Machine Translation

There are debates over machine vs human translation, and the pros and cons of the two approaches, but it is an unnecessary distraction. Machine translation (MT) serves a valid purpose for lowering costs and accelerating turnaround times for high volume projects with a limited budget and less brand-sensitive content. EC Innovations provides a hybrid solution—Machine Translation with Post Editing (MTPE) which combines the fast-turnaround and cost-effectiveness of machine translation and the quality assurance of human translation to keep context and human touch with your brand voice.

We also provide MT solutions in combination with source content analysis and machine translation evaluation for MT engine optimization.

Why We Need Machine Translation (MTPE)?

There are numerous advances such as the exponential increase in the amount of content that may require or benefit from translation – and the relentless drive to reduce costs.

MT is carried out by sophisticated translation programs that rely on vast databases of existing translations as well as complex rules and algorithms to provide quick, automated translations that are as natural as possible. For large projects of which quality is secondary to price, MT without edits and oversight from professional translators can be a viable solution. Alternatively, in cases where quality is a higher priority, but audience size and the source material’s importance do not justify the expense of a full professional translation, MT with post-editing provides an intermediate offering. After a first-pass machine translation, a professional translator performs a ‘post-editing’ quality assurance (QA) step in which a professional linguist simply compares the source material against the automated translation to ensure accuracy. Further QA steps can be added to increase the quality, with various tiers of quality available to suit any budget and need.

What Do We Provide?

EC Innovations can provide all your machine translation needs, and will help you develop an integrated translation plan that allows MT to be part of the workflow automation process, in combination with translation memory, terminology management, and human translation.

EC Innovations’ proprietary methodology combines machine translation with complementary technologies and human translators to quickly and reliably produce usable translations for review of large volumes of text, all completed in a fraction of the time that would be required for a standard translation. While machine translation quality falls far short of human translation, if used properly in conjunction with human reviewers, its utility can be stretched to include both non-distribution applications including document review, legal discovery, and internal correspondence, as well as distribution-level materials for which extremely fast turnaround times are a requirement.