Automatic translation tools receive somewhat of a battering, and that’s not just the sound of the keys being pounded! Even though these translations have significantly improved in recent years, wandering blind into the world of an unfamiliar foreign language is a path fraught with pitfalls and probable misunderstandings. So when search engine giant Google announced a bigger and better Google Translate, boasting a ‘free online language translation service (which) instantly translates text and web pages’; an audio option and 51 available languages, The Translation People were eager to see if it lived up to its name, or if it was merely a virtual disappointment.

There are many issues with online automatic translation tools, some of which are cultural transposition, a language’s country variation, tense, accuracy, reliability, copyright issues, and the way in which puns, rhyme, nuances and idiomatic expressions are dealt with. For the majority of documents The Translation People would not recommend the use of automatic translation tools and only employ qualified, experienced translators who provide high quality translations. However, in the name of research, the new Google application was tested with some uncomplicated text and words which required only moderate background knowledge.

Many basic sentences were entered and it seemed to cope with these quite well, but not perfectly. The next test involved language which required some translator decisions, so we started with country names. Côte d’Ivoire was typed into the French/English option and was translated as ‘Ivory Coast’. This would seem to be correct on the surface were it not for the fact that in 1986 the Ivory Coast made an application to the UN for all countries to use the French version of its name – Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors lists ‘Ivory Coast’ as ‘Former English name for Côte d’Ivoire’. This may seem like splitting hairs, but in a political or diplomatic text, this is a potential faux pas. (Incidentally, ‘faux pas’ was translated as ‘misstep’ with the former being visible only after a further two clicks and splitting hairs gave ergoter – correct, but with no consideration as to the tense used. A back translation gave ‘quibble’, but with no mention of splitting hairs.)

On to the Spanish/English option. Camión in Spain is a lorry, but a bus in Mexico. This is only a basic translation, but Google Translate appears to have no facility for a language’s country variation. All language professionals understand the importance of localization, which is why we only use translators who fully understand the differences of the Spanish spoken in Spain say, and the Spanish spoken in Mexico. Translating a website automatically could spell disaster.

The next issue was that of the upload document facility which would be a redundant feature for professional translators as they abide by codes of conduct and are compliant with confidentiality agreements and copyright law. Apparently, users of this tool stated that when a document is uploaded it is stripped of all formatting, thus making a side-by-side comparison of source and target text impossible. This side-by-side feature was previously available and was a popular choice, but it appears to have been removed in the real-time upgrade – making way for a smaller source text box which cannot be expanded. There is an option for sentence level alignment on mouse-over, but unfortunately this obscures the source text and therefore eliminates the ability to efficiently compare the two language versions.

The final test we carried out related to puns, rhyme, nuances and idiomatic expressions – all of which make a language come alive. A host of expressions were entered and duly produced some hilarious results, all of which were completely unusable.

Nevertheless, we must not forget that this is a tool promoting easier real-time communication for people across the globe and on this level, it would seem to be sufficient. Google Translate also offers speech and transliteration options for help with pronunciation and a ‘type as it sounds’ feature if the user does not have a keyboard in the required language – but it remains to be seen whether different regional accents would have a bearing on the word outcome. A further omission appears to be the inability to enter diacritic language characters (such as the umlaut or tilde) without going down the laborious cut and paste route.

Many users judge the tool to be far from perfect, but nonetheless, seem impressed with the improved translation quality, as texts appear to be more or less accurate. However, in the world of translating where accuracy is paramount, the word ‘nearly’ is not enough. Translators are perfectionists, masters of their mother tongue as well as their other languages and most will have experienced hours chasing that elusive word, the perfect phrase or the most appropriate target text. Not only do translators relish this quest, it is also a necessary process to ensure that every possible meaning and nuance have been considered in order to produce the best possible translation. Translator decisions are made on every level when choosing the correct word or message and it is doubtful that these could be taken by a machine. However, as the popular saying goes – each to their own, or if you’re using Google’s real-time translator ‘everyone’s tastes’. But in the real world, there is still no substitute for a professional, human translation.

‘One world. One Internet. Everyone connected’.

Language matters are hitting the headlines once more with the news of a move which will open up the Internet to millions of users worldwide. Presently, internationalized domain names (IDNs) are only available in 37 Latin characters – the letters A to Z, numbers 0 to 9 and the hyphen. But on 16 November 2009, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) launched their IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process with the announcement that domain names would be available in non-Roman scripts as soon as 2010 and in close to 100,000 characters. ‘IDNs are the biggest change to the underlying structure of the Internet since its creation 40 years ago’ stated Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN Chairman.

ICANN is a not-for-profit international organization responsible for the management and coordination of the Internet’s domain name system. Formed in 1998, it is independent, unbiased and non-regulatory and has called for countries and territories to lodge requests for their own domain name to be available in their own language. ‘Over half the Internet users around the world don’t use a Latin-based script as their native language. IDNs are about making the Internet more global and accessible for everyone’ stated Rod Beckstrom, ICANN President and CEO. This is the largest shake up the Internet has seen for decades and will give Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic characters, to name but three, as much visibility and accessibility as their Roman-based IDN counterparts. Next year these addresses may well be commonplace on our screens and this opening-up of the Internet could be lauded as the widest-reaching example of social inclusion that cyberspace and the world have ever witnessed.

This is a positive step forward: children worldwide will be able to use the Internet in their mother tongue; people will use their own keyboards in their own languages to access the Internet; local businesses can create localized web addresses and it will be easier for medical organizations, local news agencies, schools and other bodies to disseminate information online. However, some concerns about the expansion of IDNs in countries where censorship is rife have been raised by human rights’ groups. They claim that a paradox has arisen whereby the expansion will be rolled out in countries where the Internet is heavily regulated, high speed connections are restricted and censorship prevails. There was the recent case in Thailand where two people were allegedly charged for the translation and online publication of a document making reference to the monarch’s health – a text which was readily available outside the country. Nevertheless, the move has proved popular and four days after the launch, ICANN’s blog confirmed that ten requests covering five different languages had already been lodged.

The ICANN program has taken over nine years to come to fruition, in a task highly dependent upon volunteers and let us not forget that it was volunteers who translated the Spanish version of Twitter – all of which demonstrates the strength of feeling towards language matters expressed by people across the globe. Rod Beckstrom said that ‘Some people see a cacophony. I see a symphony’ and it certainly appears to be a movement backed by thousands of people working in harmony to enable ICANN’s dream of ‘One world. One Internet. Everyone connected’ to become a reality.

Collins – the dictionary giant – has recently been on a quest to save endangered dialect words for possible inclusion in future editions of their English language dictionaries.

Any living language is a constantly evolving entity, which inevitably means that some words fall by the wayside, replaced by new arrivals on the lexical scene. Enter Collins, who has invited people to submit evidence of the use of disappearing words via Twitter, as long as ‘proof of life’ is included, i.e. dates, places and examples of current-day usage. ‘Endangered’ is the key word here, as the compilers are keen to stress that their interest is not to resurrect any defunct language, but to protect words which are no longer à la mode in contemporary speech.

The project’s MO, or modus operandi we should say, is a physical embodiment of its ultimate aim. In other words, new technology has played its part to enable these old words to be recorded, as their submission was requested through Twitter – hence the perfect balance of old and new. Measuring dialect is an extremely tricky business as it can vary from village to village; constantly changing external factors are at play, such as increased international travel and the subsequent rise in foreign influences; the medias of television and film; and new technological developments (the list is endless). Furthermore, it takes time, effort and a genuine enthusiasm on the part of logophiles nationwide for such an idea to come to fruition.

As reported in the Times, the words are as follows: zamzoden – soft, half-baked (Devon); kickshaw – an amusement; shawm – to warm oneself; muckwash – hot and bothered; hippetyclinch – limp; galasses – braces; wambly – faint, sick (Lancashire); fratching – to quarrel; squaddy – muddy; roily – upset (stomach); wassuck – fool; and ommuck – sandwich.

This venture has provoked discussions amongst word-lovers, some of whom have compared the survival of certain words to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Yet just because a word is not widely used, this does not make it any less important and the etymology of any word is an exciting journey through the past which explains the roots of the language we use today. After all, a language is an identity and any attempts to record endangered words should be encouraged. However, that is not to say that these ‘revitalized’ words will become common usage once more and that linguists will be eager to replace sandwich with ommuck.

What we are witnessing with Collins’ SOS call for entries is the umbrella of conservation opening up to cover the world of linguistics, in a move which could save many words from extinction.

If you would like to follow The Translation People on Twitter you can find us at www.twitter.com/translationTTP

Tweeting has never been so popular and this month, Twitter – the ‘microblogging’ site which took the world by storm – unveiled its Spanish-language version. Back in October, Twitter invited Spanish speakers to translate their website and thanks to the flurry of eager translators (working hard over a period of just one month) the site is now available in Spanish, making it the third language along with English and Japanese. German, Italian and French will follow shortly.

The maximum length of a post on Twitter is 140 characters long, but this limit on message space has done nothing to stem its popularity and its launch in Spanish shows how the company’s strategy aims to reach a far wider audience in even more non-English speaking countries. By offering the site in Spanish, the potential audience has grown by a possible 300 million users (the amount of Spanish speakers across the globe), if everybody had access to the internet that is. However, this is not the case and the number of internet users per 100 of a population differs from country to country. According to Evan Williams, Twitter CEO, the site ‘can make people more informed and more connected and help them make better choices.’ In the future it may well be that Twitter finds itself to have made a contribution to closing the digital divide through social inclusion and also to have assisted with one of the United Nations Development Goals – Target 5 under Global Partnership: ‘In cooperation with the private sector, (to) make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.’ With Twitter’s real-time information, the potential this generates, coupled with rising internet use – this is certainly a possibility.

In October 2009, Twitter announced that its site would soon be available in French, Italian and German. ‘No matter how sophisticated technology gets, we’re reminded daily that it’s about people and that’s something we’ve taken to heart regarding translating Twitter’ stated the company’s blog. This is a philosophy which The Translation People share and is why we don’t use any automatic translation tools. Our extensive team of qualified translators are experts in their field and produce translations of the highest quality. Just as Twitter is reaching new heights, the Translation People are pleased to announce that their website will soon be available in Spanish and Italian

If you would like to follow the Translation People, then visit us on Twitter www.twitter.com/translationTTP.

First there were extreme sports, now it seems that extreme localisation is pouring over into the world of translation. We are referring to the story reported last week that Spar, the food retail giant, have decided to pilot a scheme in which local slang is being used on the descriptive labels of certain bottles of their own branded wine, instead of the recognized wine terminology. Apparently, the “translated” labels can be found on bottles for sale in Scotland, Newcastle, Liverpool and the Black Country. In Scotland the label is said to read: “A totally sotatin bevy. It’s bricht an’foo o’ flavur, wi plum, curranty fruit, mackin it taste awffy braw. A youngane’s colour wi cherries an black fruit on the nose, it has a laldy kick tae it, tha runs fae the front tae the back ac’yer mooth.” The Black Country’s version was: “Ayup, this mint bokkle of Merlot is grait ter goo with yoewer bostin fittle. Full bodoid an fruity with a hint of a bag of suck, the whiffs of rasberroys an straberroys collide in yaw chops. Bloomin aida, its red fruits aw a bit of a suproise, boot this saft wine is a bostin choice! Go on – gie it a goo!”

Some might say that the localised descriptions are rather incomprehensible, even to speakers of the local dialect in question; some may call it a light-hearted marketing experiment; others may even call it condescending – but what cannot be denied is that this somewhat unique approach has certainly drawn attention to the wine industry and has also highlighted the fact that local dialects are still a salient feature of any community. Whichever side of the fence people sit on, reactions have been strong.

Spar have a turnover in excess of £2.7 billion in the UK alone and employ more than 50,000 people, which means that any such marketing decisions are not taken lightly. They also have a strong local bias whereby locally produced goods are stocked in many of their outlets and their Living Local project assesses the “positive impact of local sourcing and better collaboration between the community and its businesses.” Perhaps their new wine labels stemmed from their focus on community spirit.

Whether this suits everybody’s palate remains to be seen, but it has certainly been a talking point, which at the end of the day, is what language is all about.

If you have any localisation requirements for genuine foreign markets, please don’t hesitate to contact us.