- June 13, 2023
- Posted by: Eva
- Category: Blog
If machine translation was revolutionary, MTPE would be a breakthrough!
Machine translation has been rapidly developing over the past couple of years on the back of the robust advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. However, the most advanced neural engines still fall short of understanding the broader context of content and providing an acceptable level of quality. In that sense, the controversy has been heated over whether or not machine translation could replace human translation or, at least, bring some benefits for businesses. Meanwhile, the need for high-quality translation tilted the balance in human translation favor despite the higher cost and slower turnaround. Machine translation post editing (MTPE) came up to complete the missing piece.
In today’s ever-expanding business world, there is an increasing demand over translating large volumes of texts in multiple languages at reasonable prices, quick turnaround time, and without compromising on quality. While pure human translation sounds costly and time-consuming and raw machine translation is often filled with misconstructions and ambiguities, MTPE stands out as a reliable and cost-effective alternative. Merging between smart machine translation and efficient human editing seems to be the answer to the long-standing question of quality, time, and cost.
What is MTPE?
By definition, machine translation post editing (MTPE) is the process of conducting an automated translation followed by reviewing the machine-translated content and applying the required adjustments to make it aligned with the client’s strategic objectives. Also known as post-editing for machine translation (PEMT), this relatively new language service has proven to be a comprehensive language solution that works great for some projects, especially those with large volumes of text, tight timeframes, or constrained budgets. As its name suggests, MTPE basically consists of two main parts, as follows:
Machine Translation (MT)
Machine translation can be traced back to the 1950s, yet it wasn’t until recently that it became a professional and trusted solution. The recent developments in neural networks and machine learning algorithms made machine translation way more accurate and flexible. Machine translation engines can now be fed with industry-specific translation memories (TM) and glossaries, and thus provide reliable results. In MTPE, an additional layer of human editing comes around.
Post editing (PE)
Unlike the editing of human-produced translation, machine translation requires a special skill set and knowledge of the machine translation systems. Editing a machine-generated text is usually a matter of conducting a few changes to improve the readability of a certain text. The post editing step simply refers to the human intervention to refine a machine-translated content and eliminate ambiguities and misstructures.
Types of MTPE
The ultimate purpose of MTPE is always to create a readable and comprehensive multilingual content that aligns with your business needs. As a result, language service providers offer two levels of post editing, or two different types of MTPE, namely:
Light post-editing: It is a form of MTPE that is concerned with resolving the major errors and unreadable content structures. This approach is recommended to limited timeframe projects or documents meant for internal purposes.
Full post-editing: It is an editing type that involves higher levels of reviewing and quality checking. It is usually demanded at larger-scale projects with texts designed for public posting or dissemination.
The benefits of MTPE
Now that you are completely aware of MTPE and its different types, the question remains: when exactly is MTPE a better option, compared to pure human translation and sole machine translation? Hereunder, we list the top four advantages of machine translation post editing or MTPE to help you make the right choice: to MTPE or not to MTPE?!
- Quick off the mark
A recent study on the productivity of MTPE found that machine translation saves 43%of the translation process time. Machine-generated translation usually does not include grammatical and spelling mistakes, thus requires much less time to be edited, especially by highly trained human editors. MTPE is perfect for short time-frame propromotes faster turnaround, thus quicker time-to-market.
- Budget-friendly
MTPE is done at much lower rates, compared to pure human translation with almost the same quality. Translation companies usually charge their clients up to 50% less when they request MTPE. If you are looking for a cost-effective translation solution, MTPE is what you should opt for.
- Fair quality
Unlike machine translation, MTPE comes out with readable and comprehensive content that satisfies your needs. The act of post-editing adds a higher level of depth and cohesion to the final output. MTPE is a bargain; high quality at reasonable prices.
- Suitable for mega projects
MTPE can undoubtedly produce large volumes of text in shorter time frames. This means it represents the optimal solution for large-scale projects that require a quality translation of huge word counts in one or multiple languages.
Simply put…
MTPE has been innovated and developed to make the most of machine translation technologies and replace human translation with a faster and less costly option. Depending solely on human translators is a bit pricey, while relying on raw machine translation only does not guarantee acceptable results. In light of the aforementioned benefits, MTPE might be the appropriate fulfillment to your needs.
We, at EuroLingo, take pride in our competent MTPE services and promise the highest quality and most competitive rates. Contact us now and get your translation project on the road. We have a suite of advanced neural networks and smart machine translation software, as well as a team of expert editors in every eastern european language and across all subject matters.
