Preparation is Definitely Needed for Quality Machine Translations

Many machine German translations are actually quite good, particularly when translations take place between German and the most commonly used languages. Sometimes, complaints are made about the poor quality of machine translations. With a bit of pre planning you can normally sort these out yourself. All you have to do is study the original text before the English German translation begins and then make a couple of quite simple changes.

Firstly, keep the text simple and ensure it is well thought out and a pleasure to read. Complicated sentence structure and ideas that are written in a more complicated way than they need to be, but do not necessarily have the desired effect on the audience. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. Machine translators work well with simply written text. If your business wants your product descriptions translated into German for your international audience, keep to simple text which means short sentences and straightforward vocabulary.

Secondly, correct any typos as a machine German translator has difficulty focussing on typos and other small grammatical errors. If there are words without spaces between them a machine translator will not be able to translate properly. It’s important to use a spellchecker before presenting the information before a machine translation too.

Thirdly, sentence structure needs to be considered as well and the preference is to use the active voice as it is common in many languages. The active voice has similarities in many languages and machine translators are often able to read and fit in the correct translations for active sentences. In contrast, the passive voice does present more of a challenge because it does vary between languages.

Finally, choose vocabulary carefully as sayings and idioms often do not translate correctly across other languages and neither do words that have more than one meaning.  

Using the points mentioned above will help you get the best return out of a machine translation. However, in the long run, if it is quality you are after and you need your translation to be spot on and perfect, then there is no substitute for a professional translation done by a professional German translator.