Globalization has been a process that has been going on for quite some time, and it has gradually been blurring the national boundaries of each country as a result of the growing number of international movements of people and goods that take place through either physical transportation or electronic means, and frequently by both of these methods.
A direct result of globalization has been an increase in the number of interactions between people who cannot communicate with one another in their native tongue. To this day, conducting face-to-face commercial talks across international borders or selling wares in international markets has required the assistance of a linguist, either for the purpose of translating marketing materials or for the purpose of conducting face-to-face meetings.
The translation is primarily required in situations in which the target language acts more as a barrier to communication than as a means of communication itself. On the other hand, globalization, which is being driven by the infrastructure based on the internet, is currently developing a new set of criteria for Translation.
This is due to the fact that the nature of communication that needs to be translated as well as the mechanism by which a particular communication is conveyed, processed, and stored are both being altered as a result of the proliferation of internet use.
In the field of translation, the proliferation of communication, information, & computer technologies (collectively referred to as “ICTs”) has led to the development of new perspectives and representations of the field.
Everything that is going to follow is predicated on a central thesis, and that thesis is that these developments may very well bring about a significant split not only in the practices of translation but also in the narratives that are about translation.
Within a period of fewer than twenty years, we have witnessed the rise of computing throughout the ranks of the translation business. This has had the effect of altering the resources available to translators and making it feasible to quicken the velocity of translation.
A Vital Crossroad
We have arrived at a significant turning point in the history of the industry (and also in translation training and theorizing). As practitioners and trainers, we can no longer dismiss the very real effects that automation has had; this is no longer an option.
If we keep up our naive perspective on the quality of the product produced by machines (“it’s poor,” “human translation is always superior”), we run the very real risk of missing out on possibilities and becoming irrelevant.
It is common practice for instructors in translation-related classes and degree programmes to forbid students from making use of translation software like Google Translate on the grounds that doing so constitutes unethical forms of plagiarism.
Even though the topic of plagiarism is outside the scope of this article, one has to wonder how effective training can be when technologies that are often used and encouraged in the business world are forbidden in educational settings.
The regrettable result of such vetoes is that students are not adequately prepared for the difficulties that lie ahead in their professional lives. If we don’t allow students to utilize these new programmes, then we can’t teach them how to evaluate their usefulness and make informed decisions while using them.
There is also the possibility that we are hindering people’s ability to be literate in the digital world.
It is not uncommon for countries through the transition to having profound shifts in their media landscapes, although there is frequently a lack of reliable information regarding these shifts.
This indicates that the many stakeholders in the media and civic society manoeuvre in uncharted territory that are ruled by rumours and claims that have not been proven. This handbook offers guidance and suggestions on how to create a media mapping capacity in nations that have recently gone through a political transition.
Relevance of Translation Services
Consider that your website, marketing materials, and product descriptions need to be translated in order to expand internationally. What are your intentions?
You may have acquired a language (or two) at school, or you may know someone who speaks the required foreign language.
This might seem like a good idea but in the long run, it is not.
Due to the fact that only a competent translation business can save the day. Not persuaded? Then, consider the following ideas, which will assist you in making a selection that will preserve your professional reputation and brand image. Or both (if you’re fortunate)
Project management
The division of labour is an essential component in achieving high levels of productivity and operational effectiveness. Or not. That is in no way the goal of our endeavour.
Professional Translation services are progressively implementing project managers into managing projects so that linguists can base their decisions solely on the translation component of a transaction. Because of this, the timely supply of other components inside the translation process itself is made possible.
Customer Experience
The provision of a continuously exceptional customer experience (CX) through the utilization of language translation services is essential in the event that one seeks to build consumer loyalty across the world. According to a study conducted by PwC, one in every three customers around the world has stated that they will stop patronizing a brand they adore after just one negative experience with that brand.
Human-in-the-loop AI solutions such as Unbabel make it possible for businesses to provide clients with a uniform and tailored customer experience (CX), regardless of the language the customers speak.
For example, we assisted Panasonic’s European customer service team in overcoming linguistic barriers and contextual disparities, while simultaneously lowering the cost of providing support in five different languages by sixty per cent. Because of this combination of human and machine translation, all of your representatives will be able to speak the same language, which is the language of the consumer.
Service Excellence
Customer service is another domain where language translation technologies have the potential to bring significant benefits. In the same vein as the content of websites, value is of crucial relevance here:
A startling 92 percent of respondents to our 2021 Global Multilingual CX Report survey of more than 2,700 foreign consumers claimed that poor consumer service, even in their home language, will harm their trust and loyalty toward a company.
People place a high priority on punctuality in their discussions with customer service providers, in addition to correctness and cultural sensitivity.
The same survey on customer experiences indicated that almost half of participants view prompt responsiveness to be a top priority when it comes to customer support (47%), followed by prompt resolution times (46%).
Future of Translation Service
The range of translation service services and solutions available today includes anything from machine-only translation (like that offered by Google Translate) to human-only translation (such as a translation agency).
Solutions that use only machines are quick, but the quality isn’t necessarily guaranteed to be kept up; options that include only humans are accurate, but they can be pricey, time-consuming, and difficult to scale.
The proliferation of business networks and activities has directly contributed to an increase in the necessity for translation services. Translation services have become vital for worldwide businesses as a result of the growing requirement to interact effectively with teams and customers located in different countries and speaking different languages.
In the meantime, the speedy advancement of machine translation technology provides businesses with a quick and affordable alternative to conventional translation services. But how does the quality of machine translation compare to that of human translators?
Not A Threat
However, making an effective translation is a very different ball game than solving mathematical issues with a computer, as computers were created to tackle mathematical problems. Because literally translating words into another language does not in and of itself ensure accuracy, one cannot apply the same mathematical premise to the process of translation.
The fact that translation tools like Google Translate are unable to produce reliable results frequently becomes the punchline of jokes shared on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
The act of writing is indeed an art form, while translating is more along the lines of a type of writing. That is the primary distinction between highly trained human translators and translation software.
The ability to play around with words and grammar is beyond the capabilities of computers because they are unable to comprehend context or culture. The ability to make sense of a string of words that have been organized into sentences and paragraphs requires not only proficiency in a language, but also cultural sensitivity and familiarity with specific contexts, idiomatic expressions, tone and style, and, in the instance of companies, corporate language and identity.
Final Word
It’s possible that machine translation is good for rapid content that isn’t particularly important or high priority, but human translators should be used for translating corporate communication that needs to adhere to a company’s unique identity.
When compared to post-editing content that was machine translated, the source text can be translated by our editors far more quickly and to a higher standard.
We are a committed translation provider service- AfroLingo which has every attribute to lead the future of translation by improvising the human skill with the nouveau technology each and every day.
We offer appropriate services such as, for example.
- Translation \Transcription \Interpretation
- The localization of software
- Mobile localization
- Desktop publishing in addition to publishing on websites
Make no mistake about it: machine translation is here to stay, but so are human translators. Neither one of them is going anywhere.