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The technological revolution in the translation industry has not yet led to the creation of software that would replace professional translators. On the contrary, modern technology serves as a tool to streamline the translation process. An excellent example of this is post-editing, which saves time, money and effort in translating a text, as long as it is done correctly.
Unlike normal translation, post-editing is divided into two stages. The first step is the initial translation of the text into the target language by a translation engine. This ‘raw’ translation is then sent to a post-editor, who compares the original with the translation and then makes the necessary corrections: standardises terminology and style and corrects factual errors and passages that proved difficult for the engine. A post-editor must have exactly the same qualifications as a translator who does a traditional translation – fluency in both the source and target languages, relevant training and knowledge of the industry to which the text relates.
Post-editing is best suited to schematic texts where style is not an issue and the translation, above all else, needs to be comprehensible and contain all the necessary information. Typical examples of such documents are contracts, regulations, financial statements or certain technical texts. However, we do not recommend post-editing for certified, scientific, medical or literary translations. It is not suitable for texts with complex, technical language or, conversely, texts that are sloppily written and contain numerous errors. In such cases, post-editing is not effective, as the editor will have to spend almost as much time correcting the text as on a normal translation. Another important issue that determines whether post-editing makes sense is the language we are working with. Translation engines have a large amount of material in popular languages, which means that raw machine translation is much more reliable than in niche languages, where there is far less ‘food’ for the software.
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Done correctly, post-editing should not result in a final text that feels like it was produced by Google Translate. The translation engines we work on at Alingua use Neural Machine Translation (NMT) technology, which mimics the way the human brain works, so they can adapt vocabulary and style to the type of document. The main advantage of this option is that it significantly streamlines and speeds up the translation process. The translator does not have to write the text from scratch, but only makes the necessary corrections, significantly reducing the time needed to complete the translation. As a result, the cost of this service will be slightly lower than the price of a regular translation.
Information security is a fundamental issue to consider when using any free software. When you upload a piece of text to be translated into a free translation engine, you are in a way paying with the data you provide. At Alingua we use paid versions of the software so that the data contained in the documents we receive is secure, as required by the ISO 27001 standard. Another issue is the accuracy and fidelity of the translation – a translation produced by an engine should not be treated as a finished work. Such a text may contain serious factual errors that only a human can detect and correct. The tools available are not perfect, so a review of the text by a professional is necessary.
ISO 9001 certification provides evidence that Alingua applies certified procedures to ensure consistent high quality of its translation services.
Information security system at Alingua is consistent with the provisions of the ISO 27001 standard and all our cooperation agreements signed with translators contain a confidentiality clause.
With 15 years of experience working with texts from all over the world, you can be assured of language support no matter your needs.
In the case of larger projects, clients can request a sample of text translated by several different translators in order to choose a style most suited to their expectations.
In-house statistics from the last two years show customer satisfaction at 99.7%.
Your translations are protected by an insurance cover of up to PLN 300,000.
The Alingua Translation Agency is a member of a number of industry-specific organisations which aim to maintain the highest quality of translation services in the world of advancing technology and growing expectations.
1% of the value of our projects is donated to Alingua Helpful Word Foundation (Fundacja Alingua Pomocne Słowo). Each submitted order helps those in need.