Write for machine translation

Example translation of the front page of this site into French and back into English, done by Google language tools, 2008-09-08

Try this on your text, using the Translate and Back website and see if they make sense

Original

Write for machine translation

Machine translation has a bad reputation: there are collections of amusing mistakes made by automatic translators. But there are also good reasons why we need to use machines to translate our words.

Companies which distribute their products around the world need to have instructions written in many languages, and human translators are expensive. Most of the World Wide Web is in English, and people need to be able to read these pages.

We can learn to write in such a way that machines can translate our words. The results will not be perfect, but they will convey our meaning. If we write well enough, we will have to write only once, and we will be understood all over the world.

When we write for translation, there are three possibilities:

  1. To write for translation by human translators. Books have been written on this subject. The translator will understand the text if you write in a clear and simple style.
  2. To write for translation by machines, with help from a human translator. This task requires more care, or the meaning may be lost.
  3. To write for translation by machines alone. This introduces special difficulties. There are words which must not be translated (names, for example) and there are words which the machine is unable to translate.

This site is intended to offer you some assistance when you write for translation by machine. If you have comments or suggestions, write to me here.

Updated 2008-09-07

Into French

Écrivez pour la traduction automatique

La traduction automatique a une mauvaise réputation: il ya des collections de amusant erreurs commises par les traducteurs automatiques. Mais il ya aussi de bonnes raisons pour lesquelles nous devons utiliser des machines à traduire nos paroles.

Les entreprises qui distribuent leurs produits dans le monde ont besoin d'avoir des instructions écrites dans de nombreuses langues, et les traducteurs humains sont chers. La plupart du World Wide Web est en anglais, et les gens ont besoin pour pouvoir lire ces pages.

Nous pouvons apprendre à écrire de telle manière que les machines peuvent traduire nos paroles. Les résultats ne sera pas parfait, mais ils transmettre nos sens. Si nous écrire suffisamment bien, nous aurons à écrire une seule fois, et nous sera entendu partout dans le monde.

Lorsque nous écrivons pour la traduction, il existe trois possibilités:

  1. Pour écrire pour la traduction par les traducteurs humains. Les livres ont été écrits sur ce sujet. Le traducteur comprendre le texte si vous écrivez d'une manière claire et simple style.
  2. Pour écrire pour la traduction par des machines, avec l'aide d'un traducteur humain. Cette tâche exige plus de soins, ou la signification mai être perdu.
  3. Pour écrire pour la traduction par les machines seules. Cela introduit des difficultés particulières. Il ya des mots qui ne doivent pas être traduit (noms, par exemple) et il ya des mots qui la machine n'est pas en mesure de traduire.

Ce site est destiné à vous offrir de l'aide lorsque vous écrivez pour la traduction par machine. Si vous avez des commentaires ou des suggestions, écrivez-moi ici.

Mise à jour 2008-09-07

Back into English

Writing for the automatic translation

The machine translation has a bad reputation: there are collections of funny mistakes made by automatic translators. But there are also good reasons why we must use machines to translate our words.

Companies that distribute their products in the world need to have written instructions in many languages, and human translators are expensive. Most of the World Wide Web is in English, and people need to read these pages.

We can learn to write so that machines can translate our words. The results will not be perfect, but they convey our meaning. If we write well enough, we will have to write once, and we will be heard everywhere in the world.

When we write for translation, there are three possibilities:

  1. To write for translation by human translators. The books have been written on this subject. The translator understand the text if you write in a clear and simple style.
  2. To write for translation by machines, with the help of a human translator. This task requires more care, or the meaning May be lost.
  3. To write for translation by machines alone. This introduces special difficulties. There are words that should not be translated (names, for example) and there are words that the machine is unable to translate.

This site is intended to offer you help when you write for machine translation. If you have any comments or suggestions, please write me here.

Updated 2008-09-07

Updated 2011-05-09