With machine translation touching new heights and dimensions, many businesses have started to trust machine tools for translation. The neural machine has taken over the translation system and companies have also started to shift over the machine tools. Despite all these advancements and the progress of machine translation, the role of human translators has become evident and crucial. Particularly, when the text orbits around the technical domain. The human touch becomes evident for a better understanding of the terminology, crowdsourcing, and localization. Technical translation comprises industry jargon, specialized terms, and phrases that many times, machines fail to comprehend according to the given context.
The human factor in technical translation services becomes crucial and multiple businesses have started to overlook this aspect. The importance of precision and accuracy are paramount though the value and the layer of comprehension a human touch brings to the content can not be replicated. Technical text is broad and includes safety manuals, instructions, handouts, and a lot more. This also contains technical language and it is imperative to simplify that for a better comprehension of a user who is a layman and is not much into technical terms. The translators need to be competent and good enough to understand the text and put their efforts into making the content understandable for the targeted audiences.
Here are a few aspects that emphasize why it is imperative to hire human translators and not rely on machine tools.
Beyond Literal Meaning
The human touch is primarily needed to understand the text beyond literal meaning. The literal translation kills the intended message and tone of the translation.
Grasping the audience and purpose
Technical translators deal with the technical text that resonates with the understanding of the audiences and also clicks them right away meeting their intended purpose. There is a technical background to every technical document that comes with a specific purpose. Hence, it is important to serve that purpose and address the issue of a potential client and reader. This further asks for the adaptation of the language and terminology as well. Allowing to bridge the language gap between the technical expertise and understanding of a layman is possible with a human touch. Machine translation, however, can fail at this.
Nuance and ambiguity
The language nuances and ambiguity are a part of the technical translation services. The nuances of the intended audiences need to be considered while translating the technical text. The technical terms are often ambiguous and complex, especially for people who don’t understand technical text. The human translators’ thinking and subject matter knowledge play a vital part in bridging this gap. Whereas a machine can barely comprehend what the problem is. Human supervision and touch though ensures that translation captivates the intended meaning and makes it simplified, also avoiding confusion.
Cultural sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity requires great consideration in technical writing. The cultural nuances can have an impact on the interpretation. A misinterpretation and wrong translation can make people angry. Therefore, human translators must take charge and adapt terminology, metaphors, and sentence structures accordingly to avoid misunderstandings and also ensure that cultural appropriateness is there.
Creative Problem-Solving
The biggest shortcoming of machine translation is it is not creative to an extent where you can rely on it without human intervention. We can not deny the fact that it has great significance and is there to help with the factors that are beyond human control. But the need for creativity and problem-solving stands still. The applications, program, and software localization services can not be carried out by machine tools as all these have to deal with a technical mind and understanding.
Tackling neologisms and jargon
There is a constant creation of neologisms that come with new technologies and specialized jargon. The technical translators get to navigate through these challenges with the help of research and collaboration with subject matter experts. Moreover, they can always find creative ways to translate all these complicated terms that come with the technical and software localization services which is not the case for machine translation.
Explaining complex concepts
Technical texts can be complex and tough as compared to other texts. Therefore, simplifying the text is important. And this can only be done by a human more professionally. The translator’s ingenuity shines in a better way as compared to a machine. Humans can better deal with analogies, diagrams, and clear explanations as well. This can not be catered to by a machine that way. This is dense information and can be too much for a machine to process and digest. Therefore, these are human beings who can take control and shine in this regard.
Maintaining style and voice
Once again, humans interpret the maintenance style and voice in a more appropriate manner. The technical documents come with a certain style and voice. Machine translation is never a good choice to deal with document translation. Human translators’ writing skills can ensure a better text. The technical translators can retain the original documents’ voice and flow better. This makes it not only accurate but also makes the content engaging and reader-friendly. You can not expect all these things from a robot or machine translation tool.
Conclusion
Machine translation has been improving every day and the neural machine tools have taken it to the next level. The importance and significance of human touch are not going to be less anytime soon. They are particularly evident for the technical and industry-specialized translation for obvious reasons. They can have a better grasp on nuances, and cultural sensitivity, and tackle neologisms with better explanations of complex concepts.
