Is App Translation Any Different From Machine Translation

In the past, say six decades back, when people had to communicate in a foreign language, they either hired a translator, who would have charged a hefty price or simply used a dictionary to carry out word by word translation, which is primitive or time consuming. Fast forward 60 years and you’ll find that things have changed drastically for the good. All you need to do today, is to pull up a program on a mobile device of your choice and either type or talk the word or phrase that needs to be communicated. And kaboom! You instantly get it translated. Welcome to the world of app translation or simply machine translation. Just like the latter, app based translation is a computer aided translation that basically uses software programs specifically designed to translate verbal and written texts from one language to another.

When used under right situations, translation apps can be a powerful tool. Churning out low-quality converted text in no time is an impressive feat that hardly any human-based translation can match. And yes, previous versions of app based translations were very shoddy to say the least and worked on the erratic surface based structure that translated one word after the other. However, times have changed and so has the way in which an app based translation operate. They now work using a plethora of example translations, which yields better results by using statistics to convert one dialect to another.

The Bottom-line

At a time when companies are being compelled to do more with less, machine or app based translation may seem to be a perfect replacement for the more expensive and time consuming human translation. But there is no denying the fact that in spite of all the advancements, app translations are still error prone and can be only used for simple projects that don’t require perfect translation. For instance, app based translation are an ideal option when you are travelling to a foreign nation or when you aspire to communicate with a person who doesn’t speak your tongue. For more critical projects, say for example when you need to translate a legal document or a key business document, it is always advisable to opt for a professional human help rather than depend on the whims of flawed app based translation.