There are four types of machine translation–

 Statistical Machine Translation (SMT),

 Rule-based Machine Translation (RBMT),
 Hybrid Machine Translation, and
 Neural Machine Translation.

Machine translation is primarily a tool that helps marketers/translators achieve a

goal. It is not a replacement for the older systems of translation. Rather, it’s an
enhancement. For instance, in a traditional localization cycle, we encounter what
is called the TEP phase. TEP here stands for ‘translate, edit, and proof.’

Now, in a TEP cycle, the role of machine translation starts and ends with ‘T,’
which is ‘translation.’ The rest of the work, which is editing and proofing, still
needs to be carried out by professional translators and language experts.

But the goal is still the same, irrespective of which approach you follow. The client
must be provided with top-notch translation work. Attention to style,
terminology, and syntax are significant in the localized results. Therefore, machine
translation engines require them as input.

But machine translation is still highly capable when it comes to generating savings,
which is a benefit that most wouldn’t want to miss out on.

Plus, the sheer volume of content that needs to be processed and managed out there
necessitates the need for unique technological solutions. To make things even more
complicated, the turnover time today is drastically low. Human effort simply will
not cut it. Integrating machine translation into the localization strategy is a must
now. There is no room for choice.

Speaking of choice, which type of machine translation should you opt for? Well,
let’s find out.

1. Statistical Machine Translation (SMT)

SMT works by referring to statistical models that are based on the analysis of
large volumes of bilingual text. It aims to determine the correspondence between
a word from the source language and a word from the target language.

A good example of this is Google Translate. Now, SMT is great for basic
translation, but its greatest drawback is that it does not factor in context, which
means translations can often be erroneous. In other words, don’t expect high-
quality translations.

Reaching global audiences more easily than any other time in history is hardly
useful when your website can only be viewed in a single language. To accelerate
the internationalization process, many businesses are turning to automated
translators, but is it an accurate representation of your content?

Machine Translation technology (like Google Translate) uses algorithms that are
based on statistical pattern matching: comparing a simple word-to-word
correspondence between two languages that anyone proficient in a two-language
pair could easily handle. One problem: the human translation is often vastly
different. The unfortunate truth is that automated translations help establish a basic
understanding but fail to capture the nuance properly.

Can Businesses Rely on Automated Translators?

Languages in the world have evolved over time, and as such there are situations
when an exact conversion of a single word or phrase from one language to another
is not possible. In such circumstances, Google Translate will fall short, using rules
and equations rather than judgments. Businesses need a more flexible and robust
translation alternative, like Localize.
Translate your websites and web applications in minutes, not days. Localize runs in your website
by executing a one-line JavaScript snippet

Human translation services hire experienced and certified translators who know
how to adopt a particular tone and style that resembles the original content. This
will allow your content to convey the same message as the original text, making it
understandable by native speakers, respecting style, ideas, and the original
composition of a business text.

Google Translate Cannot Compare to a Professional Translator

Google Translates two-step method is flawed, complex, and error-prone, as it
translates the source content into a more common language (most often English)
before translating into the desired language. Probabilistic models inherently
disadvantage smaller, simple messages, which lack context. Technical documents
or marketing content require knowledge of the business, and with (often) only one
chance to make a first impression, visitors must fully comprehend the brand
message to decide.
Businesses Need a Professional Human Translation Service
Maintaining a professional image in multiple languages requires attention to
detail. Why risk losing the respect of customers in foreign markets?

At Localize we understand the need to preserve your business name and reputation
wherever you happen to conduct business. Your marketing content already reads
and looks great in your native language, let Localize make sure it looks just as
good no matter where your customers are.

2. Rule-Based Machine Translation (RBMT)

RBMT, on the other hand, translates based on grammatical rules. It conducts a

grammatical analysis of the source language and the target language to generate
the translated sentence. However, RBMT requires extensive proofreading, and its
heavy dependence on lexicons means that efficiency is achieved after a long period
of time.

What Are the New Developments in Translation Management Software?

With machines getting smarter and acquiring the ability to learn, teaching
artificial intelligence (AI) a new language is quickly changing the way
translations are approached. In addition, with the capability to now store almost
infinite amounts of data, TMS is getting more sophisticated with each passing year.
Here are some ways that TMS technology is moving forward:

Content Management Systems (CMS): Content Management Systems have been

steadily evolving over the years and are available online or as desktop apps. A
CMS manages the digital content of a website and helps in uploading translated
versions. It can also assist with maintaining uniformity in website content and
ensuring that the translated version has the same tone and voice as the original.

Audio Visual Translations: Translations are no longer required just for text; they
are also necessary for audio visual content. TMS technology is being developed to
effectively translate content in every medium to ensure the best user experience.
When targeting a new audience to give them an authentic feel of your brand, you
need to look at a more comprehensive localization strategy that covers all types of
media.

Increased Efficiency: With the need for speed without compromising on quality,
enhancements in translation software are focusing on increased efficiency using AI
and machine learning. As TMS technology becomes more and more refined, the
quality of automated translations will greatly improve. However, there’s still a long
way to go before a human translator is no longer required.

Machine Translation: Rule Based Machine Translation (RBMT) has been

evolving since the 90s. However, the problem with RBMT is that translations lack
context and need substantial editing by a human translator. With the development
of algorithms based on neural networks that add context to the most-likely words
and phrases, a more natural style is now possible, but it is still not accurate enough.

Cloud-Based Translation Platforms: Translation software depends on a database

of corresponding words and phrases in different languages. With cloud technology,
it is now possible to store far more words and phrases in a database which vastly
improves the quality of translations. A cloud-based database working alongside
machine translation can make the job of a human translator a whole lot easier.

Voice Recognition: Text to text translation has been the norm for a long time.
However, voice to text translation is now gaining recognition but is still in the
early stages of development. However, in the future it will enable the speeding up
of the translation process and possibly facilitate working on multiple languages
simultaneously.

3. Hybrid Machine Translation (HMT)

HMT, as the term indicates, is a blend of RBMT and SMT. It leverages a

translation memory, making it far more effective in terms of quality. However,
even HMT has its share of drawbacks, the greatest of which is the need for
extensive editing. Human translators will be required.

Neural Machine Translation (NMT)

NMT is a type of machine translation that depends on neural network models

(based on the human brain) to develop statistical models for the purpose of
translation. The primary benefit of NMT is that it provides a single system that can
be trained to decipher the source and target text.

As a result, it does not depend on specialized systems that are common to other
machine translation systems, especially SMT.

Neural Machine Translation

Now, NMT isn’t exactly “new”. It’s been there for quite some time. However, it
still offers at
“first-mover advantage” for businesses in terms of localization.

There is a growing need for more efficient ways to deliver content in multiple
languages. NMT is meeting this demand by shifting from niche applications meant
for large enterprises to the
mainstream environment.

NMT leverages voluminous training data and deep learning to construct an

artificial neural network. By doing so, it can decipher patterns and look for
contextual clues to translate content accurately and quickly. This is done with
almost 0 human intervention.

NMT can go through extremely large datasets to decipher even the most complex
patterns to achieve accurate results.

However, this doesn’t mean we won’t be needing human translation. But post-
editing processes will become significantly simpler thanks to NMT. This will
allow post-editors to focus on ignored areas such as brand standards, output
quality, and certain creative aspects.

Linguistic Workflow Optimization

Machine Learning can now optimize content management systems by matching

projects to linguists best suited for the job. This is done by leveraging linguistic big
data. ML can identify linguists who possess a better expertise regarding specific
kinds of content and assign specific projects to them. This results in higher quality
translations.

These ML algorithms can be applied across the quality cycle. Beginning with
Quality Analysis, ML can, apart from identifying the right linguist, identify the
right linguistic resources as well, such as glossaries and translation style guides.
Once it identifies the right resources, it immediately notifies translators about
possible issues in translatability.

This helps ensure that everything is perfect right from the start. ML can also
leverage quality control components to eliminate readability issues, fix linguistic
register levels between the source and target content, and solve translation errors.

Automated QA and Interpretation

As the amount of content continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly difficult to

deliver language quality. The amount of content growth is just too much to
manage, but, at the same time, we need to make the most of it.

This challenge can be overcome through the automation of predictable language

quality checks. Automated Language QA is a collaborative and highly effective
tool aimed at quality control. It maximizes scalability, productivity, and quality at
reduced costs.
Automated QA engines leverage pattern recognition and other capabilities to look
for issues, such as inconsistencies in terminology or missing/broken links. By
doing so, these engines assist linguists in identifying and fixing problems as soon
as possible.
This technology is highly capable and delivers results that are significantly
superior to that of human review.

Then, we have automated interpretation, which has brought us closer to combining

text-to-speech tech and ML.

Which do you choose?

To put it simply, NMT is an end-to-end translation system. As you can see, it can
be quite difficult to determine the ideal machine translation approach for your
business. Each offers its own set of pros and cons. When evaluating types of
machine translation, it ultimately boils down to your own needs.

But SMT is the most preferred approach today. This is because of the rules of
language change which impacts the RBMT approach. These rules need to be
constantly updated. SMT, however, does not depend on rules and its systems can
be constructed in much less time compared to RBMT systems.

The training data needed to run SMT is also widely available on the Internet due to
the publication of multilingual content. Finally, its need for a high amount of
processing power is also easy to meet now, thanks to cloud solutions.

NMT, on the other hand, is the most advanced option here. However, training
models for NMT is an expensive affair, which means small-to-medium-sized
businesses will have to consider the cost to profit ratio.