Devised device names – a tri-lingual look at appliances

Innovative products require descriptive names. In practice, languages use completely different roots to describe the same technology. As an example, French and Hebrew apply different approaches to describe a vacuum cleaner, iron and car as compared to English.

In the case of the vacuum cleaner, each language emphasizes a different aspect. The English term for the vacuum cleaner, developed in the first decade of the 20^th century, focuses on the physics of the device, i.e., by creating a vacuum, pressure differences cause the air to rise up into the bag, taking with any trapped dust with it. The French aspirateur is derived from the root to breathe upon, which is strange because the appliance actually inhales, not exhales. The Hebrew שואב אבק [shoev avak] literally means “sucks dust”, which is exactly what a hoover does. Different strokes for different folks.

An iron is a far more ancient device, used by the Greeks in 400 BCE and developed gradually until the invention of the electric iron in the 1880’s. The English term identifies it by its standard material, iron. The Hebrew term מַגְהֵץ [maghetz] notes its function, smoothing out clothes. The French equivalent takes no chances, specifying both – un fer à repasser, literally an iron for ironing. Ironically, the French term is the clearest.

Cars have been part of modern life since the end of the 19^th century. The modern English term for a motorized vehicle is an automobile, having long laid to rest its predecessor the horseless carriage. The meaning of the English term is a vehicle that moves itself, i.e., without the need for horses. The French voiture refers to a carriage, something that carries objects, which a car does resemble to an outside viewer. The Hebrew term מְכוֹנִית [mechonit] merely states that it is a machine with a possible implication of being small or feminine. This lack of precision apparently has not prevented people from easily attaching the Hebrew word to the object. Humans are clearly quite adept at abstract thinking.

These examples demonstrate the multiplicity of approaches to devising words for new devices. The powers that make these decisions can focus on the shape, material, process or purpose, among other elements. Regardless of the case, through repetition, language users learn to equate a word and object and even stop thinking about the reasons for the name. Yet, understanding the logic provides a peak into human thinking. 

Interview with Uri Bruck

 

The following is an interview with Uri Bruck, who just stepped down as the chair of the Israel Translation Association. His perspective is different and may be relevant to all translators, especially in regards to technology and translators.

 

[cup of tea on books&]

First, thanks for inviting me to do this interview. Having mulled over these questions a bit, I made myself a nice, fresh, hot cup of tea and sat down to answer them

 

1.       You have a wide variety of skills not limited to translation. What is your background?

 

There is some background information, and a few links here: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7

 

I can expand on that a bit. I was born in Haifa, Israel. I spend some of my formative years in English speaking countries. After my military service I went to study in the Technion in the applied math faculty and eventually earned a BSc. That discipline also included some comp sci courses. That was also the time I started translating, at that time mostly for other students. After graduating, I got my first job at Actcom, the first commercial ISP in Israel. I bean inn tech support, advanced to a programmer and eventually became head of software dept. At Actcom, I also took on some documentation roles, both internal and external. This documentation included installation instructions, solving common problems and the company’s support site.

Actcom supported the open-source community in Israel and open-source tools.

During that same period, I continued doing small translation job and also participated in some of the online translator communities. At that time, it was mostly mailing lists. Then Dr. Hannah Amit-Kochavi came across one of my translations about an art exhibition and suggested that I might enjoy studying translation. I enrolled in the Beit Berl translation program. My then employers at Actcom were very supportive and accommodating.

Translation studies marked for me the difference between being someone who translated and being a translator.

I continued developing in both translation and programming. I became a freelancer, both as a translator and as programmer, and continued developing my skills in both. I added more tech skills and roles over time.  I worked in a few startups along the way. Including as  dev lead, or CTO, which turns out this doesn’t stand for Chess and Tea Overlord. I’m rather fond of both.

After graduating the Beit Berl translation program, I joined the ITA or rather stormed into it. That was back in 2002.

I suppose both translation and the various tech jobs were natural paths for me. 

Of course, it’s not all work. Among my hobbies are photography and has been ever since my grandfather, who was also a translator, let me use his camera on holiday. I’m an amateur musician (I always add “amateur” because my sister is a professional musician who teachers, performs, and has produced and organized concerts and international festivals). A few years ago, I studied electro-acoustics, which combines technology and music. More recently I took up painting and drawing.

I’m also into board games, especially chess variants, both playing and designing.  I like learning something new every few years.

 

 

2.      In your 5 years as the head of Israel Translators Association (ITA), what do you consider to be your successes? What major challenges does the new chairperson face?

 

One of the issues many organizations have – any type of organizations  - is lack of communication between administrators and technology. Some organizations have technical communicators – people who learn to speak to both administrators and tech people. I leveraged my knowledge and experience of web technology to answer a question, one that is very significant to our on-going recruitment efforts. The question being “Why join the ITA?”. There are quite a few answers on the ITA site. One answer I gave was: because you’ll have the best bloody professional online profile, which can serve as a digital business card and as part of your overall web presence, all that at a fraction of the price if you were to do it yourself. Of course, there are lots of other reasons to join, including networking, conferences and CPD. But networking is somewhat abstract for lots of people. Good online visibility is something I can point at and say: “You’re getting this!”

 

Another thing I’m happy with is events and conferences. I promoted diversifying the kind of events and the type of content in conferences. I also ended up organizing conferences and managed to fill them up with good professional content. This was not something I originally planned on doing. In fact, if someone had told me five years ago that I’d be organizing conferences, I would have probably told them  that he is crazy, but it needed to be done. So, I went ahead and did it. The first second one I organized was just before the Covid lockdowns. Then we all had to adapt. We had to take the lectures and conferences online. One of the perks of organizing lectures and conferences is I get to pick the celebrity speakers. Actually, it’s the only perk. Moreover, following some of these events, we have been invited, as an organization, to participate in other translator organizations online/hybrid events and, more recently, in FIT projects.

 

I think I worked both on improving both technological and administrative infrastructure.

 

As for the challenges the new Chair will face – one big challenge is getting more translators to join the ITA, i.e., finding creative ways to get to more translators to join the ITA. We need to get more translators to see the ITA as the professional organization they want to be a part of. Also fostering cooperation with more organizations, both in Israel and abroad is important.

3.      What is your impression of the future of freelance translation?

It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. On the one hand, we’re living in a time where there seem lots of changes in both in the tools we use for translating and in the tools we use for communicating about ourselves. On the other hand, I still hear translators wary of CAT tools, which have been around for a long time, saying things such that’s only for technical stuff, with lots of repetitions.

On my very infrequent blog, I wrote about this https://bruck.translation.org.il/word-processor-not-a-translators-tool/  

 

One of the issues I have with translators and technology is that even the many translators that embrace technology don’t drive the technology advances but at best accept them. That’s still better than being dragged kicking and screaming. That’s really an issue I have not just with translation tech, but also with a lot of technology. Operating systems and application, including lots of online applications are still built more for the convenience of engineers than for the convenience of users. Users need to learn a lot of things that make no sense just to write simple documents. The systems we use are based on concepts that have been part of commercial systems for at least three decades. There have a lot of good ideas in HCI research but users are just content with nicer looking and faster implementations of half-baked ideas.

Following up on the above linked blog post, the next stage of CAT tools is domain specific CAT tools. e.g. - CAT tools specific for literary translators, or tools specifically for technical translators. If anyone is already on that, kudos to them. Still, the people  that should pushing for that, what specifically they need, are the translators specializing in those domains – the practitioners. They should be working with the developers. There might even be some overlap there.

           

 

I don’t have any insights about marketing, except for re-iterating that it’s all about communications  However, it’s possible to do everything right and still not get the results you want. While some translators will manage to get repeat business from direct clients, most will get all or most their work through agencies. So freelance translation will depend a lot on finding the good agencies, as well as  maintaining good working relationships with them. That also requires solid interpersonal and communications skills. AI tools have the potential to enhance our work and our CAT tools. That’s the proper way to use them, not as competition, but as better tools. Unfortunately, one of the current trends is to marginalize the translators and get them to do lots of MTPE. Those are not the better agencies. One of the next steps for AI in translation is likely to be measuring translation quality. Some QA is already automated. Some translators are not happy with agency reviewers today. For translators working mostly with agencies, the next challenge might be dealing with AI reviewers. AI reviewers might also be used to attempt to detect machine translation.

4.      In your view, what are the roles of translator associations in promoting the profession?

The most brilliant marketing person I ever met told me: There is no such thing as marketing – it’s all communications.
Promoting something is done by showing, not telling. For translators associations that means creating increasing visibility of both the associations and its members by showing that these are clever, skilled, interesting people. And they have interesting things to say about what they do. The more one hears people say something interesting about this profession and why they do it, the more one sees them as people and less as stereotypes. Consequently, you benefit them and their profession. Some of what translators do is very useful and often essential to other people. This can be done through media, such as blogs, podcasts, videos and social media posts. Show, don’t tell.

 

Furthermore, organization can promote their own members as presenters outside translator conferences and thus reach a larger audience. This reflects well both on the individual members and the organization. Highlight the everyday benefits of translation and interpretation.

5.      What did you personally gain from your experience as head of the ITA?

 

It’s a position that gets exposure. I’m not very good at networking. That’s one of the reasons I started lecturing at conferences. When you’re the one presenting, then people come to you to talk to you. They already sort of know a bit about you. You receive the benefits of networking, but you don’t need to initiate as much. Of course, you can take it from there. As the ITA Chair, I got a lot more exposure. To organize a successful conference, and cooperation I did need to initiate a lot more contacts, but it’s easier when there’s a title to go with it. With exposure, one gains new contacts.

 

I have significant project management experience and some middle management experience. I’m also told that I’m pretty good at organizing a vacation. However, as I wrote in my reply to (2), organizing conferences was new to me - at least it was five years ago. I think I managed to leverage my organizational skills and  put together several conferences with quality content while keeping the costs relatively low even for the pre-Covid in-person conferences and the more recent hybrid events. The conferences, even when drawing initially on what I’ve seen previously as a participant and later on my own growing experience, were all different. Constraints encouraged us to be creative. Keeping costs was one constraint. Then Covid came and brought a whole new set of constraints and some interesting opportunities as well. Now everyone is doing hybrid conferences and online events. I also learned that one really shouldn’t be both the organizer and the tech support for an event, let alone an entire conference.

My work on the ITA site, the accompanying mobile app and other extensions of the ITA’s online presence were based in part on my experience in project management. I also described it above as partly a technical communicator job, but, since I was one of the administrators to communicate with, in practice I also filled the role of Product Manager. While this was not my job description in any previous job, I believe I did well. So, I learned that I can do that as well. Another line for the resume.

I learned a lot about the inner workings of a non-profit organization in Israel. It expanded my knowledge that I didn’t need previously as a freelancer but might some in useful in the future in some other job or role.

 

PS

I ended up writing this in two sessions, each with a cup of tea. The tea for the first season was the mix inspired by Sir Patrick Stewart – half Earl Grey, half English Breakfast. It sounded odd when I first heard of it, but once I’ve tried it, it became one of my favored choices. For the second session, I made the classic Wissotzky. It’s often perceived as more common, but I think it’s underrated. It’s a comfortable choice.

Thank you for the questions. It was certainly interesting to dive into them. I hope you find this useful or, at least, interesting.

 

 

 

 

* Picture captions help the blind fully utilize the Internet.

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Translating If - Essential learning for new and renewing translators

 

[world map on hands*]

Freelancer translators, as one-person businesses, must become multiskilled to one degree or another. They must be market- savvy, linguistically proficient and technologically nimble. Clearly, no newcomer to the profession can claim all three. Moreover, given that the rapid and constant evolution of the world of business, even successful and  experienced translators cannot rest on their laurels.  Thus, translators of all tenure must keep an open mind and actively learn. This continuing skill and knowledge education is an ongoing process throughout a translator’s career.

The price of having no boss or employee is that freelancers must wear all the hats. Since translation, like many online services, is a home-based industry, there is no storefront sign to bring in customers. Therefore, service providers must actively strive to get their name out to their public. They also must have thorough knowledge of their professional task. In the case of translators, that requires continual exposure both their target and source language. Finally, every year new technology enters the market. The current Chat-GPT hysteria is merely one example of a new technology that may affect an industry. Ideally, a freelancer would be expert in all three phases of the business.

In reality, newcomers to any field, including translation, may be quite proficient in one area but often are weak and/or uncomfortable in others. They may not even be aware of what they do not know, as I was when I started. For example, brilliant linguists often feel uncomfortable with marketing while savvy IT people may lack sufficient background in their languages. To clarify, lacking proficiency or knowledge in any of the fields is not a barrier to entering the translation field. Not only are these skills learnable but the reality of making living forces even the most reluctant to either improve or quit. Clearly, freelance translators have their own individual strengths, tasks they love, and weaknesses, tasks they try to avoid. However, successful freelancers are at least “good-enough” in all three to prosper.

Of a more troubling nature, at least to experienced translators, is that yesterday’s skill set can mean very little today. It is very disconcerting to discover that the financial certainties of the past, including their standard jobs, regular customers and established rates, are no longer to be taken for granted. The causes of this business earthquake include industry structural changes, in particular the purchase of boutique agencies by large agencies; technology changes that eliminate market niches, such as machine and neural translation; world market movements such as the Covid crisis and recessions; marketing trends, including the switch from physical to virtual sites and social media; language development as younger generations use different vocabulary and bend “iron” rules of grammar and syntax; and newcomers to the profession, who often arrive with more advanced skills in certain areas and greater openness to change. Many established translators experience a “what have you learned lately” syndrome.

The solution for this syndrome for “old” and new alike is continuing education and openness. Any freelancer that is interested can investigate countless free video and articles on any technological or marketing development and/or invest in affordable workshops on it. Information from all points of view is readily available if one searches for it. That said, depending on the person and market niche, many of these new trends may not be relevant for the meantime or ever. Given the learning curve involved in any change, slow and steady is a legitimate approach to change in many cases. For example, I personally do not see how Chat GPT can help me as a translator or even threaten my business although I could be wrong. Long-term players in this business keep aware of the latest developments without panicking.

In summary, to localize Kipling:

If you can continually strive to master all the needed skills

        while knowing that you cannot be great at everything,

If you can follow changes and trends with interest

        without being uncontrollably swept into the current,

If you can feel confident in your skills

        but know that you must always look to improve.

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

         And—which is more—you’ll be a translator, my son or daughter!

 

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Hitting the light switch – the 12th Annual Braude College Academia-Industry Conference

 

[two birds using satellite to find food*]

In 1880, Thomas Edison took out his patent for his lightbulb, which engineers (probably) found exciting. In 1882, he brought electricity to New York city, which impacted everybody (at least in New York). The first event would only have been a curiosity without the second but the second event was only relevant because of the first. When working together, science and industry change people’s lives then and now. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Academy-Industry Conference at the Braude School of Engineering in Karmiel in northern Israel. This conference brought out the advantages of close cooperation between the two sectors and showed its benefits not only in industry but in processes directly impacting the general public. The relation between ivory tower and company headquarters is clearly symbiotic.

The number of parties interested in cooperation between the two worlds was striking. On the one hand, the Braude College of Engineering, through its student placement, sponsorship of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and student projects, places great importance on linking student activity to actual situations in the field. The Israel government Innovation Authority and Chief Scientist Office provide financial support for relevant activities, including implementation of new technology. On the other hand, a significant percentage of the attendees were from industry, indicating practical interest in collaboration. The Zoom presentations from the United States and Singapore show that this model is widespread and successful. Objectively, the number of projects involving implementation of Industry 4.0 technology in established factories and the presentations documenting their success demonstrated that is the academy-industry connection is alive and well.

Many of the developments were specific to the industrial setting. For example, Prof. Dr. ir. Joost R. Deflou from KU Leuven, Belgium, provided a detailed description of the current process of waste metal recycling and ideas to improve it so as to significantly reduce both processing and energy costs as well as increase actual reuse. Eric Wespi from Boston Science noted the progress and challenges involved in using automated visual means to conduct the final quality check. Several beneficiaries of the implementation of smart production technology emphasized the importance of unified start-to-finish data access to management to minimize resource waste and rejected products. All of the improvements help factories of all sizes not only to survive but thrive in an increasingly competitive and dynamic market.

The conference also highlighted developments that will directly change people’s life. Prof. Paulo Bartolo discussed 3D bioprinting and mentioned the amazing possibility of directly “printing” skin on a person during surgery. Ms. Hagit Snir-Salinger discussed ongoing efforts to collect, sort, recycle and reuse the plastic agricultural waste, including sheets and pipes, collecting on the edge of fields in Israel and elsewhere. Mr. Motty Arnon discussed progress in creating AI based diagnoses systems, including for cancer, that would service populations located far from advanced medical facilities. These applications may soon directly improve the lives of millions.

Technology changes lives as the cartoon above demonstrate. By integrating the intellectual resources of academic institutions and the practical needs of industry, “miracles” no less amazing than electricity can occur. The conference was eye-opening and raised hope for a better future.

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Picture credit: Cartoon shared in Facebook

Staring at the technological future and present in the eyes – lessons from the 2023 conference of the Israel Translators Association

 

[owl*]

Nothing is more frightening than change and the unknown. This past week, the Israel Translators Association hosted several industry and technological leaders, who addressed the future of translation in the face of fast-developing technology. The participants in the conference gained an understanding of the impact of new developments in the field and practical approaches to future growth. The level of the presentations, both in terms of content and delivery, was extremely high without any significant overlapping, thus providing a perspicuous and broad view of the situation. The lecturers included Keith Brooks (To Grow, or Not to Grow, That is No longer the Question, But the Imperative), Zvi Gordon (Technology in the translation industry: current picture and a look at the future),  Katia Jimenez (Understanding the progress of artificial intelligence in language), Kirti Vashee (The changing translation technology landscape), Nora Díaz (Translation and Interpretation Technology: The Basics and Beyond) and Rafa Lombardino (Language Professionals: Technology is On Our Side), to name just a few. My conclusion from these lectures was that not only was technology already here and a part of the industry, it does not actually threaten translation or translators, nor does the new wonderchild, ChatGPT. Just as importantly, translators can and should study the emerging technology and harness it to their specific needs.

The dominant message was that the various forms of machine translation had already established a strong presence in the industry but not necessarily at the expense of human translators. Specifically, certain domains have fully adopted every-improving version of machine translation and use them almost exclusively. Interestingly, these domains are places where human translation could not tread, i.e., where the sheer volume, potential cost and limited context made machine translation the ideal tool. For example, companies such as Airbnb, Ali Express and Amazon need to localize thousands of words on a daily basis. By contrast, in areas where context, accuracy and style count, such as in law, medicine and marketing, the worldwide volume of human translation keeps on expanding. Referring to the human element, Ellen Elias-Bursać said in her lecture on interpreting and translating during the Hague War Crimes trials that the translators had to stand in court and justify their translation. Where ever there is that potential, whether in court or in front of any person, human translation and interpretation is the best option.

As for the latest craze, reaching 1 million users in only four months, ChatGPT is very interesting but not actually a threat to translation. Specifically, the speakers noted that the machine compiled text from existing corpus without discrimination of accuracy, bias or style of content. In other words, it was a random generator of text, somewhat regulated by the limitations imposed by the party entering the request. It can be valuable for identifying grammar mistakes or improving style or vocabulary, especially for non-native writers. However, as its output is not specific or accurate enough for most translating assignments, its value as a translator is quite limited.

In practice, the speakers consistently spoke of the need for translator to investigate any technology that may improve their work content or process. Clearly, it is possible to be successful without applying most if not all of the technological tools, but future success will probably depend on selective use of modern methods as well as understanding their advantages and limitations. The message for translators was that the future involved not only selectively adopting new technology but also changing the attitude towards it from complete fear to measured understanding.

As a demonstration of that approach, one of the speakers mentioned fully automated cars, noting that some major companies have stopped investing money on their development but are actively using them for moving goods from one building to another on a clearly defined route. The moral here is that not that the technology is not valuable but its effective use is limited by its lack of ability to make complex judgments. Likewise, where judgment is vital, human translators will have work. Yet, those that better leverage existing and emerging technology will have an efficiency advantage. To identify the appropriate tools, more than ever, translators need to keep an open mind in regards to technology. It is far less frightening than it would seem and may be quite benevolent. The future is in our hands as we learned at the ITA 2023 conference.

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Notes of a non-native son – to technology

 

["Retrain your mind"*]

I have been privileged to witness and experience the most amazing period of electronical transformation. In almost all spheres of life, the manner of accomplishing the simplest of tasks has changed fundamentally. I was born in 1961, at the start of that revolution. For writing, I learned on a manual typewriter and have used an electric and electronic typewriter, a Commadore 64 word processor, Basic based word processing systems (“…2s…” was the command for double space, I still remember), Word Perfect and other local variants until finally settling into, along with almost everybody, Word. The phone at home was a rotary dial hand unit and evolved through touch-tone phones, dumb phones and smart phones to phone watches. Banking used to involve tellers and cash and now is almost entirely digital ATM’s and applications, not to mention the gradual disappearance of paper cash. Real-time monitoring has become the norm, even in physical fitness. Applications now tell you how many steps you have taken, calories you have burned and heartbeats per minute. There seems to be an app for everything. The pace of electronic-based change in our life is extraordinary.

While my age gives me an interesting historical perspective, it renders me non-native to this technology. Specifically, I may use it, sometimes by choice, but I do not understand it intuitively nor really embrace its use. To explain, I use a computer for work and play, do my banking online, order takeout food and make restaurant reservations through sites and invoice my customers through an online service. I use MemoQ, a CAT (Computer Aided Translation) tool, and do most of my term searches online despite my extensive collection of dictionaries. I maintain communication with my teaching colleagues through WhatsApp and email and can teach on Zoom. I am clearly computer literate to a respectable degree. Still, I approach each new technological application on a need-to-know basis, absorbing only those features that I require, with no curiosity on what else can be done.

Not surprisingly, when I attend conferences (virtually lately) and workshops and hear fellow translators and educators discuss technological solutions, I am left with the feeling of inadequacy and even inferiority. These experts show how amazingly simple it is to use a specific application or software to speed up or automate professional tasks. They exhibit great knowledge and joy explaining how our lives will be improved if we use these tools. My first uncomfortable feeling is the sense of the gap between my prehistoric or at least Bronze Age methodology and that these experts so heartily recommend. However, I do not use age as an excuse and know that I am capable of learning new technologies as I have done so before. What is more disturbing is my strong internal resistance to making the jump to these more efficient tools. In blunt terms, I generally do not want to make the effort to catch up with the latest technology. I know that I am not “up to snuff” but am emotionally paralyzed to take the “necessary” steps to address that issue.

This inaction leaves me with a disconcerting feeling. On the one hand, I know that I am far more computer literate than many. In a recent questionnaire, some 25% of translators in the American Translators Association still do not use CAT tools. I also realize that life is not a competition, i.e., my happiness is not based on my ranking as compared to others. On the other hand, part of me says that I should (such an awful word) care and embrace technology with all my heart, soul and brain and that doing so will make a better professional and person. Alas, fundamentally human beings are rationalizing, not rational, creatures if given a choice. I am not native to digital technology and can at best selectively use it to meet my needs. I try to remember the words of Jacques Prévert: Je suis comme je suis; je suis fait comme ça – I am who I am; that is my nature. In most cases, I accept my imperfections quite well but, in this case, it does somewhat bother me but evidently not enough to motivate me to overcome that barrier. As in James Baldwin’s book of essays Notes of a native son, albeit to much smaller degree, I feel out a little out of place and powerless in my own society. I am almost certain that I am not alone in this feeling but that sharing only goes so far in compensation. I simply will continue to live and strive, someone uncomfortably, as a non-native.

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Digital Idiot Savant

The world of translation for both the general public and professionals is the midst of a revolution.  Machine translation has taken off.  Google Translate may be its most public form but far from its most important use. Corporations such as Nestle and Amazon are using and developing better forms of machine translation. 

To explain the process, phrases and sentences are compared with company-prepared glossaries, known Internet-accessible translations and grammar rules to create translated documents. Of course, as anybody that has ever used Google Translate can testify, the results are sometimes ludicrous but more and more often quite satisfactory.

Recently, I post-edited a very long machine translation of a complex tender offer in French.  I felt I was dealing with an idiot savant in the sense that genius and stupidity were randomly mixed. While for confidentially reasons I cannot provide specific examples, I can say that a perfect translation of a complex sentence would often be followed by an irrelevant translation of a simple sentence. The same word would be translated differently in consecutive sentences. The grammar ranged from Oxford correct to awful first year ESL student. In short, unlike human translation, there was no rhyme and reason to the quality of the translation.

This required me to treat each sentence as completely isolated in terms of my confidence level in the translation. When editing human translation, it is a bit like observing the driver ahead of you: you quickly get a sense of whether to trust or avoid him/her. Here, my mind had to refuse to trust any translation based on the previous segments. Even harder psychologically, I could not even say to myself “what an idiot” or “what a good translator” because the translator was digital. All in all, it was a very different editing experience.

Many translators fear that machine translation is the end of the profession. The probable truth is the opposite. Translation is one of the fastest growing professions in the world thanks to the world-village phenomenon, among other reasons. It is clear that machine translation handles certain jobs, especially large masses of text and very standard email messages, much more efficiently and cost-effectively than human translation. However, technical translation of all kinds, including medical and legal, requires the human brain both with and without computer help. As we have all experienced, there is nothing more intelligent and stupid than a computer.