pair
Immediacy, cost reduction and the capacity of translating a large amount of content provide machine translation with enough appeal to resort to it in certain cases.
You should, however, make sure you comply with these two aspects because without them you can ruin all the work:
- Turn to professional translation companies that offer technological solutions to machine translation. Using free machine translation tools is fine to get by. Nevertheless, if it is an important project such as that of a company, institutional website, online store, etc. professional machine translation is a specific system with revised and validated translation memories that are managed for each client. Website translating using a generic and free tool can ruin the image of a company and its internationalization.
- Combine machine translation work with human post-editing. A professional translator provides the knowledge of the language, including the nuances and creativity to locate the expressions that best adapt to the concept to transmit. In some sectors it is important to count on a specialized translator that knows and gives meaning to the specific terminology of the project.
Website translation is a complex job that requires having the ability and creativity to interpret the meaning of the original text, giving it consistency and coherence. This is necessarily obtained with the human factor.
Working with a professional translation company that combines human value and technological innovation is a synonym of quality.
